UPDATE - 1 January 2023: Hi there! This blog post has become super popular since I wrote it, so I’ve updated it for 2023. Be sure to check out the continuations, Part 2 and Part 3, which have also been revised. Thanks for reading!

Yelp is to finding a restaurant as ______ is to finding a genealogist

When I'm looking for a painter, or a new hairdresser, or the best laundromat in my neighborhood, I use review sites like Yelp. With tools like star ratings, filtering by location, and links to websites, Yelp makes me feel like I've made an informed decision about whom to hire, even if I know nothing about painting, or cutting hair, or running a laundromat.

Unfortunately, no such review site exists for professional genealogists. There are opt-in directories, available on websites such as the Association of Professional Genealogists, or lists of genealogists who hold specific credentials, such as the BCG Directory. Local repositories may also have lists of local researchers. We also can't forget about the big companies with lots of hard-to-miss commercials. (Exchanged any lederhosen lately?)

How do you choose a genealogist?

Full disclosure: I am a professional genealogist available for hire. Regardless, I want everyone to have the best experience possible when hiring a genealogist, whether or not that person is me. From talking to lots of clients, potential clients, and fellow genealogists, I've realized that...

There is a lot of misinformation about what genealogists do and how to find the best one for your family.

By writing this 3-part series of blog posts, I hope that I can help someone (hey there!) hire the best genealogist for their family. In Part 2, you can read valuable information about how to evaluate a genealogist’s credentials. In Part 3, you can learn where to search for a qualified genealogist. Hopefully someday, Yelp will develop a separate micro-site for reviewing genealogists, but until then, here we go:

Thing to Know #1: There are different kinds of genealogists

If you scroll through any of those lists of professionals or directories that I mentioned in my introduction, count the number of times you see the word...

*** Specialize ***

Just try it, it's a fun game! Not really.

"Specialize," "specializes," and "specialties," show up a lot because genealogists have different educational backgrounds and expertise. Some of those specialties have names, like forensic genealogist, while others are related to geographic areas, time periods, record types, or populations that the genealogist has spent a great deal of time studying.

Specialties are good.

In 2018, I saw a play here in New York City called Straight White Men (go with me on this). In it, one of the characters says something along the lines of, "Most people suck at most things." (I'm paraphrasing, and apologies if I've offended anyone with that quote.)

Generally though, I think that's a good way to think about hiring a professional genealogist. It’s impossible to be an expert in everything, so look for someone who specializes in topics related to your family.

There are lots of benefits to hiring a genealogist who specializes in a topic related to your family. Using myself as an example, one of my specialties is New York City genealogy. When I’m doing research on a client’s ancestors who lived in New York City, I bring these skills to the table:

• I know which repositories have which records, so I'm less likely to spend a bunch of time trying to figure out where to look.

• Lots of New York collections aren't available online. By being local, I can make more discoveries for my clients.

• Since I work with the same record types and collections regularly, I can analyze records more thoroughly.

• I know local archivists and librarians who can let me know if they have something new in the pipeline, or if they just found something cool in the basement that might pertain to my client's ancestor. No, really.

It’s ideal if the genealogist lives in the area where your ancestors lived, but it is not a requirement. For example, there are fantastic genealogists who research Italian genealogy who do not live in Italy.

Some specialties have names attached to them, and they refer to the type of research the genealogist does. Here are a few examples:

• Forensic genealogists are more likely to deal with living people, one way or another. They might locate living heirs for probate cases, provide affidavits or testify in court, or help identify family members of deceased service members who died abroad. Some forensic genealogists are also lawyers. They can also be more expensive than other kinds of genealogists. If you think you might need a forensic genealogist, a great place to find one is the Council for the Advancement of Forensic Genealogy.

• Lineage society specialists help clients to determine their eligibility for and submit applications to organizations based on ancestry, like the Daughters of the American Revolution or my personal favorite, the Descendants of Pirates and Privateers. Some lineage societies have very specific requirements, so it can be helpful to hire someone who know the ins and outs of each lineage society.

• Genetic genealogists have advanced experience with using DNA to solve genealogical problems. There are different areas of genetic genealogy—identifying unknown parentage for an adoptee vs. using DNA to confirm a 5th-great-grandparent—so read the genealogist's directory listing or website to look for examples of work relevant to your family. Full disclosure: I am a genetic genealogist.

Read through a genealogist’s areas of specialty to get a feel for what they do. Bear in mind, genealogists can be experts in several, seemingly disparate fields, and that’s not a red flag. Over a long career, it’s normal for genealogists to add to their list of specialties.

Thing to Know #2: Specialties aren’t everything

When you visit a restaurant, you’re not just looking for tasty food that won’t send you to the ER. You’re also evaluating the restaurant’s customer service, the wait time for a table, the ambience, the price, and other factors.

Genealogy is the same way: you’re not just looking for a researcher who is competent. You also want someone who is a good writer, will answer your emails in a timely manner, and who sets clear expectations for the project, laid out in a contract.

If you’ve never hired a genealogist, it can be hard to recognize red flags when you see them.

Let’s take a look at the difference between some actual red flags and things that might seem like red flags, but are totally fine.

Thing to Know #3: What to look for when you’re comparing genealogists

• Is this person a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG)? APG members don’t go through any vetting, but they are bound to follow APG’s Code of Ethics. In the worst-case scenario, if you have an issue with an APG member, you have recourse by going through the association’s complaint process.

• Do they require you to sign a contract? All reputable genealogists require that you put your work agreements in writing. If the genealogist does not require a contract, that is a big red flag.

• Are they full-time? There are some exceptions for semi-retired genealogists with decades of experience, but in general and for big family history projects, I advise hiring a full-time genealogist over someone who does genealogy as a side gig. If you are looking for something small or straightforward, like a record retrieval, a part-time genealogist is totally fine.

• What is the final product? Reputable genealogists put their findings in writing, usually in the form of a research report or book with full source citations. Written deliverables and source citations ensure transparency—the work can be duplicated and verified by another professional. Qualified professionals do not deliver finished findings in the body of an email, over the phone, or omit source citations. Like the previous bullet point, the exception would be a small project like a record retrieval, where a report would be overkill.

• Do they promise a positive research outcome ahead of time? As a genealogist, I may have guesses about how a case may go, but I cannot guarantee a positive research outcome. Sometimes, a case is not solvable within a client’s budget, or at all. That is why most research projects are charged by the hour: you are paying for the time a genealogist spends on your project, not a specific result. Be wary of someone who promises that they can definitely, 100% take your tree back to a Mayflower ancestor or similar.

• This one is just my own personal observation and others may disagree, but in their professional profile or on their website, do they talk about their own family a lot? We all love to talk about our own research, but when you hire a genealogist, the focus should be on you. A genealogist who gives a lot of examples of their own family research may be compensating for the fact that they don’t have much professional experience.

Thing to Know #4: Things that may seem like red flags, but are actually a-okay

• Genealogists are not allowed to share examples of past clients’ work without express written permission. It is normal not to see a sample report ahead of time. I know, that feels really scary! That’s why you’ll want to evaluate their credentials first.

• A genealogist without professional credentials (e.g., Certified Genealogist [CG] or Accredited Genealogist [AG]). Genealogists with credentials have passed tests and/or had their work independently evaluated for competency. A lack of a credential isn’t a red flag, though—plenty of excellent pros are not certified or accredited. You can learn how to spot them in Part 2.

• A higher- or lower-than-expected hourly rate. Some experts charge very little, and some grifters charge a boatload. That’s why it’s important to search for a professional in the right places.

• It is normal for research to take a long time—anywhere from two to twelve months, and occasionally longer for very big projects. Because a lot of records are not online, it can take awhile for things to come in the mail or through interlibrary loan. I’m writing this in 2021, and pandemic-related understaffing and repository closures have definitely made projects run slower than they normally would. Adding to the time, some in-demand genealogists may also have a waiting list.

• Only a few years of professional experience. A lot of genealogists write in their professional profiles or bios that they have, “been doing genealogy for [10, 20, 50, 100] years.” In genealogical circles, this number almost always includes the years they spent as a hobbyist—including when they were children. It’s a pervasive and misleading practice that leads to some, uh, slightly inflated numbers. Ergo, it’s best to evaluate professionals based on their educational experiences, the quality of their publications, and their credentials, not the number of years they’ve been doing genealogy.

Keep Learning

I hope this post has given you some helpful information about how to hire the best professional genealogist for your family. You can learn how to evaluate a genealogist’s résumé in the next installment of my three-part series, How to Find a Professional Genealogist: Part 2. In Part 3, you can learn about where to actually find the Unicorn Genealogist for your family history project. If your project falls within my areas of expertise, please reach out!

If you’ve found this blog post helpful, please consider buying me a coffee to say thanks. Literally thousands of people just like you have gained assistance from this blog series, which is both free and ad-free, so I would be truly grateful if you could chip in a few bucks to keep it running and to support future posts. Many thanks!

Happy Hunting,
Meryl

Disclosures: I hold the Certified Genealogist credential, awarded by the Board for Certification of Genealogists, and I am a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists. I am listed on the directories for both organizations. This post is comprised of my opinions, and I received no compensation for mentioning any organization in this post.