Detectives and Criminal Investigators

Also Called:

Criminal Investigator,

Detective,

Investigator,

Special Agent

What they do: Conduct investigations related to suspected violations of Federal, State, or local laws to prevent or solve crimes. Excludes Private Detectives and Investigators (33-9021).

Law, Public Safety, Corrections and Security icon

Law, Public Safety, Corrections and Security

Career Cluster

What do they typically do on the job?

  • Check victims for signs of life, such as breathing and pulse.
  • Obtain facts or statements from complainants, witnesses, and accused persons and record interviews, using recording device.
  • Secure deceased body and obtain evidence from it, preventing bystanders from tampering with it prior to medical examiner's arrival.

Personality

People interested in this work like activities that include ideas, thinking, and figuring things out.

Initiative

Perseverance

Adaptability

Stress Tolerance

Self-Control

Achievement Orientation

Interests

Career interests describe the perspectives and interests of people who enjoy the type of work involved in this career.

Discover what your interests are by taking the Interest Profiler Quiz

See Related Jobs

Investigative

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Conventional

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Realistic

Abilities

Whether you have received formal training or not, these types of abilities are helpful in this career.

Verbal

  • Listen and understand what people say

  • Communicate by speaking

Ideas and Logic

  • Make general rules or come up with answers from lots of detailed information

  • Notice when problems happen

Visual Understanding

  • See hidden patterns

  • Quickly know what you are looking at

Attention

  • Do two or more things at the same time

Skills

People who want to pursue this career have skills in these areas.

Basic Skills

  • Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions

  • Talking to others

Problem Solving

  • Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it

Social

  • Understanding people's reactions

  • Changing what is done based on other people's actions

Does this sound like something you'd like to do?

1. Do some research

  • Identify how your interests, values, and strengths match this occupation
  • Talk to someone who works in this field or spend a day job shadowing
  • Use the colleges and training directory to explore programs related to this career

2. Plan your next move

  • Talk to your college and career counselor or school admissions staff
  • Visit Idaho Launch
  • Search for available Detectives and Criminal Investigators jobs on Idaho Works

Data for NSI career cards comes from the following: Idaho Department of Labor, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, O*NET, MyNextMove, and Career OneStop