by Molly Bowdring, University of Pittsburgh
Now that the internship application season has come to a close, students who have gone through the process are eager to share strategies aimed at helping you to minimize your burden and maximize your likelihood of success. Specifically, we highlight approaches for navigating one aspect of the application process: preparing for interviews.
Scheduling: After submitting applications, consider creating a calendar with all sites to which you have applied, tentative interview dates for each site, and your preferred interview schedule. This will facilitate quick responses when offered an interview, which enhances the likelihood of receiving a preferred date. Scheduling interviews in December when possible reduces the burden in January, which is when most programs host interviews. Some applicants choose to schedule anticipated top choices for earlier dates to decrease chances of being “burnt out” or sick. Keep in mind that applicants typically gain confidence and may be better prepared with their responses later in the process. There is no one right approach to scheduling, but aim to have some plan for when you start receiving invites.
Interviewing basics: Interview formats vary in both mode and structure – e.g., in-person interviews, optional in-person (“non-evaluative”) open houses, phone or webcam interviews, and online short-response surveys. In-person interviews tend to be the most common format, wherein a portion of the day is dedicated to informing applicants about the program’s training opportunities and the other part of the day is dedicated to interviews with rotation supervisors and sometimes current interns. Most interview days run from early morning through mid-late afternoon and there is typically an informal conversation with current interns over lunch.
Prior to attending interviews, obtain a list of common questions asked by interviewers (see Williams-Nickelson, Prinstein, & Keilin, 2019) and outline the main points that you want to include in your responses. Most responses will apply across programs (e.g., commenting on your dissertation), but you will want to tailor some to specific programs (e.g., why you are interested in working with the population a site serves). Additionally, come up with an extensive list of questions to ask interviewers. Some interviewers expect you to take the lead in directing conversation, so be sure to have plenty of questions to raise.
Participating in mock interviews with faculty, clinical supervisors, and colleagues is a great way to practice and get feedback on your responses. Though individual interviews are the norm, sometimes group interviews are conducted. If you have concerns about navigating this format, consider practicing with peers in your program. In our experience, applicants are generally quite respectful of one another and typically take turns speaking first.
Preparing for each program: It is key to know enough about a program to be able to discuss why you believe it is a good fit and to ask thoughtful questions. Some applicants use program brochures and their own cover letters to prepare “cheat sheets” with information such as: rotations of interest and supervisors, research and postdoc opportunities, reasons you are interested in the program, and specific questions tailored to each program. These can be easily reviewed while traveling and even quickly during breaks on interview days. Other applicants recommend instead simply spending an hour the night before each interview reviewing the brochure, your cover letter, and jotting down questions. Because you will be provided much information on the day of the interview, there is no need to memorize the entire brochure! If you know your list of interviewers ahead of time, consider looking at their professional websites to learn more about their clinical or research interests to prepare more thoughtful questions for those individuals.
If you are applying to different types of sites (e.g., academic medical centers, Veterans Affairs medical centers, community mental health clinics), your preparation may differ based on the emphasis placed on research training by each of the sites. For those that provide relatively substantial research opportunities (e.g., eight hours/week or more is allocated to research), plan to discuss your intended research trajectory and how you think the program would support that. Look up the recent research of supervisors with whom you would have interest in collaborating were you to match at that site. Otherwise, the general approach to preparing across all site types is fairly comparable, though content of responses may differ.
Accommodations and general wellness: Many programs will ask if you require accommodations (e.g., pumping room for breastfeeding mothers) in advance of your interview day. If not, contact the programs to make necessary requests. Also consider adjustments you may need to make in order to manage your graduate school responsibilities (e.g., teaching, clinical work, research) while you are traveling. For some applicants, the month of January can become one lost in terms of productivity with regard to usual duties, so plan ahead for that. More broadly, engage in practices and acquire necessary materials to ensure your wellness during this hectic time. Sleeping enough before interviews and packing hand sanitizer, cough drops, tissues, mints, water, and nourishing snacks will help to maintain your health and energy throughout interviews.
Final considerations: By having reached the stage of applying, you are likely very well prepared already. Preparing for internship interviews is in many ways comparable to preparing for graduate school interviews, so draw upon your past success! If you take some time to become familiar with what each program has to offer and feel comfortable providing thoughtful, authentic responses that convey good fit, you are likely to do well. And remember, you are interviewing the programs as much as they are interviewing you!
Conceptual contributions made by 2019-2020 internship applicants: Kate Hails, Jamie Peven, and Tiffany Jenzer.
Hornsby, S. (2015). Your Go-To Guide for Surviving APPIC Internship Interviews. Retrieved from http://blog.time2track.com/your-go-to-guide-for-surviving-appic-internship-interviews.
Munsey, C. (2010). How to avoid interview missteps. Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/gradpsych/2010/01/missteps.
Pincus, D. B., & Otis, J. D. (2008). The Clinical Psychology Internship Guide: The Primary Resource for Obtaining Your First Choice. Retrieved from https://www.dphu.org/uploads/attachements/books/books_3380_0.pdf.
Riddell, R. P., Badali, M. (2017). Match made on Earth: Second Edition. Retrieved from https://ccppp.ca/resource-documents.
Williams-Nickelson, C., Prinstein, M. J., & Keilin, W. G. (2019). Internships in psychology: The APAGS workbook for writing successful applications and finding the right fit, fourth edition. American Psychological Association.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Psychological Clinical Science Accreditation System (PCSAS).