Writing your internship resume

In the next part of my "what's the deal with being an RD" series, let's chat about how to become an RD in Canada.

As I mentioned in the last post, the information discussed on this blog is relevant to the Canadian system, however may be different from how it works in other countries.  /disclaimer

To become an RD (Registered Dietitian) in Canada, there are three steps:

1. Complete an undergraduate degree from an accredited post-secondary institution.  The list of schools that meet Dietitians of Canada's requirements are shown here.  Note, other universities may have nutrition programs, but they are not accredited by Dietitians of Canada unless they are on that list.  For example, the University of Toronto has a nutrition sciences program that is not accredited; therefore, graduates of that program are ineligible to go on to step 2 of becoming an RD without going to an accredited school for more courses.
2. Complete an accredited one-year internship program through Dietitians of Canada, or an accredited graduate degree with integrated internship program.  Some universities combine steps 1 and 2 in an integrated program, where students complete both the undergraduate degree and internship program simultaneously.  These programs are highly competitive, and not all students in the integrated program will actually be accepted to the internship stream.
3. Your provincial regulatory body (e.g. professional college) assesses your academic and practicum experience to determine whether you are eligible to hold the title "RD".  In most provinces, you will now write the Canadian Dietetic Registration Exam (CDRE), a regulated examination that ensures that RDs possess the competencies needed to practice dietetics safely, ethically, and with an evidence-based backing.

Phew...

After seeing the requirements to becoming an RD, the next question that people tend to ask is:  "How do I get to step 2???".  Indeed, getting accepted into the undergraduate program is competitive, but the least of your worries.  The most intimidating and terrifying part of the process for most students is getting that coveted internship or grad school position!

 I'm no expert, but I can at least share some of my ideas of how I ended up with an internship.  By no means is this a guarantee that by doing these things that you will get a placement. /anotherdisclaimer. 

One thing that you need to have to get an internship is a great resume!  I've been getting a lot of emails and messages from former classmates who are applying to internship this year asking for advice about resume writing and what should/shouldn't be included, so I thought I'd share some of my ideas here!  Your resume should show a variety of experiences, demonstrate the many skills and abilities that you possess that will be valuable to the internship program, and show that you are dedicated to the process of being an RD.  Here are some of my thoughts of how to build up a strong resume:

1. Volunteer!  One of the best ways to figure out where you want to work in dietetics, or if you even want to work in dietetics, is to get some first hand experience!  Try to get a variety of experiences - clinical, community, and administrative or foodservice experience.  It can be tough to get paid work experience directly related to nutrition without having finished your degree yet, but volunteer work can be very rewarding and expose you to environments you wouldn't normally see.  In many hospitals, clinics and community centres, dietitians and other nutrition professionals take on volunteers for a variety of cool projects, but you can volunteer in other areas and still gain food and nutrition experience.  For example, I volunteered in a breastfeeding clinic for a year, where I wasn't working with dietitians but learned TONS from the lactation nurses and pediatricians running the clinic.  I saw and learned things there that I probably never would have learned otherwise. 
2. Work!  But wait, didn't I just say that it was tough to get work experience in nutrition?  Yep, I did.  But work experience of any kind is valuable, whether it deals directly with food and nutrition or not.  Even customer service and retail experience can be useful to build skills in problem solving, communication, organizational skills, and leadership.  I was fortunate enough to work in a couple of positions that dealt with food or nutrition in some way (e.g. Weight Watchers, worked briefly at a cooking school), but most of my other work experience was in retail, and health/fitness outside of food (teaching yoga).  You don't necessarily have to have a ton of food-related experience (though certainly you can't expect to walk into an internship without having ANY), but the experiences you do include on your resume should demonstrate transferable skills relevant to your future career as a dietitian.
3. Connect!  When I was a student at Ryerson, there were many student branches of professional organizations encouraging us to join.  At first I didn't think it was all that important - after all, I was far too busy with work/volunteering and keeping up with schoolwork and readings.  But I realized that connecting with these organizations was a great way to network with real world professionals, learn about career opportunities outside of just working in a hospital, gain experience and skills, and even have access to financial aid opportunities through scholarships and bursaries!  It helps to be part of a variety of organizations to see a variety of opinions and experiences.  I was a student member of Dietitians of Canada, the Canadian Association of Foodservice Professionals, the Canadian Obesity Network, and the Ontario Home Economists' Association, and participated in a number of events held by each of these organizations and job shadowing opportunities.  I know some students who even got job and volunteer opportunities out of their membership with these organizations.  I was also fortunate enough to have been given money :D!  Most of these student organizations have a professor as a mentor, so this can also be a great way to make your profs notice you and your ambition a bit more and earn yourself a great reference.
4. Be a leader!  In addition to just joining student organizations, it helps to take on a leadership role!  You don't necessarily need to become the president of your student association (in fact, the president of the student association I was most closely associated with didn't actually get an internship), but participation in the organization and helping out with events/volunteer opportunities when they come up can be really valuable.  I was an executive member of several organizations at Ryerson, including Meal Exchange (a food security advocacy organization), the CAFP, and the Nutrition Course Union - in these positions, I took a leadership role and organized many educational and social events for students.  However, I also took on a lot of student volunteers to help me do that, giving them the opportunity to get involved and take ownership too.
5. Learn!  Of course you're in school to learn anyway.  But while you're there, try to select courses that will broaden your horizons and be useful in the future!  Taking a variety of courses and showing that you are able to apply what you learned will be very helpful in setting you apart from other applicants, and show that you are truly passionate and dedicated to the practice of dietetics because you can apply your learning.  I got stuck in some of those liberal studies electives that will never be useful again (like the History of World War 1.  Yeah.  *yawn*), but also was able to take a few liberal studies/elective courses that were actually interesting and had the potential to help me in the future.  For example, I took an introductory psychology course, which helped me to understand some basic concepts in human behaviour and adapt my counselling skills.  Because I took that course, I was also able to take a more advanced psychology course in drug addiction.  I also took an elective course in food security in Canadian populations, and was fortunate enough to take an international community development course in New Orleans, giving me great perspective on the socioeconomic side of food and nutrition and a different perspective of how to approach counselling patients/clients dealing with food insecurity or economic hardship. If you took really special courses in your undergraduate program (like the New Orleans course, or a research course with poster presentations or something), you can include these in your internship resume.

There are other things you can do that will be helpful to beef up your resume, but I believe that those five are probably the most important.  The last thing I would add to the list as a "maybe 6" would be to get certified, i.e. make it easier for you to get the work and volunteer experience by showing initiative and getting a certification to get the position.  For example, get a food handler's certificate (often required to work in foodservice at hospitals) - some schools will run the program at a discounted rate, or it may be offered as a condition of employment if you are working in a foodservice operation.

And remember, you only have 2 pages that you can submit!  Keep it succinct, but explain your skill set thoroughly.  Try to keep your resume to experiences in the last 4-5 years (unless you had something that is extremely relevant from earlier years, otherwise, keep it recent).

The absolute most important thing about writing your resume for internship applications - REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!  You'll end up reviewing and revising your resume about 3874328975647289732 times before you get ready to print and submit.  Have a friend, professor, or professional (like a dietitian you work/volunteer with) to help you review your resume and application package to make sure that it pops :)

If you're a dietetics student in Ontario looking for some info on internship applications, leave me a comment :)!  I'm happy to address questions in future blog posts!