TERIS Senior Forensic Consultant Tim Weaver, attended the Saratoga High School Career Day on April 1st. Tim presented to two groups of 25 students. Throughout the day, the students heard presentations from a variety of guest speakers covering various careers. Tim provided a discussion on the career “Computer Forensic Scientist/Crime Lab.”
Tim talked about his experience at Career Day and advice he has for young people thinking about a career in legal technology.
1) What were the 3 best questions students asked?
How does someone get started in this job field? What is a typical workday like for a Private Industry Forensic Consultant? Does someone have to start by working for the government to do this type of work?
2) What did YOU learn from the presentations?
I was reminded of the difficulty I had trying to decide what I wanted to do when I was in High School. I learned that this is still a difficult situation for graduating high school students. It was encouraging to see that counselors are helping students by putting this type of event together to help give students more information from people working in various fields.
3) How/why were you invited to speak to this group?
I was asked to participate by the Quality Manager at the local FBI Regional Computer Forensic Lab. She has done this presentation in past years, but was unavailable this year. I used to be the Operations Manager at that lab and they thought I had interesting career experience and that I would be a good resource for the students. I received an invitation from Carolyn Doles, Parent Coordinator for the Saratoga High School College & Career Center.
4) Based on this experience, do you want to do more presentations?
Yes. I used to work as a Newark (CA) Police Officer. I was a Crime Prevention Officer for several years. I routinely made public presentations for Neighborhood Watch, Personal Safety and Fraud Business Crime Prevention. I enjoy doing public presentations.
5) What advice do you have for young people thinking about a career in legal tech?
This is an exciting career field. There is challenging work and there are a growing number of job opportunities.
Tim has more than 20 years experience as a computer forensic examiner and investigator, with primary expertise in collecting and analyzing digital evidence in a forensically appropriate manner and explaining the significance of forensic findings. Prior to joining TERIS, Weaver was operations manager and deputy lab director at the Silicon Valley Computer Forensic Laboratory for six years. He also served as district attorney senior investigator in Santa Clara County for eight years and as a police officer and detective at Newark PD for 20 years.
If you are interested in learning more about careers at TERIS, you can visit our website.