All Investigator Jobs
Overview of Crime Scene Investigator Careers

What types of investigator jobs exist? Discover all investigator careers here with info on crime scene, insurance fraud, private, accident investigators & more.

A wide variety of investigator careers exist. If you are interested in becoming a PI of sorts, your job responsibilities could range from gathering evidence from airplane crashes, to following spouses suspected of adultery, to even investigating the possibility of paranormal occurrences in a place of residence.

Investigator Jobs & Careers

Investigator careers are best suited for people who are attentive to details, are incredibly patient, and can focus intently. If this sounds like you, take a look at the following investigator jobs and see if any of them appeal to you.

Crime Scene Investigators

CSI Takes Blood From a Crime Scene

Crime scene investigators are like storytellers. It is their job to figure out the Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How of a crime in order to create a chain of events. These events will tell a story that will hopefully help catch, charge, and incarcerate a criminal.

There are many different types of crime scene investigator, including:

Fingerprint technician
Firearms technician
Drug analyst
Forensic photographer

Insurance Fraud Investigator

An insurance fraud investigator spends time researching insurance claim related events to make sure that claims have not been falsified. This includes authenticating insurance claims made by both individuals and companies.

Whether it's related to banking, property damage, or accidents, the insurance fraud investigator may be called upon to seek out:

Fake injuries
Theft fraud
Staged automobile accidents

Arson Investigator

An arson investigator is called to the scene when a fire is suspected of being caused on purpose. Beyond the fire site, an arson investigator may be required to do some paper research or witness interviewing to reach a satisfying conclusion.

These investigator jobs require a good deal of education and training. Many of the most successful arson investigators have college degrees in criminal justice or fire science to help them do their jobs more effectively. If you are interested in becoming an arson investigator, you may want to consider going back to school to get this kind of education.

Accident Investigator

Students In A Computer Classroom

There are a number of different specialties and positions under the umbrella heading of accident investigator jobs. These include:

Car accident investigator
Marine auto accident investigator
Aviation accident investigator

Investigators usually work exclusively in one of these three areas because each requires a great deal of education and training. Essentially, their jobs are to determine what happened to cause an accident. By examining the circumstances around the incident, an accident investigator will be able to tell what initiated a car, boat, or airplane collision or malfunction.

Private Detectives and Investigators

Private detectives are usually retired police officers who have made the move into the private sector--but they can also be people with no prior experience in the criminal justice world.

Hired by individuals, families, attorneys, or corporations, the private investigator can have any number of duties depending on the case, including:

Finding missing persons
Putting surveillance on a person or group of people
Running background checks on individuals or entities
Investigating an affair

Legal Investigator

A Legal Investigator Performs Surveillance

The legal investigator works as a sort of detective for the law system (either for an attorney, legal firm, or other entity) to check facts or gather evidence for a case.

Legal investigator jobs have widespread duties and are entirely dependent on a given case's needs. Most often, the legal investigator will be employed for:

Surveillance
Interviewing witnesses
Photographing evidence
Research, research, research

Salary for a Forensic Investigator

The salary of a forensic investigator covers a wide range because it is actually a number of different jobs under one title. Initially, you make very little money as a forensic investigator. But if you decide to take the bureaucratic route, you can make a six-figure salary by attaining the rank of chief medical examiner.

Forensic investigator jobs revolve around determining what happened at a crime scene, who was involved, and why the crime may have been committed.

Child Custody Investigator

Tasked with the responsibility of making sure a child is living in a safe household, a child custody investigator's job is an incredibly important one. When a parent is suspected of abusing or neglecting a child, the child custody investigator may be called upon to uncover the truth.

Using a variety of methods and techniques, the child support investigator may try to discover things about a parent that the parent wouldn't want anyone to know. Things that could be potentially harmful to the child. Things like:

Alcohol or drug abuse
Physical violence
Criminal conduct
Reckless behavior

Computer Forensics Investigator

More computer crimes are being committed today than at any other time in history.

This calls for a more rigid line of protection from the government.

Computer forensics investigators are given the job of taking crime scene detection into the digital age.

By examining and collecting evidence from computers, cell phones, PDAs, and other electronic devices, the computer forensics investigator can be instrumental in solving a crime.

Ghost Investigators

Ghost investigators are real and they are everywhere. Because recent documentary television shows and supernatural-themed movies and books have made ghost hunting a popular activity today, paranormal investigators are a common commodity.

Unfortunately for the professionals of the field, many ghost hunting groups or clubs don't charge a fee for their work. They do it because they love doing it, which makes people who are trying to earn a living as ghost investigators look elsewhere for income.

Background Investigators

It is the duty of the background investigator to look into a person or company's past to see if there are any skeletons in the closet. Hired by the government, law firms, banks, or other private corporations, background investigators are given the duty of researching potential false claims or past criminal activities.

Background investigators have to perform a variety of different checks throughout the course of a case or assignment. These can be financial checks, credit histories, criminal pasts, identity verifications, or employment reference authentications.