There are so many things a professional genealogist can do for you. Understanding your options will help you...
- consider cost,
- identify your options, and
- find the right professional for your needs.
Each professional will have different skills and strengths. If you're looking for something really specific, consider starting with the member directory for the Association of Professional Genealogists.
You can specify genealogy research-related criteria to search for (locations, time periods, or other specifics about your ancestor) as well as having the option to find someone with "non-research specialties." Just scroll down the search options to see what you can choose from.
I've created this quick video to show you how to do it!
Because there are so many services a professional genealogist could offer, in this post, I'll just talk about the most common and what I offer that is a little different.
What do professional genealogists do (mostly)?
Most professional genealogists offer research about your ancestors. Some only offer specialty options (maybe research into a type of record, like court records or military records, only research in a location or ethnic group, or only DNA projects or only writing a family history). Today, many offer the option of including information from a DNA test, but not all. DNA is a specialty so even if they work with DNA, they may not specialize in using a tool or method that will help your project. If you specifically want help with DNA, you want a pretty good idea what you need help with so you can ask a potential professional about that service or option.
Now let's look at some more about "specialties." FYI, for much of this post, I'll use examples of what I do and do not offer as a professional genealogist to give you more concrete examples.
Genealogy "Research Specialties"
I specialize in the use of southern DNA. I don't specialize in adoption cases.
I know how to use DNA tools for any group that has a similar genetic inheritance pattern to southerners (people that intermarried within a limited population, but not so limited to cause "endogamy"). I also know what to ask you to help you determine if my specialty applies to your DNA results.
I'm not an expert in using tools and methods that are best for adoption cases. Genealogists that do specialize in adoption cases may also offer additional non-research services that are related. For an adoption case, those additional options are often important.
Additionally, although I specialize in southern DNA and will branch out to take DNA projects from other groups with similar DNA, I don't accept non-U.S. traditional research projects. There's a significant difference in how a "DNA project" and a "traditional project" (with or without DNA) is handled.
A note about DNA: Is it a specialty or not?
It is vital when looking to hire a professional that you mention if you have DNA results that are related to the project and what type of interest you have in using them. I charge differently for a "DNA project" but that is a different service than traditional research. If you have related DNA results for a traditional project, having access to those may affect the cost of your project. It doesn't automatically make it cost more, it may get you better results for the same cost. In my situation, I have the expertise to help you determine if we should use the DNA results or not.
Assuming including DNA will cost more, and not telling your professional the results are available, might cost you more in the long run.
Talk to your prospective professional about whether you have related DNA results, have an interest (or not) in taking a DNA test, and any thoughts you have about the use of DNA for your project. You may or may not need someone that specializes in the use of DNA. You may decide to pay more (or less) to hire someone that has the right experience with DNA. You can't determine this if you don't have a conversation with the prospective professional about including or excluding DNA from your project.
Knowing what is unique about your genealogy problem or goal will help you find the best genealogist.
Do you need a research specialist or a project manager?
After over a decade getting requests for genealogical help, I discovered there was another "specialty" I was best at offering. I call it "project management." This isn't the type of management every genealogist should do (they should all be managing the project they are working on by making sure they stay on-budget, on-time, and are focusing on the project goal). This is something more than just the basics.
Example: Specialist
I once had someone come to me with their southern research problem. I am a southern specialist living in the south so it sounds like I'd be a great fit, right?
But what she really needed was someone who could access records, in-person, for one county in South Carolina. I didn't have access to those records and it would have been quite expensive (for the client) for me to travel to access them.
I could have taken her project but I would have just ended up hiring one person to get the records for me. If that person could have done all the work, not just getting copies of records, why would she hire me? In this example, a project manager was an unnecessary middle man. This prospective client just needed one specialist.
Example: Project Manager
Often clients come to me and they want several generations researched or their ancestor just moved around a lot. This is the type of project management I discovered was one of my specialties. You don't want to find a genealogist in each location where you need to access records in-person. That's a lot of work.
For a project of this type, I was best at managing the project. I could find genealogists in other locations when they were needed or just hire someone to get copies of the records when a genealogist wasn't available. I could put together all those pieces from different locations and decide how best to "manage" the project. That was still staying on-budget, on-time, and focusing on the goal, but it required a lot more than just my own work.
It used to be this was how most genealogy would be done unless all research was in one location. Today, with online research and DNA, most genealogists specialize in only managing their own work. They may not need to work with other genealogists or know how to.
You will see with large genealogy companies, they use a project manager because work is done by multiple people. Most large genealogy research firms specialize in project management, regardless if they state this explicitly. That is why their costs are often much higher, you are paying a manager as well as the individual genealogists. If you need a project manager, the higher cost may well be worth it.
(As a note, large companies can often achieve results faster for multi-location projects because they already have more staff and contractors to call on than a small operation. If you have a multi-location project, consider how much speed is worth to you. I have found most dissatisfaction from clients comes from how slow research is, yet they balk at paying the price of a large company. Having multiple people working on your project simultaneously is the only way to get faster results and that costs money).
Which Type of Genealogy Research Project Do You Have?
So those are three types of services a genealogist can offer you, the use of DNA (including sub-specialties), location or topic-specific research, and project management which is for projects that are the opposite of location or topic-specific projects.
Non-Research Genealogy Projects
I have also offered other types of services not offered by all genealogists and these are a great place to save money, if you can find someone that offers them. I've offered record retrievals, paid consultations, coaching, and reviews.
Actual research requires a lot of time. I would say a genealogist can't do "research" for less than a 10-hour minimum unless they are either doing some required tasks for free or are (inappropriately) skipping those tasks.
Just getting a copy of records (record retrieval) is not "research" so that can be done in less time.
Consultations, coaching, and reviews, exclude actual research and therefore can be done in less time.
For clarity, a research project includes:
- Review of the client's existing research and goals.
- Planning of new research
- Executing the planned research
- Analyzing and reporting on the executed research.
- Repeating this process as needed.
Not everyone wants to commit to a research project because of the amount of time it takes. Some people, myself included, don't really want to give up the fun of doing the research themself. For my personal research, I often hire people to get copies of records for me but I rarely hire anyone to do research for me. It's not just that I'm capable of doing it myself, because it would be faster to hire someone else, it's because I want to do the research. It's fun.
Consultations, coaching, and reviews are smaller projects that do not involve research. Reviews are that first step in the list with a report provided, possibly with the option of having a research plan created for the client to execute. Coaching is a series of reviews or related consultations. A consultation can be anything from answering questions on the fly to something more formal like a review but might not focus on a research goal. (These descriptions are based on how I use these terms, other professionals may use different terms or define them differently so make sure and get specifics!).
Conclusion
A professional genealogist can offer many different options. Most do not offer all options and some only offer one very specific type of research. Before you can find the right genealogist, you need to think about what makes your project unique.
There are four main options to consider.
- Specialty research projects (find a specialist)
- Non-specific research projects (find someone good at managing contractors or with employees in different location)
- Research involving DNA results (you may need a DNA specialist if that is your primary focus)
- Non-research (look-ups, consultations, coachng, reviews)
You project might neatly fit into one of these options or involve several. Narrowing down the focus of your project will help you find the best genealogist for you and your project.
