Okay, so finding a summer internship as a psychology undergrad. Man, that felt like a whole quest back then. It wasn’t like snapping your fingers and getting one, at least not for me.
Getting Started Felt Weird
First off, I remember feeling a bit lost. Everyone talks about needing experience, needing internships, but the path wasn’t exactly clear. My classes were all theory, theory, theory. Super interesting, yeah, but how did that translate into actually doing something in the summer?
I figured, okay, step one: look. Where? I honestly just started Googling random stuff. “Psychology summer jobs near me,” “undergrad psych internships.” It was a mess. Lots of listings wanted grad students or people with years of experience I just didn’t have. Felt pretty discouraging right off the bat.
Talking to Actual People Helped
After spinning my wheels online, I actually went to the university’s career center. They had some resources, sure, but it still felt kinda generic. What really made a difference was talking to one of my professors during office hours. I just kinda vented my frustration, and she actually gave me a couple of ideas I hadn’t thought of.
- Checking bulletin boards in the department (old school, I know!).
- Asking older students what they did.
- Reaching out directly to local clinics or organizations, even if they didn’t have an official internship posted.
That last one felt bold, like cold-calling, but hey, what did I have to lose?
The Application Grind
So, I shifted tactics. I polished up my resume – tried to make my coursework sound as practical as possible. Wrote a basic cover letter I could tweak. Then I started sending emails. I emailed a local mental health non-profit, a research lab affiliated with the university hospital, and even a small private practice someone mentioned.
This took time. Seriously, don’t expect instant replies. I sent maybe five or six targeted emails and applications. Heard back from two. One was a polite “no thanks, we don’t have capacity,” which was fine, at least it was an answer.
Getting a Foot in the Door
The other reply was from the research lab. They didn’t have a formal internship, but the lab manager emailed back asking if I could come in for a chat. It wasn’t even a real interview, more like a “let’s see if you’re a normal person who can follow instructions” kind of meeting.
I went in, talked about the classes I liked, why I was interested in their research (even though I only vaguely understood it from their website), and just tried to be enthusiastic and willing to learn. I stressed that I was happy to do the boring stuff – data entry, making copies, organizing files, whatever they needed.
Landed… Something!
Turns out, they needed someone exactly for that boring stuff! They offered me a volunteer position for the summer, helping out around the lab a few days a week. It wasn’t paid, which was a bummer, but it was experience. Real, actual experience in a psychology-related environment.
So, that was my journey. It wasn’t glamorous. It involved some dead ends, some awkward emails, and definitely lowering my expectations from “changing the world” to “can I help you with that spreadsheet?”. But I got there. The key was persistence and trying different angles, especially talking to people directly. Don’t just rely on the big job websites; sometimes the best opportunities are hiding.
