How To Become An Investigative Research Specialist: What It Is and Career Path

What is an investigative research specialist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Anthony Miller

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an investigative research specialist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $27.61 an hour? That's $57,435 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 19% and produce 150,300 job opportunities across the U.S.

What's a day at work look like for an investigative research specialist?

Anthony Miller

Assistant Professor of History, Hanover College

Honestly, right now a recent graduate's "day at work" for one day to the next will likely not look the same. I think it should be expected that recent graduates will spend one day working remotely from the home, and the next be called into workspace with their colleagues face-to-face. Recent graduates will also likely have their jobs go from having no travel at present, to a time in the near future when work trips will be a regular expectation from their employer. The one feature that I would expect to be a regular, day-to-day, part of the job would be continuing education to learn new platforms and technologies to enhance their performance at work. So, spending an hour or two each day researching or acquiring new skills, that is something that I think will become a daily routine.

ScoreInvestigative Research SpecialistUS Average

Salary

4.5

Avg. Salary $57,435

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.9

Growth rate 19%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.13%

Asian 10.32%

Black or African American 3.88%

Hispanic or Latino 9.12%

Unknown 4.67%

White 71.88%

Gender

female 52.27%

male 47.73%

Age - 34

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 - 34

Stress level

4.9

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.2

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.6

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an investigative research specialist

Explore investigative research specialist education requirements

Most common investigative research specialist degrees

Bachelor's

48.3 %

Associate

20.7 %

Master's

17.2 %

Start to develop specific investigative research specialist skills

Skills	Percentages
Law Enforcement Agencies	53.21%
Background Checks	46.79%

Complete relevant investigative research specialist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New investigative research specialists 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 an investigative research specialist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real investigative research specialist resumes.

Research investigative research specialist duties and responsibilities

Create weekly presentations using Microsoft PowerPoint and manage monthly board meetings.
Demonstrate the ability to deal with patients and insurance companies regarding sensitive financial matters and recapture unpaid balances.
Maintain biobank of blood and serum clinical specimens collect from HIV-1 infect patients.

Prepare your investigative research specialist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your investigative research specialist resume.

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