Sounds like San Francisco is the place to be for folks breaking into the biz these days...

Times good for hired sleuths: Corporate jobs keeping private investigators busy

By Tamara Grippi
Staff Writer
San Francisco Examiner
August 28, 2005

The Hollywood image of the hard-boiled private investigator trailing a shady-looking character down an alley has little to do with today's professionals who find a steady stream of corporate business. Companies are turning to private investigators to conduct background checks and sniff out fraud and internal thefts. P.I.s frequently work for attorneys, locating and interviewing witnesses.

San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin counties have seen 2,500 new jobs in investigation and security services since January 2001, according to the California Employment Development Department. "As the economy expands, the need for this work expands," said Clarick Brown, the recent past president of the California Association of Licensed Investigators...

...Sam Brown, the owner of the Sam Brown Group and the Investigative Career Program believes some electronic avenues of investigation have been closed in recent years, making the P.I.'s job more difficult. The future of the industry will involve a return to reliance on old-fashioned "human intelligence," Sam Brown said. During corporate internal theft investigations, Sam Brown said he has placed undercover investigators at major companies, where "no one knows who they are."

A well-established P.I. firm may charge as much as $100 an hour for its services. Investigators who are just starting out can expect to make about $15 an hour while they complete the three years of paid work necessary to qualify for their license from the state.

The full article appears here.

-- MDT

Labels: background checks