How To Become A Certified Legal Investigator: What It Is and Career Path

What is a certified legal investigator and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a certified legal investigator. For example, did you know that they make an average of $23.81 an hour? That's $49,535 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 2,100 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreCertified Legal InvestigatorUS Average

Salary

3.9

Avg. Salary $49,535

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.1

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.29%

Asian 4.79%

Black or African American 15.07%

Hispanic or Latino 17.52%

Unknown 6.39%

White 55.94%

Gender

female 61.76%

male 38.24%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress level

7.1

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.9

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.3

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a certified legal investigator

Explore certified legal investigator education requirements

Most common certified legal investigator degrees

Bachelor's

53.3 %

Associate

25.3 %

Master's

13.3 %

Start to develop specific certified legal investigator skills

Skills	Percentages
Law Enforcement Agencies	46.42%
Federal Agencies	27.01%
Incident Management	26.57%

Complete relevant certified legal investigator training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New certified legal investigators learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a certified legal investigator based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real certified legal investigator resumes.

Research certified legal investigator duties and responsibilities

Participate in and lead the controlled purchase of illegal narcotics and firearms to apprehend suspects.
Take and submit DNA evidence.
Create quality control documentation associate with manufacturing process, raw materials and quality testing procedures according to corporate and FDA guidelines.
Perform surveillance of suspects using binoculars, cameras and camcorders.

Prepare your certified legal investigator resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your certified legal investigator resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a certified legal investigator resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable certified legal investigator resume templates

Build a professional certified legal investigator resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your certified legal investigator resume.