Ben’s start to life at Taylor Investigations
When you tell someone you’ve started working as a Private Investigator, you tend to get a reaction.
Everyone wants to know more. How much can you really find out? What does a PI do? Usually, those questions are followed by a slightly concerned look about what you could find out about them.
Going into my fourth week at Taylor Investigations, I’m still waiting for my trench coat and magnifying glass, but I’m starting to find out what the job really looks like.
As a Trainee Investigator and Marketing Apprentice (Yes, a slightly unusual combination on paper, but the two sides work together better than you might think) I’m learning how modern private investigation operates which is helping me translate what we do for the people who might need our services.
When I started, I was completely new to the industry. So, as you can guess there has been a lot to learn. I’ve been thrown into the deep end getting involved with tracing enquiries and background checks, while developing an understanding of process serving and the many other services the business offers.
What I’m quickly learning is just how varied enquiries can be. One day, that meant I was helping to trace a debtor on behalf of a legal professional; another involved understanding how surveillance can be used in family court proceedings to establish whether a property is being privately rented and generating an income. It even involved tracing an individual in connection with criminal proceedings overseas. Each enquiry has a different objective and has shown me just how broad private investigation can be.
It’s a long way from what most people picture when they think of private investigation. We’ve all seen investigations on TV or in films, so naturally you think you have a pretty good idea. But there’s much more happening behind the scenes…
One of the things that surprised me most was how rarely an answer comes from one dramatic discovery. More often, it’s about building a picture from lots of smaller pieces of information and knowing where to look next.
Something that seems insignificant on its own can take on a completely different meaning when it connects with another piece of information.
You start asking new questions, finding answers in places you wouldn’t expect to and learning when you need to dig a little deeper.
Fortunately, I’m surrounded by a team with years of investigative experience who are always there to guide me in the right direction.
There’s so much we do that people don’t know about. My challenge is figuring out how to shout about it, while working for a business built around discretion.
I’ve been getting stuck into social media content, our website, graphics and newsletters, learning the language and tone of the business while using what I’ve learned to explain an industry that can sometimes be difficult to talk about. After all, how do you showcase the expertise, work and personalities at Taylor Investigations without revealing things that are rightly confidential?
That’s the challenge, translating what happens on the investigative side of the business into something useful for the people who one day might need our help.
Four weeks in, there’s still a lot I don’t know, but that’s part of what makes it exciting. I’ve already discovered there’s much more to private investigation than I thought, and there’s still plenty more for me to get involved with.
I am, however, starting to lose hope about that trench coat.