Internships/ Relevant Experiences

WATCH THIS presentation on Relevant Experiences:

Transcript for video:Internships_ Relevant Experiences Video Transcript

How do you find an internship? Well you can always search for one on your own.  Use your status as a UCF student and ask your local community members if they need a volunteer intern.  Try doing a Google search of the type of experience you want.  For example: Google “your zip code volunteer, nonprofit public organization” and you’ll find some names of counselors in the area. Check out local non-profit organizations and public schools, too. Send them a well written e-mail asking if they have an internship opportunity available, and if not, perhaps they would be willing to meet with you to do an informational interview about their career field.

Check out VolunteerMatch.org to find places near you that you could volunteer at: https://www.volunteermatch.org/

Some places that psychology majors have volunteered at to gain relevant experience before are:

Some other things you may consider are:

PSY4942 Instructional Experiences in Undergraduate Psychology: This internship is designed for advanced psychology majors who want to explore Teaching as part of their professional development, by becoming a Teaching Assistant.  Additionally, this experience gives students a chance to work more closely with professors in the Psychology Department.  It is required that you have already earned an “A” in the course you are to TA for, have a minimum of 3.0 GPA, and that you register for PSY 4942 during your first semester as a Teaching Assistant.  PSY 4942 is an online (S/U) graded 1 credit course that coincides with the work you complete with a faculty member that you can take up to 3 times.  To become a TA- ask your professor for whose class you received an A in if you can be their TA next semester.  If you are approved, bring a note from your professor to the Psychology Advising Center in PSY 250, and you will be issued a permission number so that you can enroll.  TA duties will vary depending on the professor you work with.

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Office of Experiential Learning

OEL has internship opportunities available for students of all majors. Start with creating an account on Handshake found on csel.ucf.edu. Then when jobs, internships, and Co-Op opportunities come up, you can apply!

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PSY3022C Academic Counseling  Psychology Peer Advisors (PA’s) are advanced undergraduate psychology majors who assist other psychology majors/minors to understand and complete their psychology degree requirements. PA’s help students understand university policies and procedures, assist in schedule planning, and provide advisement on other academic matters such as applying for extracurricular activities and graduate school. PA’s are not paid, but do earn upper level psychology credit for participating in the internship. This is a three semester of Fall, Spring, and Summer-10 hour per week- commitment.  PA’s are selected based on GPA, related experience, and extracurricular activities.  It is highly recommend you speak to a current Peer Advisor before applying.  Applications are usually due in June, with interviews conducted soon after.  Training will start for selected PA’s before the Fall semester begins.

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Other relevant experiences:

Tutoring or coaching like with UCF SARC, Peer Mentor with UCF CAPS, Resident Assistant in housing, Career Peer Advisor with UCF Career Services, volunteer with Campus Activities, & more, even part-time or full-time work may be relevant!

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If your goal is to go towards a doctorate (PsyD/PhD) to become a psychologist or other scientist/practitioner, not only would you need experiences such as listed above, but you will need at least 1 year of research experience with a faculty member as well.