My time at a self-secured research internship for a doctoral dissertation paper affiliated with Fielding Graduate University has been one of the best experiences in professional development through leadership skills, communication awareness, and technological growth for my future career. The research internship primarily concerns interviewing participants with a script, scheduling said participants, online recruitment, and overseeing survey responses. Since the internship is remote for many of the tasks and training, this environment caters toward building leadership skills by learning how to function independently, such as completing tasks before the deadline, helping coworkers through email or video, and responding to participants appropriately. Second, acknowledging how to operate online in netiquette and being neutral in my responses for interviews leads to refining communication skills. Finally, technological growth in learning Google Suites is beneficial because it is a workspace with multiple applications that many job offerings are seeking competency for. Although there were many other skills honed during my internship, these primary takeaways will continue to benefit my future career since expertise in this area is sought after in a multitude of careers. However, specifically for a post-bachelor’s psychology degree, this research internship has granted me a greater understanding of how research, technology used for said research, and some aspects of therapy smoothly operates.
As an undergraduate psychology major, this research internship does tie greatly into my studies. The research internship studies adult attachment and relationships through a survey and an interview with a research assistant, which is my role. A heavy component being studied in this paper falls under clinical psychology, such as attachment and rejection sensitivity, that has been touched upon in my classes. Outside of the psychology content aspect, on a technical level, I have learned more about how psychology research is carefully done. Since people are the focus in these studies, it is important for the research assistant and interviewer to be impartial and neutral during their meeting with a participant in order to prevent social desirability bias, which can sway the answers away from the actual truth. As for educational requirements needed beforehand to be successful in this research internship, perhaps one of the best and only course of action to take is to complete a CITI certification on Social/Behavioral IRB. This course is necessary to understand research ethics and protocols for the safety of the participant, yet advance knowledge in the field of psychology. Although previous background on general psychology and statistics would be helpful, it is not absolutely necessary to complete the assigned duties.
After completing my internship, I am still fascinated in the particular career surrounding research and psychology due to the amount of excitement I had during this experience. It was captivating to see participant responses and find correlations in their answers towards other variables being studied. In the participant interviews and the principal investigator’s hypothesis, learning more about clinical psychology has sparked a clearer idea of where my interest lies for my future career. Although continuing research itself as a lab coordinator may not be my future career, I do plan to apply for a career that entertains some aspects of clinical psychology and mental health in order to help others, such as a psychologist assistant or psychometrist. If I choose to pursue this field, education would include a post-bachelor’s in psychology, leadership and independence skills, training would be offered by the provider, and experience in psychology is necessary. As a research assistant for the internship as well as a volunteer teaching assistant, I have a semblance of experience to apply for a position in this field once I graduate. However, by continuing to refine various skills necessary for psychology and participating in more activities, such as clubs or volunteer work, I may be able to secure a position.
One piece of advice I have for any incoming intern is to value your time in learning the concepts offered to a variety of these internships. Not only are the technical aspects, such as how operations typically function for a specific career or why duties must be performed, but also the field’s focus, like the unique specialties of clinical psychology. For example, I learned to spot the symptoms of rejection sensitivity and different attachment styles, which could reflect on the satisfaction of relationships. By furthering knowledge in a subject, one is able to immerse themselves into their career and understand how to enact their knowledge. This includes the discussions and assignments for COLA 402 itself. By reading various articles about material pertaining to the workforce and attending UNLV workshops, my professional development has greatly improved in understanding what employers are looking for. For example, in the Drop-In Resume workshop, my resume has been enhanced by being specific on my contributions through numerical aspects and creating a LinkedIn profile that employers often check with the help of an experienced advisor. Below is a picture taken during the event, which displays how vital it is to network with various people that have helped us and how this could only happen by attending the class! Overall, both my self-secured research internship and the class of COLA 402 propelled my professional growth in my future career by learning key concepts in these fields.
