Seeking Shadowing, Volunteer, or Research Opportunities

Often times to gain experience in your prospective field (i.e. clinical psychology, politics, law, medicine), paid internships may NOT be the first step to gain experience. Paid internship are sometimes reserved for professional or graduate students who already possess certifications or prior experience. Another avenue to gain experience is to observe/shadow, volunteer, or conduct research. These experiences are often acquired through making the connections with individuals that you would like to work with and finding professional mentors in your field. Discovering who these "potential mentors" are can be a bit daunting, so here are a few tips along the way for acquiring such experiential learning opportunities.

Narrow down the experience you are hoping to gain.

As you seek to gain early career experience prior to medical, clinical or professional schools OR to simply narrow down your career options consider seeking out a field "mentor" who you may be able to observe and/or one day work with. Below are a few considerations that can help when seeking to narrow down your interests and increase your knowledge and practical experience in the field outside of an internship ro co-op experience.

  1. Consider where (aka. what setting) you can gain the experience you are looking for. Explore the options that are available on campus or tied to campus through research centers or institutes, medical centers, and private industry or community-based organizations. Google opportunities at area hospitals (near campus and your hometown) including their volunteer application process and research faculty who could host research assistants. Start to create a list and record the site, contact person with contact information, and details on types of potential experiences or current research/work.

  2. Discover what is available through your academic program? Are their independent study courses for upper class students where you can gain credit working with a faculty member? Who is the point of contact for research assistant opportunities in your program? Here is an example of psychology research labs with contact information.

  3. Are observational hours required or encouraged as part of the application process for admittance into post undergraduate education? For example, Occupational Therapy , Physical Therapy, and Speech Language Therapy Certifications both refer to clinical observation hours. The following blog provides insights into seeking and acquiring observation experience for future Occupational Therapists but can also be applied to other areas, as well.

  4. Connect with resources on campus? The Office of Undergraduate Research and Pre-Professional Advising provide support and services to students preparing themselves for faculty, professional, and clinical careers.

  5. Seek out national programs and opportunities for research. Here is a list of summer programs for pre-health experiences. For psychology students, here is the following "psychology experience" wordpress site (sign-up for updates) that lists opportunities as well. Search your area of interest and find if any resources exist online through schools, professional associations, or cultivated by an individual. Recently, when conducting a specific search for Child Life Specialist internships (a requirement for licensure), we found a site where someone had pulled together all accredited internship sites by state as well as resources from the Child Life Specialist accrediting body.

  6. Tap into Virtual Shadowing Opportunities. Several shadowing opportunities for preparation for the pre-professional health fields now include virtual opportunity. If completing these for preparation for medical school entrance, double check the application process to ensure that hours will count towards requirements.

Record your experiences using a template like the one provided on PPAC's site for EL/shadowing which includes an EXCEL "experience log".

Finding a Professional Mentor.

Use this time to start researching a potential "mentor" or professional worth shadowing, even if it's virtual for the time being. Think about what professions within your field genuinely interest you. Do you want to work in a corporate or private setting? Do you realistically see yourself attending additional schooling after undergrad i.e. grad school, doctorate programs or med school? Having a strong idea of your potential goals will be valuable when it comes time to:

At this point, start utilizing LinkedIn; type in the title of your desired position, you can filter it by the state or city you're located in and create a list of people you want to reach out to. Check out professional associations related to your field of interest as they may possess resources for students that included a list of professional contacts willing to have students reach out and interact. For example, there is a genetic counseling website www.nsgc.com where hundreds of licensed genetic counselors provided their name, LinkedIn page, phone number and email for students to reach out to for any questions. You can filter it by city and state to narrow it down further. At this point, you can start reaching out to your acquired contacts for informational interviews to inform your next step or potential shadowing and/or research opportunities.

Connecting with Individuals offering experiences.

The following are a few tips when reaching out about research, shadowing, or observational opportunities.

  1. Do your homework prior to the meeting and outreach. Review the faculty members' or practitioners' bio, LinkedIn profile, CV. Look up their research interests and review some of their publications. Be able to answer what you like about their work and why you are interested in working with them?

  2. Send a personalized email with application materials. If there is not an application still send your CV/Resume and Cover Letter (i.e. Statement of Interest). In your email, try to make a personal connection about the faculty's or practitioner's work and express your reasons for connecting. Faculty and people, in general, do not respond to mass email requests. In the correspondence make sure your CV/resume includes relevant courses, skills (ex. data collection, SPSS, R Studio).

  3. Do respond promptly and ensure that you have time to dedicate to the experience (i.e. research, shadow, volunteer). Prior to reaching out about opportunities be sure that you have the time and mental capacity to dedicate 5-10 hours a week to such a venture. Be prepared to say yes on the spot especially for your first experience. Any hesitation may hurt the initial relationship and get your experience started on a "bad foot".

  4. If you accept an offer, do not "flake out" for a better one a few days later. Professor's talk. It is a small world in your field. If you drop an opportunity to accept another one, you may end up hurting both relationships in the end. ( Delaney & Marcovitch, 2017).

Questions to be prepared to answer or ask when meeting with the individuals about the opportunity.

  1. When are they needing you to work or meet? Are there specific hours?

  2. What am I expected to produce at the end of the experience?

  3. Do prior students in this role (i.e. research assistants, volunteers) typically work more than 1 semester with you? Is there a timeframe expectation?

  4. What should I be reading to get up to speed on the research topic we are studying? Or How can I prepare myself for this experience prior to day one?

  5. Research specific: Can I connect this work to my senior thesis (if it applies)?

Considering Volunteering.

Gaining volunteer experience related to your professional interests and field virtually or online outside of the classroom can be just as critical to one's professional development as an internship or co-op. Much like research or shadowing opportunities you can gain experience through outreach to organizations/causes of interest and professionals working where you intend to land post-graduation. The following are a few tips when seeking volunteer opportunities.

  1. Service Learning and Community Engagement at UC. UC has the largest Service Learning program in the country. Gain paid experience through Service Learning Co-op. Find volunteer opportunities through the Center for Community Engagement. Sign-up for the CCE Newsletter to get weekly opportunities in your email inbox.

  2. Seek out area non for profits with training and volunteer opportunities. One example for students interested in mental health is National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).

  3. Explore volunteer opportunities sites. Some examples include: Pre-Health Opportunities document (continuously updated), Cincinnati Cares, Peer Crisis Counselors (Crisis Text Line, Trevor Project), Change the World through Online Volunteering, VolunteerMatch.

  4. Seek out non for profits that appeal to your interests. Idealist.org has job as well as volunteer opportunities posted. The following dashboard provides a searchable database of area non for profits.

  5. Search volunteer opportunities for your career interests. Here's a quick list I found when looking up volunteer opportunities for counseling. You may find out opportunities that are at your finger tips that you didn't realize are a great next step to gaining the perspective and exposure that will help you continue to move forward in your professional path.

Lasting advice.

Again, make sure to take the extra time to research the contacts before reaching out so you can be sure what they do is applicable to your major and desired profession. Reach out to a handful of people, not just one or two to increase response potential. Don't wait on that ONE experience that you want most and let other opportunities pass you by. Try to have option A, B, and C in the works in any professional search. If you don't hear back, try sending a follow-up email one-two weeks prior, as the email may have gotten lost in their inbox. Lastly, if you have a connection (even if it is someone who knows someone), the strength of weak ties is stronger than you think. Reach out to the person you know to help with the introduction. This piece of advice has helped many students and myself many times over.

Source: Silvia, P., Delaney, P, & Marcovitch, S. (2017) What Psychology Majors Could (and Should) be Doing, 2nd edition. APA Association: Washington D.C.

Additional sources linked in content.

Written as a collaborative effort by UC faculty/staff: Emma Harvey and Susie Mahoney, Ed.D. with advice and insights from Dr. Robin Selzer and the Pre-Professional Advising Center.