Letter writers for internship

[psychedforpsych20]

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I am currently in the process of applying for internship and thus may have some more internship-related questions in the near future. 🙂 First, I have a question regarding letters of reference. I am mostly applying to state hospitals, consortiums (that offer a forensic and/or inpatient rotation), two prisons, and one VA. Obviously my letter writers shouldn't share all the different settings I am applying to... So what should I tell them to focus their writing on? The two prisons are my "reach/dream" sites and one of my supervisors wanted to speak to my forensic-based skills, but then that would hurt my chances at the other sites. I am really confused about this so any insight on what to tell my letter writers would be helpful. Thanks!

 

[smalltownpsych]

They should focus their letters on what you did during your time at their site. I think you might be overthinking it a bit (as do we all during the process 😉). The sites that you were at and the breadth of clinical experiences you have had are weighed more and the letters just have to say that you were a reliable person who wasn't a PITA.

 

[psychedforpsych20]

They should focus their letters on what you did during your time at their site. I think you might be overthinking it a bit (as do we all during the process 😉). The sites that you were at and the breadth of clinical experiences you have had are weighed more and the letters just have to say that you were a reliable person who wasn't a PITA.

Thank you! That is a relief. I do tend to overthink in general and grad school triggers that a lot. 😛 I have a similar question related to cover letters maybe you or someone else could answer. I read several sample cover letters before writing one. I showed my DCT and he told me to sell myself less and focus on what aspects of the site interest me. Thus, I'm wondering how much I should "sell myself" versus discussing why I am interested in that site. I'm thinking maybe 2/3 interest and only spend 1/3 selling myself... What do you guys think?

 

[smalltownpsych]

I would the think that the "selling yourself" part should be even less and mostly specifically tailored to why you want to be at their site to further your training and development. Something along the lines of, "I worked in this setting that is similar to yours and really enjoyed the work so am eager for the opportunity to gain more experience along those lines and add to it by this and that which you offer at your site."