How To…

Posted by Pamela S. on Thursday, August 9th, 2012

The digital world is full of “How To” advice. Searching the term pulls up 4,900,000,000 results on Google. Out of those almost 5 billion results, there must be some advice that we can use in the investigative business. Let’s find out.

How to think outside the box: I am sick of this cliché, but it is important to be able to use your mind in innovative and creative ways when you are an investigator. Read Lifehack’s “11 Ways to Think Outside the Box”. Number one on the list is: study another industry. Apparently you can learn a lot about your own by seeing how people in other industries deal with their issues. Or, you might find a link between the two industries, or a new client. Lifehack also provides a “Thinking outside the box mini-guide”. OK, so let’s take their advice and check out a different industry, something far removed from private investigation, security or law enforcement, and see what we learn:

How to become an actor: I guess that the television and movie industry really isn’t that far removed. After all, they use our industry all the time as inspiration for films and TV shows. But you can learn something. Even if an investigator is a figment of a writer’s imagination, they may come up with something you have never thought of. Take Columbo for instance. (For those old enough to remember, if not, use your investigative skills to look up this TV show.) I like his style and I have stolen some of it for my own use. Private investigators do have to act on occasion, so if you want to learn how to act professionally, check out The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts’ Professional Acting Tips.

How to disappear: There are 78,400,000 results for this search term. Apparently a lot of people want to disappear. Some want to hide from law enforcement, people who are owed money, or their spouses. Either way, why do we want to know how to disappear? Because we find people and the more we know how they do it the better. Read Lifehacker’s “How to Ditch Big Brother and Disappear Forever”. This article and many other sites quote Frank M. Ahearn. He is a former skip tracer who has written a couple of books on the topic, including “How To Disappear”.

How to drive a stick shift: You can disappear a lot faster if you can drive anything. According to an article on Jalopnik, “How To Drive A Stick Shift In Ten Easy Steps”, only 6% of new cars sold stateside have a manual transmission. Still, the time may come when you have to drive a vehicle with a manual transmission and it pays to know how.

How to read minds: If everyone were psychic we wouldn’t need investigators. Thankfully, most people don’t have a clue. I’m not saying you can learn how to read minds, but you can learn to read people. Start by reading this: Psychology Today’s “Mind Reading” Take this test to see if you can tell what people are thinking by looking at their eyes: “Reading the mind in the eyes”.

Former FBI Assistant Director Tom Sheer has recruited the best from the FBI, DEA, IRS and Secret Service to build a formidable team at Sheer Investigations. Our private investigators have the sensitivity and experience to handle the most delicate investigations.