>>MITCH PRINSTEIN: Hi, this is Mitch Prinstein
and I am happy to give you a quick primer
on interviewing for internship.
If you are listening to this right now, then
it is probably at some point in November and
you have submitted all of your applications.
Congratulations – that is a lot of work.
And soon you will be hearing that you have
gotten some interviews hopefully.
Now one thing you might want to think about
is in advance, set up a calendar that gives
you all of the dates that you know you have
to be at certain sites, so that when you get
those calls from administrative assistants
around the country asking you to book a date,
you’ll know what area of the country you’d
like to be in and at what time.
It can be a very difficult trying to squeeze
these interviews in, if you are so lucky to
have many of them, so try and do your preparation
in advance.
If you can, don’t do two interviews in a
row.
They are very tiring and very time consuming.
You will want to study up before each one
that you go to and you’ll want to take notes
when get home.
So try and give yourself a day of breaks,
see the time, anticipate flight delays, and
give yourself an easy schedule.
It is the case that some of these places ask
you to come in at 8 in the morning and go
back to back to back in meetings for the entire
day, so bring a Powerbar, get a good night’s
sleep, and get ready.
You can probably expect that you’re not
going to be finishing your dissertation between
mid-December and early February.
This is a really long and arduous process.
You might want to let your advisors know that
if there’s a way you can do some work now,
or if you can reschedule some deadlines until
the end of interview season, that would be
really helpful.
Make sure that you remember to bring all carry-ons.
This is a difficult time for flight schedules.
There are lots of delays, including delays
that don’t get your luggage from one connection
to another.
Many people have found themselves wearing
their street clothes on interviews, and that
can be avoided by packing your luggage as
carry-on.
Just so you know, there are a variety of kinds
of interviews out there.
Some are open houses, where you can go and
get to know the place in a very open forum
– pretty low-key.
Some places even suggest that no one wears
a name tag.
So if they tell you that it isn't important
to go and it won’t influence the decision
to admit you, then you should believe them.
Open houses are a minority of the experiences
out there, but be forewarned.
There are places out there that will only
do phone interviews, or sometimes you just
can’t make your schedule work, or you get
sick, or you have a plane cancel, and you
just can’t get there.
But don’t fear; people do get matched after
a phone interview, especially these days with
Skype.
There is nothing to be concerned about if
that is the only you are able to get to learn
about a site and for them to learn about you.
Of course the majority of your experiences
will be in-person interviews.
At some places, that will be a very organized
day with an introductory talk from the training
director, a scheduled lunch or a social hour,
and many individual meetings.
And in some cases, they will send you a map
and a list of interviews, and you’re on
your own.
Sometimes it will be one applicant – that’s
you – with multiple faculty in the room,
and sometimes there will be just one faculty
member and multiple applicants in the room.
There isn't any way you can prepare for those
that’s different from what you would do
to prepare normally, but I just wanted to
let you know that that’s possible so you
don’t freak out when it happens to you.
The majority of cases though will be one applicant
– that’s you – and one faculty member.
That’s the easiest thing to prepare for.
What people don’t usually expect is that
they’re not going to be asked that many
questions.
So people aren't going to be quizzing you
about the year Freud was born or asking you
to recite DSM criteria.
There are some places that will ask you some
questions, and those can be found in the APAGS
workbook and a number of other resources.
The part that is surprising is that you’re
the one asking most of the questions on most
of these interviews.
So make sure you think carefully about what
you want to know and importantly, how you
can ask those questions.
The way that you ask the questions is going
to be really important for how you come across.
And you always want to have more questions
to ask.
The more question you ask, the more interested
you are and the more you've done your homework.
That’s going to be really important.
You can also find lists of questions you can
ask faculty and interns in the APAGS workbook
and probably on a number of other online sites
as well.
So what you bring?
What do you wear?
Well, you want to make sure that you are standing
out based on your professional accomplishment
and not some sort of weird outfit, so go ahead
and don’t worry about that.
I think that most women can buy a standard-issue
black suit from Ann Taylor these days; it
seems they all have the same one.
And guys can wear the typical coat-and-tie
outfit, which is what most people are going
to wear.
What you do want to make sure is that you
have the site website printed out or accessible
on your iPad.
That way you can really review all of the
material about the site before you get there.
Make sure you also have your cover letter
where you specified in great rotation names
and didactic experiences that match to your
internship goals.
It’s important that you mention them by
name and it’s important that you remember
specifics about the site.
That way it is clear that you are interested
in the site and that you've done your homework.
Go ahead and bring your other essays if you
need, but throw a couple extra copies of your
CV in the little folio that everyone seems
to carry.
That way they have something to put on their
lap or do with their hands while they’re
on these interviews.
It’s always good to hold on to one of these.
There may be folks that ask for copies of
your CV.
Keep in mind that the people who are interviewing
you probably have not reviewed your application
in great detail.
That might have been done by other faculty
at the site.
So it might be very relevant to talk about
your experiences and leave a copy of your
CV to leave behind.
If there are sites that are really emphasizing
research training, it might be a good idea
to bring along some research abstracts to
remind you of what each person is working
on.
Even so, at a research oriented site, research
is a minority of your experience at this clinical
internship – so you don’t have to commit
these to memory.
You don’t have to know a whole lot about
it in the same way you did when you applied
to graduate school.
I just mentioned before, make sure you dress
in a way that is comfortable for you.
At a lot of these places, you’re going to
be doing a lot of walking as you tour through
large facilities or even consortia across
multiple buildings- and sometimes it is cold
and snowy outside.
Make sure you’re comfortable and warm wear.
You've gotten yourself all packed.
You put everything in a carry-on.
You’re wearing something comfortable.
You've gotten to the site.
You've had some rest.
You've done your homework.
Now what?
Well, if you’re on that interview and you
are wanting to think about the best way you
communicate your experiences and your interests
in the most effective way possible, there
is probably just three things that you need
to think about to know you've aced that interview.
We usually refer to those as social skills,
enthusiasm, and match.
Let’s just talk about each of those in some
small detail.
For social skills: By now you probably have
a number of pieces of data in your life to
suggest whether you have good social skills.
You probably do, and you've gotten into a
program, and have succeeded in getting towards
the end of that program.
So hopefully we are not talking about global
social skills deficits.
But what is very important is for you to recognize
what your social skills are like when you
are in contexts or situations that promote
anxiety.
That doesn't mean that you’re necessarily
concerned about exhibiting about some odd
behaviors, but is important that you remember
that you want to be a little bit more talkative
if you’re the kind of person that gets quiet.
Or vice-versa; you want to make sure slow
and thoughtful if you tend to be a rambler.
You want to try and do what you can to think
about how to communicate about what you want
to say with a paucity of clear and succinct
words and ideas.
It is the case that you know the answer to
most of these questions already – what is
the topic of your dissertation, what are you
interested in learning on internship, what
might you be interested in doing after internship.
But you may not have had the practice in answering
those questions in simple, two or three sentence
utterances or less.
You want to avoid as many "ums" and "whatchamacallits"
and "I’m not exactly sures."
You want to practice, practice, practice.
I highly recommend that if your training director
does not offer the opportunity for a role-play,
which by the way is an excellent anxiety exposure
exercise, then you should sit down with a
partner, a friend, a throw-pillow, a cat,
and answer questions out loud.
If you've rehearsed how to say these things
out loud, but not over-rehearsed (you don’t
want to give responses by rote) then you will
be able to speak in a way with confidence
and you’ll feel like there is some poise
and a deliberate way of answering these questions.
It will come across really well.
Keep in mind that a lot of this will come
really second nature to you by the time you
get to your second interview, even within
the first site – or certainly by the second
or third site you go to.
But to help you with your anxiety on that
very first interview at that very first site,
it is helpful to do some role-plays and get
some feedback or videotape yourself.
Make sure you are communicating enthusiasm.
Imagine what this is like for the people you
are interviewing with.
These are people who have chosen as their
career the opportunity to work with bright,
young trainees who are interested in working
in a setting where they can learn from the
experiences that these supervisors that have
dedicated their lives towards.
Of course, they are going to be interested
in working with somebody who is very happy
to be there.
Someone who feels like this would be a great
opportunity to learn, and for them to meet
their goals and continue down the road of
their own career path.
If you can communicate enthusiasm, then you
are really helping them to feel like you are
going to value and appreciate the experiences
you are getting on internship.
That is really what the supervisor is looking
for and hoping to learn from you.
If you hear something that you like, make
sure that you say something about that.
When you interview, it is very much like your
very first few clients.
While you are listening, and nodding you head,
and saying "ah ha", you might secretly be
worried about "what do I say next" and "I
wonder how that just came across" and "I am
not exactly sure how this is going so far."
When you do that, sometimes it is easy to
forget to respond to what you've heard, or
nod, or smile.
It is really important when people are telling
you all about their site and all about the
experiences, you let them know that "Yes,
that is exactly the kind of experience that
I was hoping for."
Or, "I am so glad to hear that I have the
opportunity to do more of X and Y and Z because
I really think that that would help my development
as a clinician."
So go ahead and tell them when there is something
that they say that you like.
Or even better: Try to ask your questions
in a way that has an enthusiastic preamble.
Think about it again from the perspective
of the supervisor who has answered these interview
questions so many times.
If you say to them, "can you tell me about
your rotation," they have probably have answered
that question phrased in exactly that way
so many times that you are going to get a
very rote response from them that doesn't
really make the conversation come alive.
But if you’re sitting with somebody who
directs a rotation in the area that you’re
most interested in at that site, then say
so.
Ask them, "I am very interested in learning
more about how to assess pervasive developmental
disorders, so when I saw that this internship
offered your experience, your rotation, that
focuses specifically on multidisciplinary
approaches to assessing autism, I thought
that this might be a great match for me.
Can you tell me more about how those assessments
are conducted?"
That brief, 2-3 sentence preamble can really
provide a context that helps the person that
you are meeting with to understand what your
interests are, why you’re excited to be
there, and what aspects of their answer might
be particularly of interest to you.
That will really make the interview come alive,
and it will really make them answer in a way
that helps them to feel engaged, to connect
with you, and to help you be really interested
in what they have to say.
You’ll probably then be able to tell them
what aspects of their answer you really liked
hearing about.
When you say that, the interview really becomes
a conversation.
Everyone relaxes, everyone smiles, and hopefully
you match.
And speaking of match, make sure you very
clearly communicate the match when you are
in these interviews.
You know these sites better than they know
you.
You have studied that site.
You have thought, and dreamt, and fretted
over getting into that site for a very long
time now.
But they are probably interview 5 to 7 to
maybe even 10 people for every slot that they
have available.
And again, they may not have looked over your
application in great detail.
So it is important that if there is something
they are talking about that’s a match, you
go ahead and say something that makes it clear
that what you hear is consistent with the
kinds of experiences you’re hoping to get.
Now remember, don’t commit an APPIC violation.
You can’t say anything about ranking information
nor should they say anything to you about
that.
But it is perfectly appropriate for you to
tell them that everything you've heard sounds
like it would contribute to your training
in a way that makes you very excited.
Or that you’re very happy to hear about
that particular rotation because that is exactly
the kind of experience that you feel would
be useful for you.
So go ahead and tell them that, and don’t
say it through subtleties.
Go ahead and be blunt and explicit: "You offer
this experience.
That’s exactly the experience I want."
Once they leave the room, they’re not going
to spending a lot of time thinking about and
reflecting on the nuances or the subtleties
of what was communicated.
If you want to get a message across, make
sure you get it across in a very specific
and blunt fashion.
And last, you can always preamble your questions
in a way that makes it appear that you perceive
yourself to be a match.
For instance, you can say, "I am really hoping
for an opportunity that will allow me to understand
behavioral medicine in a medical setting.
This is the kind of site that I think can
help me meet that goal.
Can you tell me more about how this site may
be able to help me get that training experience?"
Those kinds of questions, those ways of framing
your questions, in addition to the ways that
can help you as mentioned previously; it really
helps to communicate the match.
The person listening to you will really understand
that you are someone that feels that their
site has a lot to offer.
And hopefully they’ll feel the same way
about you.
I hope this very quick primer is a helpful
way of thinking a little bit about how to
prepare as you hopefully begin to hear on
interview invitations in the next few weeks.
I’m happy to let you know that there is
a lot more information available, if you’re
interested, and that’s from the APAGS internship
workbook, which is called "Internships in
Psychology."
I don’t feel that it is too cheesy to plug
that book because you should know that all
the royalties go directly to APAGS to help
APAGS continue to advocate for you, continue
to advocate for students in this internship
crisis time, and continue to offer resources
like this one to help students have the best
chance possible to match in the internship
process.
So, good luck to everybody.
I hope that everyone gets lots of interviews,
and you do really well, and you use those
interviews as an opportunity for you to decide
which sites you are most interested in.
Everyone tells you that you have a lot of
power in this context, and you do.
I know that you probably don’t believe that,
but you are really out there shopping for
which place is the best fit for you.
Remember that the vast majority of folks who
match, match to one of their top few sites.
While you’re out there, make sure you are
collecting a lot of data on which ones would
be your top few sites so you can make some
really wise decisions, and hopefully go to
a place that helps you move forward in the
career that you've been working so hard towards
for so many years.
Good luck to everybody.
