APPIC Internship Interview Invitation Thread (2020)

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TCP said:
Has anyone already been through at least one interview that would like to share a difficult interview question you were asked that caused you to stumble?

I have practiced the basic questions about my professional/personal goals, interests, research, strengths/weaknesses, clinical cases, so I feel I have a general understanding of what my answers will be. I am most worried about the random ones that will throw me off the ball. 🙈
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Do you have the APPIC internship book? That had really really great questions that I thought prepared me well. I can share the questions if you don't have them.
 
NeuroFLAIR said:
I don't know if this is the book being referenced above, but this is the main workbook I used throughout the entire process:

Internships in Psychology: The APAGS Workbook for Writing Successful Applications and Finding the Right Fit

I believe the newest edition came out last year - at least that's when my program purchased them for us.
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Yes, this book has all the questions in the back! I just answered them in a separate document to practice and have had two interviews where I was not surprised/caught off guard by any of the questions!
 
ironkiwi said:
I'm wondering if anyone has some insight on a scheduling issue I'm having. So I received a phone call invitation to interview and they offered me just one date that was available with no option to complete a phone interview. I have another interview scheduled for that day already and feel stuck -they expected me to commit to an interview date right then. Based on posts in this forum I know other applicants were called two days ago and offered one of four days to interview. So I wonder if this is usually how phone invitations work- if you are at the end of the list, you just get fewer options? And now I'm wondering if the list is neutral (alphabetical) or based more on site preference for applicants... I know it might be hard for anyone to know for sure, but I'm thinking of cancelling my less desired site interview to do this one, but if I was a last choice for the new site, I don't want to do that... thanks for any help🙂
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The timing and order of invites likely varies from site to site. I decided from the beginning that I would accept invites on a first-come basis because I didn't want the stress of rescheduling (or to appear ungrateful or disinterested). So far I have had to decline one interview from a preferred site, but I'm okay with that. In my case, it also helped that my originally less-preferred site seemed so excited and eager to invite me...I want to end up at a site that's flexible and excited to have me.
 
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Official Site Name: Northwestern CAPS
Date Invitation Received: 12/12/19
Method of Invitation (Phone call, personal/mass email, snapchat): personal email
Specialty Track or Site (e.g., for consortiums):
Offered Interview Dates: email to follow to schedule phone interviews
 
Official Site Name: Hutching’s Psychiatric Center
Date Invitation Received: 12/12/19
Method of Invitation (Phone call, personal/mass email, snapchat): mass email
Specialty Track or Site (e.g., for consortiums):N/A
Offered Interview Dates: 1/3, 1/6, 1/8, 1/10, 1/13, 1/15, 1/17


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
itsgonnaworkoutjustfine said:
So excited for this one!! 🙂

Official Site Name: Lincoln Medical & Mental Health Center
Date Invitation Received: 12/12
Method of Invitation (Phone call, personal/mass email, snapchat): Phone call
Specialty Track or Site (e.g., for consortiums):
Offered Interview Dates: All Tues in Jan. & a few Fridays
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Also got a call from Lincoln! Missed it and am trying to get back in contact with the director, but congrats!! Moral of the story, always pick up your phone calls lol
 
Official Site Name: Northwestern University CAPS
Date Invitation Received: 12/12/19
Method of Invitation (Phone call, personal/mass email, snapchat): personal email
Specialty Track or Site (e.g., for consortiums):
Offered Interview Dates: several from 01/04 to 01/24
 
Just had an interview and felt like I completely bombed it! I was super anxious, fumbled over my words, and even went blank at one point. The thing is that I really like this site and believe they are a good fit. I just don’t think they were able to really see my personality or competence. ☹️ Ahhh! This process is so overwhelming!
 
Futurephd101 said:
Just had an interview and felt like I completely bombed it! I was super anxious, fumbled over my words, and even went blank at one point. The thing is that I really like this site and believe they are a good fit. I just don’t think they were able to really see my personality or competence. Ahhh! This process is so overwhelming!
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I think they understand that, and know we aren’t 100% our best in interview


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I wonder how much emphasis committees place on the interview. Does it heavily impact the final ranking of the candidates?
 
Futurephd101 said:
I wonder how much emphasis committees place on the interview. Does it heavily impact the final ranking of the candidates?
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TDs, who comment on this forum, stated that the interview is a small part (10-20%) of the decision unless there were major red flags. It’s mostly for us to decide our fit. That’s only 3-4 TDs out of the hundreds so hopefully your materials speak for itself!
 
Futurephd101 said:
Just had an interview and felt like I completely bombed it! I was super anxious, fumbled over my words, and even went blank at one point. The thing is that I really like this site and believe they are a good fit. I just don’t think they were able to really see my personality or competence. ☹ Ahhh! This process is so overwhelming!
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I think I am mostly nervous about responding to vignettes and providing writing samples on interview day. I know some of my sites will require that, and I’m thinking to myself how I will begin preparing. I’m also super lazy at the moment. It’s been nice just being at home for 3 months lol.
 
neurocog said:
I think I am mostly nervous about responding to vignettes and providing writing samples on interview day. I know some of my sites will require that, and I’m thinking to myself how I will begin preparing. I’m also super lazy at the moment. It’s been nice just being at home for 3 months lol.
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What kind of writing samples? I am not prepared for that!
 
Toulouse said:
What kind of writing samples? I am not prepared for that!
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I know one site for sure requires you to write a SOAP note. I was told that they will provide you a sheet of paper with simple data and you write the note while you wait to go into your individual interviews. Another site of mine also requires a writing sample, but I’m not sure as to what.
 
Official Site Name: Canvas Health
Date Invitation Received: 12/12/19
Method of Invitation (Phone call, personal/mass email, snapchat): mass email
Specialty Track or Site (e.g., for consortiums): Child Track
Offered Interview Dates: call on Monday to schedule a 60-90min. interview in January.

Official Site Name: Pacific Psychology and Comprehensive Health Clinics
Date Invitation Received: 12/11/19
Method of Invitation (Phone call, personal/mass email, snapchat): mass email
Specialty Track or Site (e.g., for consortiums): Youth and Family Track
Offered Interview Dates: 1/10 only - no skype or phone.
 
neurocog said:
I know one site for sure requires you to write a SOAP note. I was told that they will provide you a sheet of paper with simple data and you write the note while you wait to go into your individual interviews. Another site of mine also requires a writing sample, but I’m not sure as to what.
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Oh, whoa! 😳
 
neurocog said:
I know one site for sure requires you to write a SOAP note. I was told that they will provide you a sheet of paper with simple data and you write the note while you wait to go into your individual interviews. Another site of mine also requires a writing sample, but I’m not sure as to what.
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If a site is going to meaningfully change their opinion of me as a candidate based on a single SOAP note (and not my 4-5 years of graduate training/experiences) with limited data and that kind of time-sensitive pressure, I don't want anything to do with that program. That's absurd in my opinion - don't be hard on yourself if that comes up and you don't think it went well.
 
psychologystudent101 said:
I hate how I over analyze literally everything I said in an interview 🙁 just had one and I'm overthinking everything!
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For what it’s worth, I think you had a good experience. Sounds weird, but you finally got exposed to something you aren’t used to doing everyday, all day. I used to be a recruiter with several agencies and companies, and this was a common thing. Even I would get nervous and drop the ball at times, and I still do. I try to minimize those instances. Once upon a time ago (2008) when the job market was crap, I was probably going on 7 interviews a week for a couple of months. I really started to get good at interviewing. Our field is interesting as this is not a typical interview, however, much like my example, I think once you get some more interviews under your belt, you will notice a difference in how you interview. I’m already anticipating that I will not do perfect, that I will say “ I don’t know” and maybe even say a story or an example that just makes me look bad. It’s life. This is an unusual situation, your HPA axis is in overdrive, and you might even get a vasovagal response lol. Trust that you were invited because you look great in paper, and they just want to see how your interpersonal skills are, even under stress. Hopefully the people on the other side are mindful of this and will sympathize.
 
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yourpardon said:
If a site is going to meaningfully change their opinion of me as a candidate based on a single SOAP note (and not my 4-5 years of graduate training/experiences) with limited data and that kind of time-sensitive pressure, I don't want anything to do with that program. That's absurd in my opinion - don't be hard on yourself if that comes up and you don't think it went well.
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I too share those sentiments. Im sure they have their reasons , or maybe it’s just busy work, either way, it’s anxiety provoking. I will brush up on how I used to do my SOAP and that’s about it. I’m not totally sure if I even can write a MSE by memory at the moment lol.
 
I remember seeing in an earlier page that someone posted match rates by number of interviews received. I can't find the page. Would someone please repost that info?

Also, if there is a link to the original source, that would be great--I couldn't find it in the match statistics released by APPIC.
 
Southern IL-Carbondale CAPS interview invite, mass email sent 12/12, need to send return email to schedule skype meeting first part of january
 
neurocog said:
For what it’s worth, I think you had a good experience. Sounds weird, but you finally got exposed to something you aren’t used to doing everyday, all day. I used to be a recruiter with several agencies and companies, and this was a common thing. Even I would get nervous and drop the ball at times, and I still do. I try to minimize those instances. Once upon a time ago (2008) when the job market was crap, I was probably going on 7 interviews a week for a couple of months. I really started to get good at interviewing. Our field is interesting as this is not a typical interview, however, much like my example, I think once you get some more interviews under your belt, you will notice a difference in how you interview. I’m already anticipating that I will not do perfect, that I will say “ I don’t know” and maybe even say a story or an example that just makes me look bad. It’s life. This is an unusual situation, your HPA axis is in overdrive, and you might even get a vasovagal response lol. Trust that you were invited because you look great in paper, and they just want to see how your interpersonal skills are, even under stress. Hopefully the people on the other side are mindful of this and will sympathy.
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This response is so helpful to hear, thank you for writing it
 
neurocog said:
For what it’s worth, I think you had a good experience. Sounds weird, but you finally got exposed to something you aren’t used to doing everyday, all day. I used to be a recruiter with several agencies and companies, and this was a common thing. Even I would get nervous and drop the ball at times, and I still do. I try to minimize those instances. Once upon a time ago (2008) when the job market was crap, I was probably going on 7 interviews a week for a couple of months. I really started to get good at interviewing. Our field is interesting as this is not a typical interview, however, much like my example, I think once you get some more interviews under your belt, you will notice a difference in how you interview. I’m already anticipating that I will not do perfect, that I will say “ I don’t know” and maybe even say a story or an example that just makes me look bad. It’s life. This is an unusual situation, your HPA axis is in overdrive, and you might even get a vasovagal response lol. Trust that you were invited because you look great in paper, and they just want to see how your interpersonal skills are, even under stress. Hopefully the people on the other side are mindful of this and will sympathy.
Click to expand...

thank you for this, you're so right! I'm also wondering how much the interview truly plays into the ranking
 
neurocog said:
I too share those sentiments. Im sure they have their reasons , or maybe it’s just busy work, either way, it’s anxiety provoking. I will brush up on how I used to do my SOAP and that’s about it. I’m not totally sure if I even can write a MSE by memory at the moment lol.
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It's so hard, too, because I feel like every site (and even individual clinics within a site) have their own unique documentation requirements. No site I've trained at has used the SOAP note format I learned first year of grad school, and I learn new progress note styles and formats at every new placement.
 
Toulouse said:
It's so hard, too, because I feel like every site (and even individual clinics within a site) have their own unique documentation requirements. No site I've trained at has used the SOAP note format I learned first year of grad school, and I learn new progress note styles and formats at every new placement.
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Exactly. Fortunately, our program has a course dedicated to learning the various noting styles among other things, however, I am strongest with SOAP. At one of my sites I had to note based on some weird model that the insurance company wanted, but also was modeled off of a typical rehabilitation format ( I am blanking on the name). I so prefer SOAP, it’s a compendious approach IMO.
 
averagehuman said:
I remember seeing in an earlier page that someone posted match rates by number of interviews received. I can't find the page. Would someone please repost that info?

Also, if there is a link to the original source, that would be great--I couldn't find it in the match statistics released by APPIC.
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Applicant Survey - 2016 - Part 2

Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers, Postdoc Interns, Psychology Internships, Psych Internship Matching - APPIC
www.appic.org

They haven’t reported the “Part 2” stats since 2016 so that may be why you’re not finding it, if you’re looking at the last couple years.
 
University of Wisconsin-Madison Mental Health Services interview invite, mass email sent 12/12, link to schedule either phone, skype, or in-person during first several weeks of January
 
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