Qualities to Look for in a Professional Genealogist

If you’ve decided to hire a professional genealogist, there are some qualities you should look for when making your final decision on whether or not you should hire the person.

Education and Training

Ask your potential genealogist what type of education and/or training he/or she has had that makes him/her the best candidate to research your family tree. You don’t want someone who has just figured out how to research genealogy because he/she may not know important factors in figuring out complex family trees. Furthermore, training provides the genealogist with information about valuable research tools.

Experience

Education isn’t everything. You don’t just want someone who knows how to do research on family trees, you want someone who has experience. Preferably, a few years experience would be best. You can also ask for references so you can confirm the time the person has been a genealogist.

Professionalism

When hiring a professional genealogist, you want someone you can work with. You will spend quite a bit of time communicating back and forth with the person so it’s wise that you find someone you can get along with professionally.

Portfolio

Request to see the person’s past work so you can see what he/she is capable of doing. You may like what you see or you may not, but it will be what will help you decide if you should hire him/her.

Specialties

If your family has lived in other parts of the world, you may need a professional genealogist who knows foreign languages.

Another specialty is a genealogist who exclusively works with special populations such as the military.

Can you think of any qualities a professional genealogist should have? Leave a comment and share your thoughts!

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July 14th, 2009 by Marcelina Hardy | Posted in Geneology Companies | Comments (0)

Why You Should Hire a Professional Genealogist

If you want to research your family history, but are having a difficult time getting started or continuing, you may consider hiring a professional genealogist.

Here are some of the reasons why you should hire a professional genealogist to research your family tree:

• You don’t have the time to research and follow leads to find information about your family.
• You don’t have the resources to find family information.
• You don’t have the skills to do research to find detailed information. You may know that you need to start on the Internet but you don’t have the foggiest idea on where to go or what to do.
• You’re stuck with the research you’ve done and have exhausted all of your leads. A professional genealogist has many resources that you may not know about that can help get you further in your research.
• You need someone who will be able to speak a different language to discuss information about your family in another country. A translator may not be able to help you as much as because a genealogist knows the right questions to ask to gain leads and information.
• You don’t feel like researching but want the information. If you have the skill, time and resources, you may still not feel like doing it because it is a lot of work.

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July 8th, 2009 by Marcelina Hardy | Posted in Geneology Companies | Comments (0)