What to do in a year off??

[DazedAndConfuse]

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I'm re-applying for internship this fall and have a couple of choices for what to do with my year "off" and I have a couple of options. I got offered a full-time clinical job at a hospital where I wouldn't be able to count the hours for APPIC, but I also wouldn't need to go further into debt. The problem is, the hours I would have to commit to for the job would make getting a practicum on the side impossible. My choices are 1) turn down the job, take a practicum, and hope I can find something part-time (I already asked, I can't turn the job into a part-time position and there's no flexibility with the schedule), or 2) take the job and hope my current hours are enough to get me an internship next year.

Since the job is clinical, would it weigh heavily on my application even though the hours won't count? How much do sites weigh job experience? I keep getting different answers. Also does it look bad if I don't do a practicum in my 5th year while submitting applications?

 

[Ollie123]

What do you think was the weak point in your application this year? If it was APPIC hours it might not be a good idea. If you have plenty of hours it might be fine. Are you done with dissertation data collection? If not, I'd be hesitant to recommend anything that would interfere with that since that is a significant plus for many internships.

Basically - I think you'll need to provide more information for us to help. If your application was solid and you just had bad luck (it happens) or the problem was interviewing skills or something similar rather than a problem with your application per se, the recommendation may be a lot different than if you have 300 face-to-face hours, zero posters/publications, etc.

 

[DazedAndConfuse]

I spoke with the training director at one of the few sites that interviewed me, and she said that one of my letters of recommendation wasn't as strong as it could have been. (I had my current supervisor write it for me, and she had only known me 2 months when she wrote it.) Right now I'm at almost 700 intervention hours. My dissertation data collection is complete and I'll actually be defending next month, before this job would start.

 

[Ollie123]

Assessment hours? What is the ratio of supervision to face-to-face hours (i.e. were these quality training places or just slave labor sites where you do 20 individual therapy sessions for every 1 hour of supervision)? Was it individual or group supervision? Do you have some diversity in your prac hours (i.e. not just demographics but different settings, populations, disorders, etc. - particularly in areas that relate to the sorts of places you are applying for internship)? Do you have experience in the settings where you are applying?

What about research? Many places expect at least some research productivity even if they aren't the classically "research focused" places.

A bad letter could probably tank an app on its own but just knowing someone a short time shouldn't do that unless the person actually wrote a "negative" letter and it wasn't just a good letter from someone who didn't have too much to say.

 

[PHD12]

I spoke with the training director at one of the few sites that interviewed me, and she said that one of my letters of recommendation wasn't as strong as it could have been. (I had my current supervisor write it for me, and she had only known me 2 months when she wrote it.) Right now I'm at almost 700 intervention hours. My dissertation data collection is complete and I'll actually be defending next month, before this job would start.

Hi dazed and confused:

Good job getting your dissertation done. This will help you stand out over the rest of the applicant pool this year (I rarely see people already defended by the time they apply). 700 intervention hours (assuming they are face to face) is pretty good. I would make sure your letters are very strong (not just average) and have sufficient detail about you this time (I would even ask to see them before they are submitted). For example, my letters for internship and fellowship really painted a picture of what I was like as a therapist, assessor, researcher, supervisee and person (with lot's of examples). It also helps to have publications and presentations. If you can turn your dissertation into a published manuscript by the time you apply, that will also be helpful.

I would take the job if everything else in your application is solid.

Anecdotally, I've heard form several psychologists involved in the internship selection process that a lukewarm letter can tank an applicant since most letters are very strong and enthusiastic.

 

[DazedAndConfuse]

Assessment hours? What is the ratio of supervision to face-to-face hours (i.e. were these quality training places or just slave labor sites where you do 20 individual therapy sessions for every 1 hour of supervision)? Was it individual or group supervision? Do you have some diversity in your prac hours (i.e. not just demographics but different settings, populations, disorders, etc. - particularly in areas that relate to the sorts of places you are applying for internship)? Do you have experience in the settings where you are applying?

What about research? Many places expect at least some research productivity even if they aren't the classically "research focused" places.

A bad letter could probably tank an app on its own but just knowing someone a short time shouldn't do that unless the person actually wrote a "negative" letter and it wasn't just a good letter from someone who didn't have too much to say.

I'm at 75 assessment hours. My program requires that sites give 2 hours individual supervision for every 10 hours at the site regardless of what we're doing so I've had quite a bit of supervision, mostly individual but some group at my second placement. My first placement was a college counseling center and second was a clinic where I saw mostly children. The clinic has a lot of diversity for presenting problem, diagnosis, and demographics, the college not so much. I'm looking at applying to both of those types of sites for internship. As far as research, I did an RA position my first year and I'm doing another now.

My letter writer didn't write anything overtly negative, just it was kind of average. My adviser said that might have been off-putting to internships that got a lot of applications with 3-4 phenomenal letters.

Hi dazed and confused:

Good job getting your dissertation done. This will help you stand out over the rest of the applicant pool this year (I rarely see people already defended by the time they apply). 700 intervention hours (assuming they are face to face) is pretty good. I would make sure your letters are very strong (not just average) and have sufficient detail about you this time (I would even ask to see them before they are submitted). For example, my letters for internship and fellowship really painted a picture of what I was like as a therapist, assessor, researcher, supervisee and person (with lot's of examples). It also helps to have publications and presentations. If you can turn your dissertation into a published manuscript by the time you apply, that will also be helpful.

I would take the job if everything else in your application is solid.

Thanks for the input! The author of the not-great letter said she would re-write it for next year. I'll see how willing she is to let me read it before sending it in.

 

[PHD12]

I'm at 75 assessment hours. My program requires that sites give 2 hours individual supervision for every 10 hours at the site regardless of what we're doing so I've had quite a bit of supervision, mostly individual but some group at my second placement. My first placement was a college counseling center and second was a clinic where I saw mostly children. The clinic has a lot of diversity for presenting problem, diagnosis, and demographics, the college not so much. I'm looking at applying to both of those types of sites for internship. As far as research, I did an RA position my first year and I'm doing another now.

So you only have two practicum placements? Were you applying in your second year? Your hours are okay, but 2 practicums is going to stand out, especially if you are coming from a PsyD program. You are going to be competing with people with 3-4+ practicum placements and publications.

 

[DazedAndConfuse]

So you only have two practicum placements? Were you applying in your second year? Your hours are okay, but 2 practicums is going to stand out, especially if you are coming from a PsyD program. You are going to be competing with people with 3-4+ practicum placements and publications.

My school has you start practicum second year instead of first, and my second site offered to take me a second year.