Want to be a P.I.?

Ever thought about becoming a Private Investigator? Think you'd enjoy it? Could you make a living at it?

Last night at MCC Ed Herdrich presented an interesting 90-minute introduction to the world of the P.I. It's not all roses, but it's not all thorns, either.

Think you'd like sitting in a van for 7-8 hours, just waiting to videotape proof for a workers' compensation fraud investigation? How about serving civil papers? Investigating infidelity?

You'd want to learn how to say "No", because some potential clients might ask you to step into a gray, or even black, area of investigations that could land you in jail. That wouldn't look too good on your resume.

Ed believes work is available now in surveillance and background investigations. That's not the highest-paying work ($12.00-16.00/hour) but, after you "pay the price" in entry-level work and have built your experience (and education), you might decide to obtain your own detective license and find yourself earning in the range of $75-100/hour.

You might not work 40 hours/week at $100/hour, because you'll have to like paperwork, too.

Ed will teach an eight-week class at MCC that will lead to your PERC, which stands for Permanent Employee Registration Card. The class meets on Thursdays, starting January 28, from 6:30-9:00PM. Contact MCC to register for Class QCJ C01 002; the fee is $209 and includes all materials.

After the class I mentioned to Ed a man I had known in Denver about 25 years ago. He had retired from the Army, where he had been a military investigator. This man was, like, the perfect investigator. He could stand in a crowd of two, and you'd never know he was there. He just blended right in.

Investigators come in all sizes and shapes. Flexibility and creativity can be great traits; rigidity and inflexibility might not. Could you learn to drive a forklift, if necessary? Pack boxes on an assembly line? Type or do bookkeeping? Sell door-to-door? Probably every week in the life of a P.I. is different.