The culminating—or capstone—experience for most graduate-level School Counselor students is an Internship experience in a school setting. Typically, this experience is around six hundred hours and is intended to help graduate students develop their counseling skills, and gain valuable experience, while working in a school setting that is intended to mirror the day-to-day experiences of a typical school counselor.

With that, let’s look at my Top-10 Internship Tips for graduate students hoping to pursue a career as a future school counselor. This list is broken up into three sections: The Placement (Tips 1-2); The Initial Experience (Tips 3-6); and The On-Going Experience (Tips 7-10).

The Placement: Tips #1—#2

Tip #1: Spend a bit of time in extended contemplation: Do you have a school building (or district) that you just know that you want to Intern at? Are you thinking about Interning at your former school, or a school that is close by? Big school? Small school? Spend some time thinking about fit, and what makes the most sense for you. Also, talk to your academic advisor or a program professor: They may have some great tips, or ideas, for placements—and connections—that have worked out well for previous graduate students.

Tip #2: Go where you are most needed: Similar to Tip #1, the biggest piece of Internship placement advice I would give—overall—is to think about going where you are most needed. Maybe think about a situation where there is only one other counselor in the building, and by having you, the school building now has doubled their counseling resources for the time being. Maybe another counselor is out on maternity leave, or maybe the building had a recent retirement and did not have the fiscal means and abilities to hire another counselor—in steps YOU! Under-resourced buildings—and districts—can  often provide excellent opportunities for Interns to come in and establish themselves, by allowing such counselors-in-training to assist with a wide-range of duties, and gain invaluable experience in the process (think: training wheels coming off early!). Give strong consideration to selecting an Internship placement that will let you role-up your sleeves and get to work right away.

The Initial Experience: Tips #3—#6

Tip #3: Stretch out the experience (if feasible): This tip might seem a bit unconventional, counterintuitive, or, perhaps, not feasible for all graduate students. But, if possible, maybe consider spending some extra time at your Internship placement. While the norm for many graduate students is to routinely complete their Internship hours and requirements in one semester, or term, the downside to that might be that by the time you really get to know students and staff, you might be closer to finishing up your experience. In my own experience, at least—and out of necessity—I had to work two other jobs while Interning, so I was only able to come in twice a week for my Internship. However, that allowed me to stretch out my experience from September to the end of May—and then being able to volunteer for several days in June (once my required hours were completed), to properly say my goodbyes to staff and students. Looking back, I am happy with that decision because I was able to experience the full scope and sequence of an academic year from September—June, and, in the process, getting to see the students’ full growth and development during those same ten months of a normal school year. Bonus: We were both able to end the year at the same time, and it, perhaps, made for a more natural, organic send-off, in the end.

Tip #4: Rely on your support system: This tip is truly critical from start to finish, I believe, for Interns. Maybe you have children at home; another job; maybe you are taking care of other loved ones—it’s often a very hectic, fast-paced, and stressful time for most graduate students, and can leave individuals feeling like they are being stretched pretty thin. School Counseling programs are often very lengthy undertakings, with many requirements and boxes to check along the way. That is why it is important to rely on your support system to help see you through the end of this very busy time in your life—whether it’s for four months; eight months—or longer. Friends and families might help prepare meals; encourage you with kind words or helpful gestures; or just be a sounding board as you are immersed in the Internship experience. These unsung heroes can help keep you strong and remaining ever-positive and upbeat from start to finish.

Tip #5: Be open-minded: Each Internship placement setting is different. Each school—while it may have uniform practices, policies, and procedures across district or county levels, for instance—is its own unique ecosystem. No two schools buildings are the same because the people inside of them are not the same. Whether factoring in for socio-economic distinctions; demographic factors; or the driving force(s) of the greater surrounding community, each school has different needs, expectations, and things that it emphasizes as particularly important to its school community. The quicker you get to know, and understand, those things, the quicker you will be able to contribute, and to recognize what makes your Internship placement a great, unique place to learn, grow, and develop your skills.

Tip #6: Ask an abundance of questions: This tip might seem a bit obvious, but I believe that asking a lot of questions of your Internship site supervisor—throughout your experience—is not only a personal strength to possess, but also an invaluable item in your counseling toolbox (and not just at the beginning of your Internship experience, either). Not only do questions allow you to gain a wealth of information from another veteran counselor (or counselors), questions also help to foster self-reflection for those folks upon their own practices and the particular way(s) that they do things. What might seem quite obvious to them—and equally confusing to you—allows for open dialogue—via questions and conversations—about why things are done the way that they are being done. Through the open, on-going dialogue, you may even be able to offer a fresh, helpful perspective, or to put forth your own creative ideas or solutions. Make the questions organic, free-flowing, and often!

The On-Going Experience: Tips #7-#10

Tip #7: Embrace mistakes: If we are being honest, nobody likes to make mistakes, but they are, indeed, part of the larger learning experience. As a counseling Intern, you are not expected to have all of the answers (who really does, anyway?), nor are you expected to save the world. You may say the wrong (even awkward) thing, or try an intervention that fails from the get-go— but that is OK. Internship is a great time to spread your wings, so to speak, while also having the comforting help and assistance of your site supervisor close by. They can help you pause and reflect upon your on-going work, so that the next time you approach a similar learning experience with greater poise and confidence. Their influence is valuable, too, simply because of their experience: They have probably “seen it all” already, so they can be a steading force for you, if you are ever feeling like you are struggling to be effective or helpful.

Tip #8: Add value—be an asset:  You bring in with you a skill-set of unique gifts, talents, abilities, and experiences that no one else possesses (no, honestly, you really do!) to your Internship experience. You might be really techy; you might be good with collaboration or consensus-building; you might have a special ability to connect with all types of different students; or you might be someone that can do a little bit of everything—see where you can use your skills and assets to the greatest extents possible to help fill needs or to even take some things off your site supervisor’s plate, so to speak. All the while, as you add value to your building, you are carving out your own identity (and role), and are adding to your own skill-set and development by working with others and tapping into the things you are particular good at (or passionate about).

Tip #9: Get to know all staff members: I am a big proponent—and especially in my own work today—of cross-departmental collaboration and relationship-building, and I think a lot of that stems from recognizing the importance of that particular ethos going back to my Internship days. As an Intern, you are new; sometimes, little is known of you. You have to reach out, introduce yourself, and try to build connections, and consensus, with staff. If you want to deliver whole-class core counseling lessons in the classroom, or run groups for students, you have to get to know the teachers and support staff that lead those classrooms (and to see what particular lesson topics, or presentations, they might be eager to have you deliver to their students in the classroom, or who they think would be a good candidate for your new counseling group). Much like the previous tip (of adding value), getting to know all staff members (which means a sampling of everyone that works in your building) will help you to have a more impactful and effective Internship experience. Not to mention, these individuals might grant you permission to list them as a reference—or may even agree to write a letter of recommendation for you—by the culmination of your Internship experience.

Tip #10: Collect artifacts: While this is the last tip listed, ideally, it is something that school counselor Interns will begin thinking about even before they start their Internship experience. Artifacts can be anything: thank you notes from students or families; originally-crafted lesson plans or PowerPoint presentations; self-created needs assessments sent to staff (more on that in a future article); pictures of your work with students actively engaged in group activities, etc.—anything that you can take with you to your job interviews. Plus, artifacts can be wonderful keepsakes—and tangible—reminders of your Internship experience, down the road, as you reflect upon your professional experiences (think: scrapbooking). I remember that I saved the following self-created artifacts: group counseling permission forms, PowerPoint presentations, and a staff Needs Assessment form; my staff identification badge; a copy of the school newspaper (when a student interviewed me for a get-to-know staff article); pictures of my office, and fun group activities with students; and a ticket stub from a baseball game field trip—just to name a few. I am glad that I kept those mementos—and hope you decide to hold onto a few of your very own items once you successfully complete your own Internship experience.

—The Blue-Collar Counselor