Obtaining a private investigator license can vary in difficulty depending on the state in which you reside as well as the states you intend to operate in. Five states- Colorado, South Dakota, Idaho, Mississippi, and Wyoming- do not require a private investigator license at all, but if you’re interested in working professionally it’s recommended that you receive training and certification from a reputable organization no matter where you plan to work. The industry is heavily slanted toward former police or military personnel, so a background in law enforcement is helpful prior to obtaining training.

In some states, previous investigative experience is especially helpful since the certification requirements for a private investigator license include a number of hours logged doing professional investigative work. The state of California, for instance, requires three years of compensated investigative work in order to qualify for a private investigator license. Other states require the equivalent of an associate’s degree worth of formal academic work, while some states simply have an exam with various options available for preparation. You can expect to study the law and court procedures.

Since much private investigation work is done on behalf of lawyers and insurance companies in pursuit of evidence, you will need to know how to obtain evidence correctly in order to get paid. You will especially want to know the state and federal privacy statutes, as those are largely what limit what you can collect in the course of your work, and how you can do so. Having a private investigator license doesn’t prevent you from getting on the wrong side of the law, and unlike law enforcement there are few legal protections for what you do in your job. In addition to knowing the legal framework of investigation work, you will learn how to actually going about being a private investigator. This will include training in surveillance, records gathering, online research, and self-defense.

While private investigators are portrayed in the media as shadowy action figures, you can mostly expect to spend long hours in front of a computer paging through records and doing background checks. That doesn’t mean that you won’t also spend days surveying a person suspected of insurance fraud, or finding yourself at the wrong end of a domestic dispute. This training is meant to prepare you for any eventuality. Altogether, getting a private investigator license is worthwhile even in those states where it isn’t required.

The private investigator license gives you access to a lucrative career field and the standards maintained in the licensing process guarantee a certain level of respect from other investigation professionals. Doing the work of a private investigator is possible without the license so long as you don’t represent yourself as one, but it’s worth the effort in both economic terms and in satisfaction to get a license.