What do you do for a living?

I’m a State Trooper.

How would you describe what you do?

I enforce the state laws.

What does your work entail?

Most of my work entails work in traffic accidents, heading patrols on DWI’s, and speed enforcement.

What’s a typical work week look like for you?

We work eight hours a day on the highways enforcing the traffic laws.  I patrol 4 counties working traffic accidents, enforcing speeding laws, and working DWI’s.

How did you get started in this career?

My father was a long time State Trooper and it was something I was brought up with. The State Police has a great tradition and it was something that I always wanted to do.

…there’s a huge history of becoming a State Trooper. It’s a big, big achievement, and I think that we’ve set ourselves above the rest. And I think that that’s what they are looking for when they go to hire a person is somebody that stands out above the rest, that has honesty, integrity, and is willing to work hard and treat people fairly in the world.

What do you like about your job?

I like helping the citizens of this state by serving and protecting them.

I really enjoy getting people who don’t belong on the roads at the time, the ones that have been out drinking and driving, off the roads before they hurt somebody.

What do you dislike about what you do?

To tell you the truth, I really can’t think of anything that I really dislike about what I do. I really enjoy every aspect of it, and it’s a really good career.

How do you make money or how are you paid?

I’m paid on a forty-hour workweek schedule from the State.

How much money do you make starting out as a State Trooper?

Starting out, you make close $40,000 a year.

How much do you make as a state trooper?

About $40,000 a year.

Are there any perks associated with this job?

I would say that a perk could be getting to go and do different stuff around the State such as work in the State Fairs or getting to work football or basketball games.

What education or skills are needed to become a State Trooper?

The education required is a high school degree and you can also have military time to be hired on here.  You don’t have to have a college education to get hired with the State Police.

I think the college degree would be helpful to have, it would help you get hired easier, but it’s not a requirement.

Then you have to get accepted into and pass trooper school.

It’s actually a really long process. You send in your initial application and they’ll contact you and you’ll go down for physical assessment test, and you’ll do the physical assessment.

Then, if you pass that portion of the test, you will come back and do a polygraph test. If you pass that portion then you’ll have interviews with the Majors and different people that sit on the Board.

And if you pass that, then you get invited to trooper school and you’ll go through trooper school for however long they have it scheduled.  I think most of the time they’re twenty-two weeks, and then you go through a vigorous physical tests and numerous classes.

As far as specific skills I can’t think of any in particular.  They train you in school really well.

…the most challenging thing that a police officer has to do is when someone loses a loved one in a car accident. To be there and see that, and then go speak to the family…that’s something that’s real tough.

They teach you about accident investigation, and what you’re supposed to do in certain situations.  You learn how to shoot, you know to qualify with a gun, and they train you in different situations like that. So they’ll teach you the skills that you need to know to be a state trooper.

You do need to be somebody that has honesty, integrity, and is someone that’s willing to be a good police officer out there.  Those are the type of people they look to hire as State Troopers.

What is most challenging about what you do?

I would say the most challenging thing that a police officer has to do is when someone loses a loved one in a car accident. To be there and see that, and then go speak to the family.  Having to deal with that is probably the most challenging part about this job..

It’s very, very hard to go to a household in the middle of the night and wake them up and let them know that their family member just passed away in a car wreck. That’s – that’s something that’s real tough.

What is most rewarding about what you do?

I would say would just be the fact that you’re actually out here saving lives, and that if you can help one person, if you can save one person’s life then you’re doing good.

Knowing, I took that guy off the road that shouldn’t have been behind the wheel that night and I could possibly have just saved a life because he’s not going to go down the road and hit a family.  I would say that would be the most rewarding part of my job.

What advice would you offer someone considering this career?

I would say that this is a real good career to get into. I’d say that if you really enjoy helping people and being around people then it’s a good career to get into, but if you’re not into that kind of thing then it’s probably not the career for you.  Because you’re dealing with the public, and if you’re not good speaking to people, or don’t enjoy being around them then you’re probably not going to be somebody that really helps people out.

How much time off do you get or take off?

You just get your regular two days a week, just like everybody else. Our days off are different depending on shift schedules.  So my days off are constantly changing because we’re on a rotation in our schedule.  And some people, after a while, get a set schedule if the Sergeant allows it.

And then it’s about eight hours up a month that you build up for vacation.

What is a common misconception people have about what you do?

I would say the common misconception about what we do is that we’re out here harassing people and writing speeding tickets.  We’re not out here harassing people, we’re trying to enforce the law and actually save somebody.

People think that we’re just picking on them because they’ve got a tail light out, or if they were running a little bit over the speed limit.

Enforcing speeding laws, DWI’s, state statutes and that sort of thing does help save lives.

What are your goals and dreams for the future in this career?

I would say right now to just keep enjoying what I’m doing, enjoy my career, enjoy my work, and continue doing what I’m doing. But I would like to promote within a few years and one day maybe become a post sergeant and then see how far I could go. I would like to be a captain of the State Police one day.

What else would you like people to know about what you do?

Like I said earlier, we’re not our here to harass people, we’re here to serve and protect.

Also, the main difference between the city police and state police is our tradition.

We started with thirteen original rangers and there’s a huge history of becoming a State Trooper.  It’s a big, big achievement, and I think that we’ve set ourselves above the rest. And I think that that’s what they are looking for when they go to hire a person is somebody that stands out above the rest, that has honesty, integrity, is willing to work hard and treat people fairly in the world.

What do you do for a living?

I am security consultant that specializes in regulatory security, more specifically in the energy sector.

How would you describe what you do?

If it turns on, for example, the gas in your car, the lights in your house, anything like that, it is regulated by the Department of Homeland Security.  So we help clients stay compliant with the regulations.

What does your work entail?

I mainly do a lot of threat assessments, security vulnerability assessments, and mitigate risk.  So I tell you how you are vulnerable, and how to fix it, and assist you with fixing it.

Our threats are generally more directed towards terrorism.  The regulations that Department of Homeland Security has implemented are more specific to terrorists.  They’re not directed to a 16-year old kid that’s shooting his .22.  They’re directed towards terrorism.

For example, you have a rig offshore, there’s probably, I don’t know the exact number, 1,000 to 1,200 rigs offshore.  These rigs are either producing oil or pumping oil into the United States. 

I like the fact that what I do protects the United States of America’s critical infrastructure.

There are several rigs off the Gulf of Mexico that hold or push 9% of natural gas back to the mainland.  If you take that rig out, you have just lost 9% of your natural gas.  Think if you lost that 9% during the wintertime, the economic impact of losing that rig.  It would be very significant.

We help people like that do risk assessments and stay compliant with Government security regulations.

What does a typical workweek look like for you as security consultant?

There is really no typical workweek for me.  For example, this week is a little bit slow, I’m managing the Gulf of Mexico assets for one of my clients this week. The following week I’ll be in Trinidad, the week after that, I will be in Canada.  So, there is no “typical” workweek.  I did an executive protection detail on Monday that I found out about on Saturday.  That’s what I really enjoy about this job actually.  There is no sitting in an office, staring at a computer.

I travel frequently.  I would say 35-40% of the time.  I can go an entire month without traveling and then the next month I’ll be gone constantly.

How did you get started in this career?

I was taking a class – and interview and interrogation class – in college and we had a guest speaker come in who was a deputy sheriff.  I asked to speak to him after class.  The next day I was at the sheriff’s department interviewing, and the week after that, I was hired by them as a deputy sheriff.  So it was kind of a progression – a very strange progression, but a progression nonetheless, from law enforcement to security manager for a Fortune 500 company, into the consulting world.

What do you like about what you do?

My favorite thing about what I do and the company I work for is the flexibility, and the change of pace.  It’s very dynamic.  It is not static at all.  I’m constantly sending my wife my Outlook calendar because I can’t keep up with myself and she can’t keep up with me, so it’s fun in the sense that I’m doing different things.  A lot of times, I’m not away from home, I’m able to come home every night and spend time with my family, but the change of pace is just astronomical.  I deal with multiple clients and they’re all, for the most part, Fortune 500 clients, so you get a lot of different personalities and backgrounds with the people that you work with.

What do you dislike about the job?

I cannot stand going offshore.  The first time I went offshore, I was very excited because it was my first time in a helicopter.  You fly out there, but what you don’t think about is, once you leave the mainland, there’s nothing to look at except for water.  The chances of you seeing a dolphin flying through the water, or a whale are slim to none. So, you fly out there and I feel like you’re flying to jail because once you fly to this rig, the helicopter leaves and you’re sitting there doing the work and you’re confined, you stay the night and the helicopter picks you up the next day.  So offshore work is my least favorite.

How do you make money or how are you compensated?

Salary plus quarterly bonuses.

How much money do you make as a security consultant ?

In our industry, depending on your experience and your background, and your specialty.  There are some consultants that write nothing but high level security plans.  There are consultants that specialize in the regulatory security.  For example, my company specializes in about five areas.  So we have to know the regulations of CTFATS, CFATS, MTSA, TSA Pipeline Security, Canadian Security Standards.  You have to have the experience, about 13-15 years of experience at a bare minimum.  So that salary range would start at about $100,000 and up, and fortunately for my company, we are set up as having a quarterly bonus.  In my company, you can make typically anywhere from $100,000 plus to $200,000, depending on how well the company does, and your experience and background.  Right now I’m closer to the $130,000 mark.

Would you say there are any perks associated with this career?

Personally, my perk is not necessary a perk in vacation time or benefits.  My perk is working with multiple people and their different backgrounds.  I’m working with the best of the best people, and the best of the best in the security industry, from high ranking security officials in government to a director of security of for a major oil company.  That’s a perk for me because I’m able to learn from these different experiences and different backgrounds.

What education or skills are needed to be a security consultant?

If you can get into this without having some type of military or law enforcement background, in our industry, you either know somebody or you’ve done good for yourself.

Obviously you need to have a Bachelor’s Degree.  It doesn’t necessarily need to be in law enforcement or criminal justice, but a law enforcement background or a military background is going to help you.  Right now, I’m in graduate school and I’m taking graduate school to get a Master’s in security management for executives.  There are certifications you can get within our industry that definitely help out.  The American Society for Industrial Security has multiple certifications.  Without the military or law enforcement experience, then you’ll want to get these certifications and maybe even some graduate school.  That’s been my route, at least.

As far as skills, I wouldn’t say there are any specific skills needed.  You can latch on to a mentor, that has proved vital to me.  I have been fortunate enough to be mentored by multiple people.  To give you an example, my boss right now has been a long-time friend of mine and actually a co-worker at a previous company.

I would say anybody who is coming up and wants to be in this industry, and it’s a very big industry, with a lot of people and a lot of money in it, the best way to improve yourself very quickly without having to go back to school, is to shadow a mentor.

What is the most challenging about what you do?

I would say juggling clients and keeping up on clients.  The work is challenging in itself, but I would say you need some organizational skills.  In the consulting world if you have one client you might be doomed.  Your life expectancy in the consulting in world is going to be hurt.  You need multiple clients and these multiple clients demand that you be available for them.  That’s my challenge.  It’s like, “Man, this guy wants me in Trinidad this week, while the other guy wants me in Canada the following week”.  Juggling that can be a challenge.

What is most rewarding about what you do?

I like the fact that what I do protects the United States of America’s critical infrastructure.  I loved law enforcement, and that was fun and I enjoyed every second of it.  I thought that was where I was headed to and I found a different route.  So, I feel like I’m doing something very similar to that and still protecting the U.S. critical infrastructure and I feel like what I do counts.

What advice would you offer someone considering this career?

I would strongly recommend an internship.  I think internships are vital.  That’s how I started with the sheriff’s department, as an intern.  That has pushed me leaps and bounds further down the road in my career.  Once you get into the industry, get that mentor. Find that mentor, find somebody who is willing to take some extra time out of their day to say “this is how it’s done, this is why it’s done that way and here’s the end result” and you’re going to learn a ton.

How much time off do you get or take with this job?

We’re given four weeks up front.  We have four weeks and we’re able to carry one week over.  For example, this year I have four weeks plus an additional carryover week, so I have five weeks.  Plus all the national holidays and Christmas and that type of thing.  Do I take it all?  Not really.  I consider some of my slow days as a vacation day.  Like today for example, I’m not 100% busy, so I don’t take all of my vacation days, my company is very lenient as long as your getting your work done.

What is a common misconception people have about what you do?

It’s funny that you ask that.  I was a director of security for Enron, through the bankruptcy.  I managed their global security through the bankruptcy, and I wore the typical slacks and dress shirt to work, business casual every day.  I remember coming home one day.  I got out of the car.  I walked to the sidewalk and picked up the newspaper and two houses down, my neighbor says to me, “Hey, where you coming from?” and I said, “I’m coming from work”.  She said, “I thought you were a security guard?”  There’s nothing wrong with being a security guard but you tell people, “I’m in the security industry” and the first thing they think about is the security guard.

What are your goals and dreams for the future in this career?

For me, I like the international side.  It’s intriguing and different, so my goal is to do more international work.  I don’t necessarily want to be a director of security at a major company, I think that’s restrictive and I like the flexibility I have right now.  I like where I’m at, it’s only going forward.  Regulatory security will be around for a long time, because there’s always going to be terrorism.  I wouldn’t mind owning my own security firm, but I don’t see that happening right now.  I’m pretty happy where I am.

What else would you like people to know about what you do?

There’s a lot of potential in our industry for people.  It’s a very dynamic industry.  For me, I just want people to know that, you see these levels of government and law enforcement, but there’s thousands of people under them that are protecting the company as well.  The industry is so dynamic that there is room for growth, tons of potential worldwide, so I would encourage someone who is interested in law enforcement to at least look at the security aspect of it as well.  Do your career in law enforcement, 5-6-8-10 years or whatever you want to do, but know that there is a whole other industry that is completely dynamic.  It’s a lot of fun, I enjoy myself.

What do you do for a living?

I’ve been a hospital pathologist and a forensic pathologist as a specialty after being a medical doctor.

How would you describe what you do?

A pathologist is somebody who is interested in laboratory tests and tissues, which are removed from the human, or examined after death on humans. And from this he decides what particular affliction the individual has, or what he has died from.

What does your work entail?

Well, in forensic pathology, it was largely deciding what was the cause of death and the mode of death, which meant that it was a homicide, a suicide, a so-called natural death meaning that it was not homicide or suicide or it was undetermined. Sometimes, all you get is a piece of bone which is left and none of the body involved, so you may have a detailed explanation, or you may have a very simple and limited explanation. That is forensic pathology. Hospital pathology is divided into anatomic pathology and clinical pathology. Anatomic pathology is largely an examination of tissue which has been removed from an individual, and a decision of what is wrong with the tissue which has been removed. The forensic pathology is a study of the bodys fluids, abnormalities, and a decision of in what way they are abnormal or normal. Okay.

No, it only sounds like a nine-to-five job. It usually starts out about 7:00 in the morning and ends up about 6:00 at night, with periodic weekends and periodic nights.

How did you get started as a forensic pathologist?

Well, my wife is a Laboratory Technologist, and I was interested in being a physician, and subsequently, I decided to become a pathologist. And for some variety I had some sub-specialty training in forensic pathology, and subsequently, I went back to hospital pathology, and retired about ten years ago.

What do you like about what you do?

The fact that it cut across practically all those specialties in medicine. Otherwise, I thought that general surgery was interesting, and internal medicine was interesting, but there were limits to them. And pathology was before the illness, during the illness, and after the illness.

What do you dislike?

Oh, one always finds some unpleasant things like washing feces out of colons but on the other hand, I was very well-satisfied. But I would have been satisfied in any medical specialty. Anything you do well becomes a delight to do.

How do you make money/or how are you compensated?

Largely, a pathologist works with a hospital, and the hospital pays them for running the laboratory. In some circumstances, they may be giving specific charges for tissue examinations, and in other cases, the tissue examination may be part of the hospital examination. In forensic pathology, you may work for a state institution or a city institution. On the other hand, you may make part of your income as a result of being an expert witness. In other words, giving your professional opinion as to why something occurred, and you may appear for either the defense or the prosecution. And the important thing is to remember that you are there as an impartial witness, and you may produce some incidents which favor the prosecution, and some which favor the defense.

How much money do you make as a forensic pathologist?

So much has changed. When I first went to school back in 1947, ten thousand a year sounded like a lot of money. At present, I think somewhere around $150,000 a year.

What education or skills are needed to do this?

Usually, it involves four years of college, four years of medical school, and four to six years of specialty training.
No, no specific skills there. It requires a great deal of knowledge, and it requires an ability to bring that knowledge to the fore quickly when that is necessary. It can be largely performance, or on the other hand, it can be research or a combination of the two. In other words, if you find an unusual case or you are trying to answer some specific question, you may be able to do so by researching the question.

What is most challenging about what you do?

The entire field. I thought I’d give you a short answer for a change.

What is most rewarding?

The feeling that one is contributing to ones fellow humans health contributing to fellow humans health.

What advice would you offer someone considering this career?

Be willing to spend a great deal of time.

How much time off do you get/take?

I take off about two weeks. In reality, one might find that during the two weeks he was off, things had accumulated and you might have, again, an opportunity to work extra during the return.

What is a common misconception people have about what you do?

The description in the movies and on television of the forensic pathologist as trying to catch somebody is wrong. In other words, you may find any type of information which may be helpful, incidentally, to either the defense or the prosecution. In other words, I had one individual who was appearing because he had shot another individual, and he said, well, the fellow came over the day before or the day of the homicide and he beat him up, and yet there was no mark on him. Yet, when I was performing the autopsy, I opened the skin on the back of his hands, and found out that indeed, he had been beating – there was hemorrhage – the other individual with the back of his hands. In other words, he had backhanded him. So this was a bit of information the defense could utilize in defending the individual from the accusation of homicide. In other words, it became a justifiable homicide, because since he had been beaten before, it has become as a means of self-defense.

What else would you like people to know about what you do?

No, its a very interesting career, and its interesting because there is variety to it. It is a difficult career, because one has to keep track of the newest developments, but that is true to some extent in just about any field of medicine.

What do you do for a living?

I’m the county tax collector.

How would you describe what you do?

My job is to collect ad valorem taxes on real estate and personal property. And ad valorem means a percentage of a value. The value comes from the assessor. She gives me a value, I put the millage rate against it, and I collect that amount on real estate and on personal property and on business.

What does your work entail?

I’m responsible for this office and two satellites offices. My job entails personnel issues, time issues, I also go to associational meetings. Right now, we’re putting in a new computer software system which is taking up a whole lot of our time.

[the misconception is] that we’re a little bit ruthless…we’re not necessarily ruthless, we want to call it consistent. I treat everybody alike: rich, poor, whatever. I’m here to serve the people of this county…I just do my job here. I come to work and go home like everybody else.

My number one job is to make sure that we’re collecting taxes and collecting the right amount, and then we disburse it. I have to make sure the taxes were collected at the correct millage rate for the right schools, and for each school district, and the city and county. Eighty percent of the funds goes to schools, ten percent goes to cities, and about ten percent goes to the counties.

How did you get started?

I began on the quorum court. I was on the quorum court for 8 years when this job kind of opened and I had to make a decision.

The quorum court was taking so much of my time I had to either get in or get out of politics. I enjoyed county government, and this job came open, so I ran for the position and got it 6-1/2 years ago.

What do you like about what you do?

I like working with county government. It is really unique, you meet a lot of statewide officials, we all do the same things because state government is just a collection of what the county government does. It’s really unique. I guess one of my big jobs is you deal with the odd things that come along, and it’s these problems that come along that challenge you most. We deal with bankruptcies and we deal with delinquent people that won’t pay. We also use the county attorney. He will file liens against these people, and we can have personal property sales to get the taxes paid. We can also sell businesses if someone is delinquent, but everyone usually pays so we haven’t had any real sales yet.

What do you dislike about being a tax collector?

Sometimes you find people with hardship cases, like poor little ladies on fixed incomes come in and say, My taxes have went up. How am I going to pay for it? . You hate to hear these stories and they’re heart-wrenching a lot of times. You’ll hear, My husband died and I didn’t know if the land is going to be sold at auction, and they’re trying to come up with money and ask Can I please just wait?. And I’m in a position where I have to work by the law. Which I’m glad, I’m kind of glad that I got a law that I have to work with and that’s the final determining factor. So, even though my heart goes out to these people, and it tears you up sometimes, but you have to go ahead and send those to the cases to the State. We do work with businesses who can’t pay and we will set up a payment plan for them. And as they pay off their delinquents and catch up and are current, we will give them their clearance. And they may not be fully paid up, but as long as we’ve set up an agreement, which is a signed notarized agreement and they make these payments, then we’d work with them and then they’d catch up over a period of hopefully around one year. Some of them may have to go beyond that. But we try and work with people to get paid up.

How do you make money/or how are you compensated?

I’m on a salary.

How much money do you make as a tax collector?

It is now somewhere in the neighborhood of 70,000 a year.

What education or skills are needed to do this?

It doesn’t require necessarily a college education. I don’t have a college education, but I had a background in business when I went into the quorum court. To do it nowadays you really just need some computer skills.

What is most challenging about what you do?

The challenging thing about this job is trying to get information from the assessor and getting all the information the right time of the year. There’s always hold ups, there’s always lawsuits, there’s always things that have be taken care of quickly. Because we get real busy at certain times in the year.

What is most rewarding?

To me it’s very rewarding that we can handle so many people that will pay the last week of the year, and most people are coming in here later and later, closer to the last day to pay October 10th. So the fact that I’m responsible for having a system and personnel that can handle that high volume is very rewarding.

What advice would you offer someone considering this career?

You need to know Excel, Word, and Access, and just be familiar with your computer in general. You need to really work in some area of bookkeeping or accounting, because that’s what we are, bookkeepers for the county. We keep records. We collect money. It would be good to either work in the office or work in county government. It also helps having experience dealing with personnel issues. I’m constantly having to hire and replace people, so knowing how to hire good people is very important.

How much time off do you get/take?

I’ve seminars and schools that I’m constantly attending, but as far as personal time it’s usually around two weeks per year.

What is a common misconception people have about what you do?

That we’re a little bit ruthless. But we’re not necessarily ruthless, we want to call it consistent. I treat everybody alike: rich, poor, whatever. I’m here to serve the people of this county. And some people are a little bit, you know, I got to go to see the tax collector. I go to church and he’s the mean old tax collector, whatever. It’s kind of a misconception and I just do my job here. I come to work and go home like everybody else.

What are your goals/dreams for the future?

My goal is very simple. I’m right now putting in a new software system. I’m trying to get everything on the computer. My goals would be that you can go online and see the delinquent taxes that’s another way of encouraging people to pay delinquent taxes, be putting their names online. I think I’m looking for being here another six, eight years, and then retire.

What do you do for a living?

I’m a private Investigator.

How would you describe what you do?

Our slogan or motto is, The right information for the right decision. Basically, we try to discover and present truth in any situation that we deal with.

What does your work entail?

People have a tendency to think that the only thing a private investigator does is domestics, you know, who’s running around with who.

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That’s maybe 10% of what we do. We do witness locates, witness interviews, gather information and talk to people in criminal defense cases. The state always has a prosecuting attorney out there to represent the state or the city. The accused doesn’t have anybody, they go out and hire an attorney and an attorney often needs an investigator, that’s where we come in.

You can’t just take one person and follow another person. It’s impossible. I was listening to a program the other night kind of like 48 Hours”it has to do with law enforcement investigations and so forth…this was an experienced law enforcement agency that said in this particular case, it took 8 people to follow one person. To do it right to, do it well, and be effective that’s probably about right.

We do work criminal defense cases, we work child custody, we locate people either for attorneys or for companies. We’ve looked for adoptive parents. An individual knows that they were adopted and would like to know a little know more information, or meet their adoptive parent. We’ll try to locate those people. We serve legal process, we do background checks, we may do surveillance for businesses in order to determine actual customer traffic compared to what a given business may be reporting. One I can think of is a business that was involved in automotive repair and the franchise”the franchisee or the franchisor”believed that the reported numbers on Saturday were below what they should have been, so we conducted two days worth of surveillance using video just to count the number of cars that went in and out of the bay doors that were being worked on and provided that to them and they worked their numbers from there. We help with what we call due diligence, which is if someone is getting ready to enter into a business arrangement with a party. One may have questions about the other as far as their reputation, their history, things of that nature”have they ever been involved in any bad dealings in the past”so we help them with that. We’re getting more and more calls that have to do with My sister or someone I know has met somebody online and they’re wanting to know more about that person before the sister takes off with the guy. We also do trademark infringement and patent infringement cases. It’s pretty broad.

How did you get started?

I know this probably sounds mundane, but I’ve always had an interest in law enforcement and always had an interest in knowing what’s going on. You can’t always accept and believe what you see and hear. Even as a kid I wanted to know what is going on there. What really happened? And so, I spent a period of time in law enforcement, but then I spent a number of years with Wal-Mart as Director of Loss Prevention and that runs a whole wide range of things that you have to deal with. So, my involvement comes from just wanting to know the truth and wanting to know what’s going on, and that’s true with me; that’s true of almost anything.

What do you like about what you do?

Helping people. People come because they don’t know or they need to know, and in the majority, not all, but in the majority of cases, you can help them discover what the truth is, and once they know what the truth is then they can take action or make decisions that they can somewhat predict the outcome because what they’re doing is based on facts.

What do you dislike?

The first thing I dislike is the perception that the general public has of private investigators. You know, I went to college, I’ve got seven kids, I was successful in business, I teach a Sunday school class and proud of it¦and there is a general perception, I think, that if you do this kind of work, you’re a little underhanded, a little seedy and that sort of thing, and that’s not the case at all. Also I dislike the inconsistencies as far as case load, and sometimes the hours. It’s either feast or famine. You work your butt off or you wish the phone would ring.

How do you make money/or how are you compensated?

You only make money when you work, and it’s on a (need) or flat-fee basis per job or based on an hourly rate.

How much money do you make as a private investigator?

Our firm, last year, grossed just short of half a million dollars and the bottom line runs about 17 to 18 ½% of that.

What skills or requirements are needed to become a private investigator?

First would be some kind of successful investigative background. There are just certain things you’ve got to know about investigations in order to do it. You can’t just go, Gee, that sounds exciting, and head out. And some people think so because we get inquiries about if we’re hiring or what does it take, one of the things I ask is, Why do you want to do this and what’s your experience? The two responses I typically get are, It seems like it would be exciting, and I don’t have any experience. That person then is going to follow the stereotypical image and that doesn’t work. You’re a business person. So, number one, you have to have some experience. Number two, you’ve got to be patient. Number three, you’ve got to have a lot of resources, and by resources, I mean people that you know; people who work for companies where you can get information because that’s all we are is information brokers. And so, the more resources we have, the more effective we’re going to be.

What is most challenging about what you do?

Communicating with clients in the beginning that this may not turn out the way they want it to turn out. We even have a clause in our contract that says, We don’t make any promises or guarantees about the outcome. Because some people come to us absolutely convinced that they know what’s going on and they want us to prove what they think is going on. The second most difficult thing is the perception that people have based on television and movies about how easy it is to do this kind of work. It’s not, you know. You can’t just take one person and follow another person. It’s impossible. I was listening to a program the other night kind of like 48 Hours”it has to do with law enforcement investigations and so forth”and they commented on air. This was an experienced law enforcement agency that said in this particular case, it took 8 people to follow one person. To do it right to, do it well, and be effective that’s probably about right.

What is most rewarding?

It goes back to the helping people. When you have a parent who’s concerned about the way their child is being cared for in, say, a divorce situation and you discovered that the child is at risk and the court sees that and makes the decision in favor that’s really a benefit to the child. That’s real rewarding. When you get good solid answers”and I guess that would be the broad answer to the question” good, solid answers and factual information to present to your client, that is real rewarding. For somebody who’d come and say, I need help, and you do your work and go back to them and say, Here it is. I just love that.

What advice would you offer someone considering this career?

Get a lot of counsel from people who either are doing it or have done it. Ask a lot of questions, know how to run a business, and be patient.

How much time off do you get/take?

You’re as busy as you want to be. You could get all the time off you want, but you’re probably not going to get paid while you are.

What is a common misconception people have about what you do?

Well, I guess it would deal with ethics and integrity. There’s kind of a common misconception that PI’s have a lack of character or have a lack of integrity. There’s also the misconception that you can find out anything, even if you’re willing to break the rules, you can find out anything.

What are your goals/dreams for the future?

I’d like to grow a bigger business and earn a reputation of respect and professionalism.

What do you do for a living?

I’m a bondsman, bail bond agent, to be correct.

How would you describe what you do?

I bond people out and I put them back in jail.

What does your work entail?

I deal with criminals on a daily basis. I deal with their families. I deal with their troubles. I deal with everything. I make sure they go to court. If they don’t show up to court, I have to go find them and either make a new court date or put them back in jail.

Quick Fact!
How to become a bail bondsman? For starters you have to have a squeaky clean record. Then you have to take a test and get sponsored by a bonding company to get started. See what else this bondsman said about how to get started and what requirements there are to become a bondsman.

We have rotating schedules where we have several agents in this office and we rotate on a 24-hour shift. I’m on every three days. I come in to skip trace(aka bounty hunting) in between. In this state, we can’t refer to it as bounty hunting. It’s called skip tracing.
How did you get started?

I used to do this a long time ago and I actually did it part-time because I was going to school full-time with my master’s degree in nursing and decided I wanted a real job and went to nursing and worked for 11 years, hated it and then went back to bonding.

What do you like about being a bondsmen?

The rewards would be if you get some of these people that are messing up in their lives and all of a sudden you see them turn around. You’ve got to build a kind of a rapport with your clients, because if you’re a hard-ass to them, chances are they’re not going to want to go to court. They’re not going to step up for you as well. So when you reach out and help one person and it makes a difference in their life, then it’s kind of rewarding.

What do you dislike?

People lying straight to my face. The repeat offenders, we call frequent flyers, that you just keep going out on a limb for and they keep letting you down. There’s also the fear of forfeitures. You have to go in front of a judge because our client didn’t go to court and we’ve got to pay the bond. So we beg for mercy from the judge to get an extension to locate this individual.

How do you make money/or how are you compensated?

It’s commission. I make money on every bond that I write. For example, on a $1500 bond the bail is $150 plus other fees.  My commission split is 50/50 so I will make $75.

How much money do you make as a bail bondsmen?

About $55,000.

What education or skills are needed to be a bondsmen?

You have to take a beginners education class. It’s an eight-hour class and then you go and take the test, 100-question test and you have to have a 70 in order to pass it. It’s a very confusing test.

You try not to get personal with the clients, but sometimes it helps. You know, if they need a hand to get to court, if they need a ride, they know they can call our office. And most offices are sort of like that. And I think it needs to be like that. But, by all means, we’re not Momma either, they dug the hole, they can get their self right on out of it.

They say the test in this state is one of the hardest in the nation. You’ve got a lot of homers that come in here wanting to be Billy-bad-ass for the day and carry a concealed handgun so you have to weed them out. You can’t just say ‘hey’, I want to be a bondsman, and go take the class and test and be a bondsman. You have to have somebody actually sponsor your license. You’ve got to get hired onto a company before you can actually enter into the bail bonding world. You don’t necessarily have to have been with this company for a period of time. You just got to be hired through the company. You have a FBI background check done too. And it’s very thorough¦I mean, they flip over rocks. They’ll call your references, they don’t screw around. It took four months for mine. The longer it takes, the better off you are. Because they’re actually trying to find something wrong. You can’t have any felonies on your record and a few misdemeanors such as theft and domestic battery.

What is most challenging about what you do?

Skip tracing. Trying to locate the hard ones that are hiding under a rock. From the time they miss court, we have 120 days on a misdemeanor and 90 days on a felony to find them.

What is most rewarding?

Putting the deadbeats back in jail. I mean, if they don’t want to go to court and they don’t want to step up and take care of their crap, the best thing for them is be right back where they need to be. Or at the other end, you’ve got a client that’s been a drug user and you’ll see them six months down the road, they’re clean, they went through rehab, that could be rewarding as well. But…today it would be putting them back in jail, tomorrow it could be different.

What advice would you offer someone considering this career?

There’s more to it than everybody thinks. We’re not Dog the Bounty Hunter. We’re far from it. It’s not just getting them out of jail and forgetting about them. It’s also about being their friend, not just their bondsman. You try not to get personal with the clients, but sometimes it helps.

You’ve got a lot of homers that come in here wanting to be Billy-bad-ass for the day and carry a concealed handgun so you have to weed them out.

You know, if they need a hand to get to court, if they need a ride, they know they can call our office. And most offices are sort of like that. And I think it needs to be like that. But, by all means, we’re not Momma either, they dug the hole, they can get their self right on out of it.

How much time off do you get/take?

If I want to be off a couple days next week I can. We don’t have a set schedule. We don’t have the-you get one or two weeks off a year deal.

What is a common misconception people have about what you do?

We are not Dog. We don’t just go and bust down doors on an everyday basis and we’re not all just hard-asses and mean and hard to deal with.

What are your goals/dreams for the future?

My own TV show(laughs).  I don’t really want to be the owner and I like what I’m doing.  This is about as good as it gets.

What else would you like people to know about what you do?

It’s all based on trust. We go out on the limb to bond you out and we get a feeling that you’re not going to, we’re not going to write it. There’s two people in the world that you really don’t want to piss off when it comes to you sitting in jail. One is the judge and the other is a bondsman. The judge will rake your bond up and if you piss off a bondsman and —- you’re what we call a ‘screwed pooch’.

What do you do for a living?

Police Detective

How would you describe what you do?

Investigate crimes against people and/or property (Burglary, Homocide, Forgery, Rape, Criminal Mischief)

What does your work entail?

Typing reports in office/speaking to victim’s via phone/attempt to locate/arrest suspects

What do you like about what you do?

Arresting suspects and bringing them to justice. Defending people that need help. Great feeling when you get a confession about a crime that you did not have a lot of evidence on, and you ended up arresting suspect.

What do you dislike?

I don’t like when the suspect/perp/thug gets away. Whether that is winning in court or slipping away during a chase…Or knowing that suspect/perp/thug committed a crime, but can not prove it.

What skills and education would someone need to follow this career path?

Highschool education and passion for defending people and catching criminals. Action packed job at times.

How do you make money? I don’t make any money…that is for the government and people that commit crimes. People from the city pay taxes and it goes to the city. The city turns and makes a paycheck then I deposit it into my checking account.

How much money do you make? $60,000. That is with overtime.

How much time off do you get?

Max vacation is 240 hrs…also get 100 comp hours…and 240 sick time. You get so many hours per week.

What is most challenging about what you do?

Reports

What is most rewarding?

Helping somebody…(Whether that is arresting a rape suspect, solving a Theft) very rewarding

What is the biggest misconception people have about what you do?

Having quotas

What advice would you offer someone considering this career/job?

Be a good citizen.

What are your goals/dreams for the future?

Climbing the ranks in the department…Chief, Captain, or Sgt. etc…

Is there anything else you would like people to know about what you do?

NO