Donald Gidney

Summer 2009

Unpaid Internship

I found and secured my internship by talking with my supervisor about a nonprofit program that she runs addressing issues relevant to women in the community such as abortion, HIV/AIDS, relationships, health, parenting, etc. After learning the details about the program I decided to become involved because I had never worked with a predominantly female population and I believed that it would be a good learning experience. After communicating my interest in the program to my supervisor and UNCG faculty, I was able to secure my internship with the Women of Strength Program.

Overall, I had a really good experience. My main role was a counselor; I facilitated groups and held individual counseling sessions with the participants in the program. This role gave me opportunities to learn about many of the adversities that women face, implement different counseling theories/techniques, and take a look at myself and what I offer as a counselor. This was done through the use of reflective logs, weekly supervision, and class assignments. I also conducted research on how substance abuse affects relationships and studied risk factors for women and cancer; using the information I found I put together presentations on each subject for program participants.

I also received exposure to the business side of running a nonprofit organization. I did a lot of networking and visited other community agencies to build bridges and create resources for the participants in our program. At the end of my internship I completed a resource manual for other counselors to use as a guide when clients are in need of referrals or services that are not available through the WOS program. I also learned about grant writing, policy analysis, fundraising, and marketing. My supervisor and I worked together on creating monthly newsletters, designing a website, and soliciting for volunteers and new participants.

I gained a new understanding of what it means to be a social worker. The biggest thing that I learned was how to develop effective counseling techniques based on a systems approach to working with clients. I learned that you should never decide that you don't want to work with a certain population before actually doing so; because you may limit and rob yourself of an opportunity for personal growth. I also learned about the business side of operating a non-profit agency; until I did my internship I never had any exposure to program policies, grant writing, or marketing.

Always have a backup plan: The Women of Strength Program was not my first choice. I landed the internship the day before I was scheduled to start my field placement. I set my original internship up with another agency seven months in advance and it fell through the day before I was supposed to start.

Look for an internship that is going to be a challenge or in an area you've never worked with: I knew about the Women of Strength Program for about five years; however I overlooked it at first because I had no interest in working with a women's group. If my original internship had worked out I may still have biasness against working with an all female population. Another area of growth for me was learning how to counsel on different issues other than substance abuse (the area in which I have the most experience). My internship also required that I do a lot of public speaking and groups. This was helpful because I generally do not like doing those things which were a challenge, but through stepping out of my comfort zone and building self efficacy I overcame my self-created barriers.

Talk to your professors/other students that have completed the program of study you are in: Professors and alumni are valuable resources and can give you a lot of good insight. I got my first job out of college through an internship that my undergraduate advisor referred me to. You can always find alumni on websites such as Myspace or Facebook by doing a search inquiry. Having a good relationship with your advisor or a student mentor is also a great idea.

If you have a bad feeling about your internship start looking for a new one ASAP: As I shared earlier I found out the day before I was supposed to start my internship that things were not going to work out. About two months prior I started getting bad vibes, and some questionable/unprofessional things took place; I remained optimistic and thought that everything would work out, which resulted in me having to find a new internship at the last minute and created a lot of unnecessary stress. If I had communicated my concerns with my UNCG field placement liaison when things first started going wrong I may have prevented being forced to make a last minute decision.

Contact places you would like to work: Usually internships can turn into fulltime employment if you work hard, network, and show a strong desire to become a fulltime employee. Even if the places you contact do not have an internship available they may be able to redirect you to similar agencies that do.

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