Internship Director Stuff - Because It Is Monday

It is Monday, which means Gandalf gets to do her favorite thing - lick a graham cracker. 

It is Monday, which means that MJ gets to do one of her favorite things - talk about supervising music therapy interns as part of her role in this profession.

One of the most difficult parts of this role is being a gatekeeper to my clients and to my music therapy self. I do not automatically accept someone to my internship if I have an opening. I do not have to take an intern, ever, so I can afford to be choosy about who comes to work with me and with my clients. There are times when I do not actively seek an intern to be with my clients. There are times when I just want to be therapist and not have to be mentor/coach. The problem for me comes when I have applicants for a specific time that I do not feel will be a good match for me or for my program.

Over the years that I have worked with interns, I have found that one of the most important indicators of whether they will be able to work with me is if they follow instructions during the application process. Applicants who do not read my application and send me additional stuff do not make the cut. I am not interested in resumes or transcripts. I have had applicants tell me that I have forgotten to ask for these things - no, I don't want them. They are not what indicates competence to me. Following directions is what indicates competence to me.

So, I use my application to find applicants that can follow directives. I also find applicants that do not.

One of the things that I really have found over the years is that people do not read things carefully. I put information in my fact sheet and my application that I feel is important for applicants to know. I can weed out so many applicants this way. Applicants that can't follow instructions are not people that I want in my space for seven months. FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS! I do not want to have to constantly tell people to read the instructions or what to do at every single opportunity! 

The applicants that have the audacity to send me things that I do not want or ask for go to the "no, thank you" pile. The ones that tell me that I "forgot" get immediately rejected.

The rejection letter is one of the hardest things to create and send. I am a therapist, so I want to help everyone, but I am also a human who needs things to be less difficult for me. I cannot spend my entire life trying to explain every little thing to someone who is unable to complete an application...

Three days left of time for my home and myself. I return to my part-time church job on Sunday, so I have finished my three-day weekends. I think I will make Sundays be my movie days during the school year. I'll go to church in the morning and then find a movie to see in the early afternoons. I have an unlimited movie pass, so I can go without having to spend more money than the cost of the pass. I have plans to make changes to my routines (of course, that happens every year at this time). For the next three days, though, I am going to build bookshelves, laminate things, review my internship documents, and continue to organize my home.