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Hi drc,
Please don't compare between the two.
There is a huge different between someone life and someone hard drive.
Actually there isn't. In many cases a hard drive can hold the key to saving many lives, not just one. Media Exploitation jobs in government intelligence agencies do exactly this. You may never be asked to retrieve data recovered from a terrorist cell in the hopes of discovering and stopping their next target, but you should approach every data recovery with the same purpose of mind.
You have to actually
want to do data recovery, not just do it because you think you can make some quick $$$. It's a tough economy and people have to do what they can to survive, but this is one of those areas where you can do more harm than good if you aren't careful.
There is a lot of disdain on these forums for pc repair technicians who slap the "data recovery" label on their menu of services because (as has been previously stated), they give the professionals in the field a bad name. The consumer doesn't know and doesn't care to know the difference. As far as they are concerned their "computer" is "broken" and the guy who fixed it the last time should be able to fix it again. They don't want to hear that it may cost anywhere from 1K-3.5K+ USD to repair.. Certainly someone out there can do it for cheaper.. So they jump on Craigslist, find a guy who offers to do it for $49, and no recovery, no fee! What a deal! Nevermind that the entire financials for his business are on the hard drive... The "Data recovery guy" gets the drive, and the first thing he does is run scandisk, or SpinRite.. and if that wasn't bad enough, halfway through the scan, the drive dies for good.. and now it's even more work once the owner decides that it is time to call in the high priced companies..
I would agree with the idea that you develop a partnership with one or more qualified DR professionals and strive for the win/win. You can develop your word of mouth reputation for being successful and no one has to know about the "man behind the curtain". Odds are good that if you find the right individual to partner with, you can learn from him/her, but mentorship in this industry always comes at a price.. be it $$, information trading, or whatever else is desired.