by Iony D. Ezawa, M.A., The Ohio State University
Applying to and making it through graduate school takes a lot of work, but before you reach the end, there is the internship application process. While graduate school is focused on preparing you to be a researcher, a clinician, a teacher, and more, you may still be left with uncertainty and doubt surrounding what makes a competitive applicant for psychology internships. This article will discuss the tips you can follow during graduate training that can help shape you into a strong applicant, but hopefully this article will also provide the reassurance that you likely already are.
First, select a diverse array of practicum experiences. In addition, try to seek out opportunities with diverse clientele. A diversity of experiences is essential to strong training, and it can help inform future decisions on the type of setting you want to select for internship applications. The development of awareness and appreciation of diversity will also help you write the diversity statement needed for your application.
Second, build strong alliances with supervisors. You want to show your supervisors that you are a collaborative, thoughtful, and open-minded supervisee. This will help strengthen your current practicum experiences, as well as help you attain strong letters of recommendation for your eventual internship applications.
Third, track your hours. While there is no exact number of hours that every student should aim for, 2018 applicants accumulated an average of 656 (SD = 283) intervention and 218 (SD = 172) assessment hours during their doctoral training (Keilin, 2018). It is also important that you are aware that many sites have minimum required hours. However, be careful that your goal is not only quantity, as quality of training is just as or even more important. Besides hour counts, continuous tracking of your progress can help you see the strengths and gaps in your training. The internship application also requires that you enter detailed information about your practicum experiences. It is essential to track this information along the way, before it is forgotten or you are busy preparing the other components of your application (such as the personal and research statements).
Fourth, identify which type of internship will be a best fit for you. Every internship is unique in terms of training model, clinical opportunities, research emphasis, setting, etc. It is important to know what you want to gain from your internship year. Identifying such goals can help guide which steps you need to be competitive. For example, if you are interested in more research-oriented sites, it would be advisable to participate in and publish research. As a plus, an analysis of prior APPIC survey data suggests that having publications may put you at an advantage for matching (Lund et al., 2016)!
Fifth, practice your case conceptualization/communication skills. Such skills can translate into useful skills in many areas of life, but in terms of internship applications, it can help you learn how to speak about your experiences in a concise and thoughtful manner. This skill will be especially useful when writing your theoretical orientation essay and cover letters as part of your application, but it will also be critical when you are asked both clinical and nonclinical questions when interview season arrives.
Sixth, talk to your peers. Who better to get the inside scoop about the internship application process than those who have already successfully gone through it? Your DCT, advisor, past supervisors, and peers may be willing to share materials and advice. While thinking about internship might elevate your heart rate, exposure to the process by hearing firsthand accounts and having others check your applications can add extra support and relief.
Seventh, engage in self-care. The internship application process can be overwhelming, but this process is a marathon, not a sprint. It is vital that you maintain your other priorities and maintain your own physical and mental well-being. The statistics show that an outstanding majority of students match for internship each year (96% in 2020!; Keilin, 2020), so chances are, you are already doing what you need to be competitive.
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References
Keilin, G. (2020, March 23). 2020 APPIC match statistics combined results: phase I and phase II. APPIC. https://www.appic.org/Internships/Match/Match-Statistics/Match-Statistics-2020-Combined
Keilin, G. (2018, December 30). 2018 APPIC Match: Survey of internship applicants part 1: summary of survey results. APPIC. www.appic.org/Internships/Match/Match-Statistics/Applicant-Survey-2018-Part-1.
Lund, E. M., Bouchard, L. M., & Thomas, K. B. (2016). Publication productivity of professional psychology internship applicants: An in-depth analysis of APPIC survey data. Training and Education in Professional Psychology, 10, 54–60. https://doi.org/10.1037/tep0000105
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).