Private Investigators may specialise in finding missionaries, conducting background checks, providing investigative services, or conducting marital investigations. Private investigators may work as skip tracers alongside bail bondsmen or bounty hunters during criminal investigations, or they may work as law enforcement officers during criminal investigations. They could also specialise in detecting insurance fraud or locating missing children.

Finally, private investigators may work in a more general capacity, providing clients with a wide range of investigative services. Private investigators adhere to a strict set of standards, regardless of the field or industry in which they work.