Prior to joining the Improve Group as a Research Assistant in January 2013, I had a rather interesting employment history that provided me with a diverse set of experiences. Without a doubt, the most remarkable position I held was as a Process Service Coordinator at a private detective agency.
Whenever I mention to someone that I was at one point a licensed private detective in the state of Illinois, I inevitably see their eyebrows rise. Contrary to what I may have told friends and family at the time, my experience did not involve gathering clues in alleyways or interrogating eyewitnesses under blinding lights. It did, however, involve developing unique organizational, communication, and decision making skills in a high pressure environment.
Although the detective agency did offer investigative services, its primary function was to handle process service for several large law firms all across the state of Illinois. Law firms would send the agency documents along with the names and addresses of individuals who needed to be served. My duties included managing our many in-state process servers whose job it was to deliver the documents. Most times, the individuals would no longer be at the address given so we would have to perform what was called a “skip-trace” in order to locate them. Often, the individuals would be residing out of the state which meant that I would then have to coordinate with an outside agency to deliver the documents.
Hundreds of jobs came in each week and each one had an expiration date when the documents could no longer be legally served. Each job also had a unique set of circumstances which would determine how difficult it would be to serve. I utilized a project tracking software and developed an organizational system that allowed me to stay on top of each job and to document progress. Since I was dealing with legal documents and information that could be used in future legal proceedings, attention to detail was of the utmost importance. I also gained experience working with professionals from law firms and process service agencies from all over the United States.
My experience with the detective agency taught me so much and challenged me to improve in a variety of areas. Coming out of the University of Minnesota, I had a great educational base in sociological research but needed an opportunity to gain some real-world skills that they don’t teach in the classroom. These skills have translated nicely to the research and evaluation world and I use them every day at the Improve Group. I am grateful for my experience at the detective agency, even with the inescapable Sherlock Holmes jokes.