# My Career Goals

## Time Horizon
6-12 months

## North Star (1 sentence)
Find a role where I can apply my investigative and analytical skills at scale - helping more people or solving bigger problems than I can as a solo practitioner.

## Top 3 Skills I Want to Build
1. **Data analysis & visualization** - I'm great at finding patterns intuitively, but I want to back it up with formal analytical skills and tools
2. **Leadership & team management** - I've always worked solo or with a small crew; I want to learn how to build and lead a team
3. **Strategic thinking** - Moving from solving individual cases to understanding systems and designing solutions at a higher level

## Industries or Problem Areas I'm Curious About
- **Fraud detection / financial crimes** - Similar to what I do, but at institutional scale
- **Investigative journalism** - Particularly tech/policy investigations that have real-world impact
- **Legal tech** - Tools that help people access justice or make legal research more efficient
- **Trust & safety at tech companies** - Content moderation, platform integrity, fighting misinformation
- **Consulting** - Corporate investigations, due diligence, risk assessment

## Non-Negotiables (2)
1. **Meaningful work** - I need to believe what I'm doing matters. I can't just optimize for profit.
2. **Autonomy** - I need space to pursue leads my own way. Micromanagement kills my effectiveness.

## In 6 months, I'd be happy to have...
A clear direction - either committed to scaling my own practice, or found an organization where my skills genuinely fit and I'm learning new things.

## If I had to choose, I'd prioritize...
**Impact over compensation.** I've been comfortable financially doing my own thing. The next move needs to be about growth and meaning, not money (though I'm not going to work for free either).

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## Current Opportunities I'm Evaluating

### Option A: Senior Investigator at Major Law Firm
- Pros: Stability, bigger cases, learn corporate law
- Cons: Less autonomy, billable hours culture, might be boring

### Option B: Trust & Safety Lead at Tech Startup
- Pros: Tech skills, scale of impact, cutting edge problems
- Cons: Startup risk, might be too removed from actual investigation

### Option C: Build Out Drew Detective Agency
- Pros: Full control, proven model, know the work
- Cons: Scaling myself is hard, might hit ceiling, lonely

### Option D: Go Back to School (Law or Data Science)
- Pros: Formalize skills, new doors, structured learning
- Cons: Expensive, time commitment, might not need degree

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## Questions I'm Trying to Answer
- Do I want to be a practitioner or a leader?
- Is the "investigator" identity limiting me or defining me?
- What does "scale" actually mean for the kind of work I care about?
- Am I running toward something or away from something?