Your inspiration began when you thought of becoming a PI, Bail Agent or Process Server. Most of us got this idea because we watched a lot of tv, know or knew a police officer or PI or a number of other popular reasons.

Once manifested, inspiration can turn into drive and determination. Where to let your determination loose is something for careful contemplation.

The best way I could recommend vetting an educational institution for PI work is not just by their advertisements, but the following:

1) Does the educational institution or association provide a FREE sample of what they have to offer?

Every establishment I looked into did not offer any free 'sneak peak' until I stumbled upon the IPIU. The IPIU was coincidently included as a suggested association to belong to, by an establishment I wasted more then $800 on, to obtain a PI certification.

The IPIU offers a free guest account with level 1 access to the forums such as what you are reading now.

2) Do they belong to the Better Business Bureau or Chamber of Commerce?

If so, this is a really good sign!

By joining one of these two establishments, an establishment is submitting itself to monitoring, to ensure compliance with their rules of operation.

If not, there is cause for concern and I'm sure you can think of some reasons why.

3) How long has the educational establishment been in operation?
The age of an establishment says a lot about what it can offer and how usable their information is. If they are offering something useless or sub-par, they're not likely to do business very long.

4) Does the establishment tell you how many students and members they have?
For an example, go to the main forum page and scroll to the bottom. Look for the Private Investigator Forums Statistics section and review the number of current members.

An establishment with a large number of members is a good indication, the establishment has something real to offer.

5) Does the establishment allow you to correspond with current members so you can ask what their satisfaction level is?
For example, when you get your free level 1 membership, you can post in other member's introduction threads to ask if they're happy with their membership.

My strong suggestion; check the user's title area to make sure the user is a union member. Guest members often get frustrated because of their limited access. Most of the good, usable information to start making money is reserved for fraternal (or paid) members.

6) Does the establishment offer Job Placement or Job Placement Assistance (there is a BIG difference)?
Job Placement is when the establishment can, by whatever means, put you to work.

Job Placement Assistance could mean they give you a possibly out dated list of companies that are or were hiring.

One text book, received from another establishment (not the IPIU) included names of companies to apply to. This was part of their placement assistance. 25% of these companies no-longer existed. HOWEVER, they recommended membership here!

This raises one last question; Why would one establishment suggest going to a competitor at the completion of their training, if their training was so great?

Disclaimer
I am not a recruiter for the Private Investigators Union. I do not make commission from this statement, post, thread or my recommendation of joining through the posting in this thread. I am not an employee of the IPIU or affiliates. I am a member and work for Task Force Investigations Inc, established with the assistance and under the code of ethics, conduct and morals of the International Private Investigators Union.

IF you would like to obtain a free guest membership, so you can reply to this post, click the following link to register. http://www.ipiu.org/forums/register.php?action=signup