How to Secure Your Forensic Internship

Introduction

Below are some tips that I have learned that will help you to secure an internship in a Forensic Science Laboratory. The first step is scouting your area for laboratories that have the discipline you are looking to work in but be open to other disciplines. Working in another discipline will broaden your horizon and may help you more than what you are searching for.  

Research Project

As a student, you should be preparing for your internship by your second year as an undergraduate.  By this time, you have settled into college and should be aware that an internship requirement must be fulfilled by your senior year. At this time, you should be searching for a professor to work with to conduct your own research or to assist in an ongoing research project. The more time you put into this research before applying to internships the better. Presenting and/or being published with this research will help even more. The research you pick should correlate to the discipline of Forensics that you are most interested in.

Now that you are conducting research and are working in a research lab this can now be applied to your application. The cover letter for your application or the conversation you have with the laboratory should focus mainly on your research. This will show the laboratory that you have a good knowledge of the field and are dedicated to what you do. This will put you above the other students who are applying with no research experience.

Internship Research Project

Hopefully, you should be already conducting your own research you should plan another area of research that may only be achieved with an internship with a laboratory by using their knowledge and resources. Write a proposal for this research and have it on hand. Create a short description of this research and add it to the cover letter that you have the intention of researching this topic at the laboratory if you were selected to intern. This will show your drive and show that you will be utilizing the full potential of the internship. These laboratories want to select students who will want to make the most from it, not just to fulfill a requirement.

What to do after submitting your application

After submitting your application make sure you follow up with the laboratory. If you had an interview, let them know soon after that you are thankful for the opportunity for the interview and that you appreciated meeting the panel and seeing the laboratory. Also, state you look forward to the next steps in the process. This will show your drive and how much this means to you, which should place you higher on their list of who to accept.

If the process only required a submission of an application, try to call the laboratory a week or two after the submission to inquire what the next steps of the process will be, and what you should expect. This will show your drive for the internship and show how important the internship is to you.

My Experience Securing an Internship

In college, I conducted two types of research projects. One project dealt with Firearms and the other dealt with Physics. I used both of these research projects in my cover letter, which was the main focus. I also explained how I wanted to be able to intern at a laboratory that served my local community. I expressed my interest in firearms and talked a little about my research experience, but also stated that I will be willing to intern in any section to broaden my knowledge of the crime laboratory. I also stated that I would like to conduct research at the laboratory for a capstone project I had to complete for my Honors Course. At this point, I didn’t have a specific capstone idea in mind, but now I would recommend that anyone applying should have some idea of what they would like to do to make their cover letter more appealing.

Two weeks later I called the laboratory to ask about the future steps of the process and what I should expect. During this phone call, the person in charge of accepting interns retrieved my file and told me my application looked good, and that they would be selecting interns in the next couple of weeks. I felt like this moment caused my file to reach the top of the list and stand out from the rest. Because of my openness to joining any section, I was picked to intern at the laboratory under the Quality Assurance (QA) Section. I was a little disappointed that I wasn’t selected for Firearms but gladly accepted the offer. But, after speaking with the laboratory I found out that my internship was with the QA section, but the research I mentioned in my cover letter and phone call would be fulfilled. So, I split my time learning and helping the QA section while researching in the Firearm Section. Thankfully I got my internship in the QA section, because little did I know, that this section was really important to the operation of the laboratory. Having the knowledge of the QA section actually helped me land my first Forensic Science position and my second. Also, my research allowed me to continue my internship after the summer and all through my senior year, which allowed me to grow and get recognition at the laboratory, while the other interns left by August.

Concluding Note

Researching at your internship is so important. I cannot stress that enough. It will help you satisfy any college requirement for research and help with your job applications that you will submit during your Senior year. Laboratories that are hiring want to know your internship experience, and nothing sounds better than doing research as you learn the laboratory’s function. Do not do an internship just to satisfy your school’s requirements! Use it to push you forward in the job market. Every Forensic Scientist has taken an internship, but only a few have reaped the full benefits of that internship.