Private investigators tend to wear many different hats. A lot of their time is spent making personal deliveries of citations, summons, subpoenas, and other legal documents to individuals inolved in legal cases. Tracking down people who avoid debts can also be an important part of a private investigator’s job. A person who is trying to avoid repaying a debt may be termed an "absconding debtor”.

Some private investigators who work independently and some agencies specialize in a particular area of investigation. Some agencies, for example, specialize in tracking down missing persons while others may specialise in technical surveillance countermeasures, or TSCM, which means locating and dealing with unwanted forms of electronic surveillance.

The kind of work you do as private investigator is very much up to you. It depends how or where you decide to work.