Fellowships
We are often looking for talented professionals to staff our Washington, DC area office. We also host a fellowship program that offers two paid scholarships annually for Private Investigator Entry Level (02E) training to candidates who write essays on issues related to private investigations. All private investigators in Virginia must complete sixty hours of training and pass an exam at a school certified by the Department of Criminal Justice Service (DCJS). We accept essays throughout the year from fellowship applicants and choose the best two—one in January and the other in July—that demonstrate superior writing and critical-thinking skills. We then pay for these fellows’ tuition for a DCJS-certified school of their choosing after successful completion of the 02E course. We also pay for one year of membership in the Private Investigators Association of Virginia.
We do not promise employment opportunities or anything else to our fellows. Likewise, fellows do not have any obligation to us, except that the essays become the property of Dinolt Becnel & Wells Investigative Group, who may choose to publish them, with full credit to the fellow, in magazines or on blogs related to our industry.
To apply for the next fellowship, please submit your 1,000- to 2,000-word essay as a Word attachment to the attention of Philip Becnel at inquiry@dinolt.com by midnight on June 30, 2011. All of our fellowship essays are about emerging theories, technologies or trends related to private investigations. The designated topic for the July 2011 essay is: "How social media have changed the field of private investigating." All formatting should be done in the Chicago Style. We do not accept fiction.
For more information about applying to become a fellow, for essay ideas or to learn more about the submission guidelines, please visit our firm on Facebook. For a list of certified schools in Virginia that offer the 02E course, visit DCJS’s website here.
Candidates
For those interested in applying for private investigator positions at our firm, minimum requirements include a four-year college degree, at least one year of fulltime experience conducting interviews, exceptional written and verbal communication skills and a highly ethical character. All unsolicited applicants (those not sent in response to a job posting) must have an active Virginia DCJS private investigator registration. Unsolicited resumes collected from qualified applicants are considered first, before we post new job openings. Many of our best investigators have had backgrounds in journalism, marketing and law enforcement. Multilingual candidates are also highly desirable.
Our investigator positions are fulltime and nonexempt, and they include company-paid health insurance, a company-contributed retirement account and eligibility for tuition reimbursement. All candidates must pass a thorough background check. For general information about working as a private investigator, see the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook.
If you are interested in applying as an investigator at our firm, email a resume and cover letter to the attention of Philip Becnel at inquiry@dinolt.com.