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World of Work: Scott Whitted ’74, Deputy Chief, District Court Litigation Division, U.S. Department of Homeland Security

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Homeland Security Logo

Scott Whitted ’74
Deputy Chief, District Court Litigation Division, Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, Immigration and Customs Enforcement
United States Government, Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Williston, VT

Major: Political Science

What type of law do you practice and how did you choose that?
I’ve practiced civil law for my entire career, including private practice, with the Vermont Attorney General’s Office and now at one of the agencies in the Department of Homeland Security. I’ve never been a full-time litigator, but before I started my federal job I spent some time in court, especially when I was in the Attorney General’s office. Although criminal law and criminal procedure were interesting classes in law school, I never wanted to practice criminal law. Civil law held more appeal for me.

What surprised you about law school and/or the practice of law?
One big surprise was how poorly many lawyers write. The textbooks for most law school courses are compilations of judges’ decisions that often are not well written. They tend to be too long and full of obscure language. Law students copy the style, which perpetuates bad writing. In addition, practicing law can be a real grind, with much tedium and little glamour. There are rarely quick resolutions to legal problems.

What changes have you seen in the legal job market?
With the current economy, the competition for jobs is heightened. It’s a buyer’s market right now. My office recently advertised for four openings and we received dozens of applications.

What advice would you have for students interested in a career in law?  What should they be doing now?
Take college classes that encourage you to think critically and analytically. Those skills will help you to identify problems (“issue spotting”) and develop realistic solutions, which are important aspects of a lawyer’s job. Also, learn to write clearly and concisely. Lawyers do a lot of writing, and unfortunately many lawyers do not write well.

In addition, don’t be afraid to work for a few years before you go to law school. Not only may you be able to save some money toward law school, but you’ll have the benefit of experience in the “real world” before you return to academia. Admittedly, I may be partial to this approach because I worked for five years between UVM and law school.

Doing Good, Doing Well: Four Core Elements of Doing Well

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Compass

Belonging, Independence, Mastery, and Generosity

While to-do lists and deadlines are important to moving forward in our lives, clarifying our own intentions can move us in the direction we really want to go. The Circle of Courage, a strengths-based development philosophy, identified four crucial elements that may be useful guideposts as you navigate classes, activities, relationships and responsibilities:

Belonging: Relationships of Respect
Mastery: Competence and Achievement
Independence: Personal Responsibility / Inner Discipline
Generosity: Making Positive Contributions

Belonging is one guidepost we use at Career Services.  Core elements of building a sense of belonging are: People, Place & Purpose.

How can this be helpful? Here are some questions to ask in your work/life exploration:

People:
Who is doing work you believe in?
Who would you love to work with? Live near? Serve?

Place:
Where do you have or want to build connection?
In what type of environment do you flourish?  Location? Organizational culture?

Purpose:
What do you love doing?
What skills to you want to use? What is needed that you have to offer?

These questions can offer a larger perspective than your major, GPA and resume.  Reflect, explore and move in the direction that matters to you!

~Holly

Internship of the Month: ECHO Lakeside Aquarium and Science Center

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Kyle Pestlin

Intern: Kyle Pestlin
Class Year: 2012
Major: Biology
Employer: ECHO Lakeside Aquarium and Science Center
Internship Title: Animal Care Intern
Website: www.echovermont.org
LinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/kyle-pestlin/21/945/963

Briefly tell us about the organization you were with:

ECHO is an aquarium and science center located on the Burlington Waterfront. Their goal is to provide a fun and interactive environment for kids to learn about the local history, culture, and ecosystems. ECHO houses 70+ species of fish, amphibians, invertebrates, and reptiles and provides various internship opportunities including a variety of education/teaching internships.

How would you describe the various projects you did in for your organization someone who is unfamiliar with your field?

I worked in the Animal Care department which strictly deals with the animals. My job consisted of cleaning tanks, feeding, designing and building exhibit habitats, medicating animals, and learning about ECHO’s water system. All the techniques I’ve learned in animal care are transferable to other zoos and aquariums across the country to the standards of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).

What did you like best about this internship? What was most challenging?

What I enjoyed most about this internship was to learn about all the different aspects of animal husbandry. Working at ECHO has really improved my ability to create animal specific habitats that I now apply to my lizard tanks at home.

The most challenging aspect of working at ECHO was to remember all the different diets for each of the animals. For example, some fish get fish food that we make, while some eat fish, some eat earth worms, others eat blood worms, and that’s just the fish. Frogs, reptiles, turtles, and crustaceans all have specific diets as well.

How did you gain credit for this internship?

I met with Mary Beth Barritt at Career Services. She informed me of a course she was teaching that provides credit for internships (EDSS 239). The work for the course consisted of reading inspiring and thought-provoking articles and then writing responses to these articles while including relevant internship experience. This course helped facilitate the learning process in my internship by requiring critical thinking on aspects of the internship that otherwise would have gone without acknowledgement or appreciation.

What impact did this internship have on your career direction?

This internship really opened my eyes to what I truly enjoy doing. Just knowing that I am improving the lives of these animals by giving them care and attention makes it all worth it. This internship has also confirmed the importance of knowing you are contributing and making a difference in society.

What advice do you have for students searching for internships?

When looking for an internship you have to stay persistent and look for a job in a field you are truly interested in.

Why should students do an internship?

I feel having an internship is really helpful no matter what. Even if you hate your internship you then know that you may be in the wrong field. You may learn you enjoy certain aspects of your internship more than others, and it may not even be what you had expected. This helps narrow your overall career path to the job that will ultimately be best for you.

In Pursuit of a Balanced Life

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“Balance, peace, and joy are the fruit of a successful life. It starts with recognizing your talents and finding ways to serve others by using them.” -Thomas Kinkade

Healthy You

In this fast-paced world, it’s easy to learn the skills of extreme multi-tasking, sleep deprivation, delaying joy, and others that defeat efforts for our health and well-being.  School and work can make it challenging to practice self-care, and learning to balance all of life’s many demands can be tricky.

Although striking such a balance is no easy feat, even the President of The United States of America finds time to pull away from his demanding job.  The new year is a great time to begin implementing strategies to help you stay centered through all of life’s obstacles and prioritize the things that matter most to you.

Here are some tips for striking your own balance:

  • Identify your interests, skills, and values– reflecting on what’s important to you can help you assess what areas of your life need attention
  • Create manageable “To-Do” lists– develop a list of tasks and give yourself reasonable time to accomplish what you’ve laid out
  • Use a calendar or planner– by blocking out time for work, school, social activities, exercise and other parts of your day, you’ll give yourself a visual reminder of what balance means to you
  • Reserve time for ample sleep– 7-9 hours is generally advisable

Balance takes practice, but the benefits are well worth the effort.  Here’s to a balanced, peaceful, joyful you!

~Ashley

Study Abroad and Career Paths

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“Studying abroad allows you to come back and look at your own place and understand its strengths and weaknesses and escape from the idea, the deadly idea, that the way you are used to having things happen is the only way that they might work.” –Bill McKibben

Goofy

The added perspective that a study abroad experience can provide is not just beneficial to a student’s personal development but also to their job prospects.

“Cross-cultural competency” is a new term buzzing among today’s hiring managers. It’s a quality that signifies a person’s ability to adapt and work within the context of unfamiliar cultures and situations.

So when it comes to effectively communicating the significance of an international experience on a resume or in an interview, “students have to learn how to talk about that experience in terms of transferrable skills [and] how it relates to what an employer wants,” explains Cheryl Matherly, Tulsa University’s associate dean of global education.

Reflecting on an Abroad Experience

Here are some useful questions you can ask yourself to evaluate your study abroad experience and how you might want to communicate it to an employer:

  • What cultural differences existed in the work environment (academic or professional) and how did I cope with them?
  • How did I work with others in my host country?
  • How did cultural perspectives influence the teaching styles in my host country? How did I adapt to them?

~Jarrod

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