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Private Detectives and Investigators
Finds information and evidence for clients, lawyers and companies.
Read the full guide
Private investigators do background checks, find people, investigate insurance and business fraud, and gather evidence for lawyers. Many are former police officers or military.
Open the private investigator guide
The guide checks the courses against your plan, with things to try each year. Free account needed.
High school courses that build toward it
- English 10 · English
Builds reading and writing, which this job uses.
- Business Law · Career and Technical
Builds law and government, which this job uses.
- Government and Economics · Social Studies
Builds law and government, which this job uses.
- Computer Science Principles · Computer Science
Builds computers and electronics, which this job uses.
- Physical Education · Health and PE
Builds working with customers and clients, which this job uses.
- Statistics · Math
Builds math, which this job uses.
Ranked by how much the job relies on what each course teaches, from O*NET's knowledge ratings. Your school's own courses and the counselor have the final word.
Private Detectives and Investigators on O*NET OnLine · O*NET 31.0 (U.S. Department of Labor, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections 2025.