How to Reach Out to Potential Preceptors for a Dietetic Internship
In our last post we covered six networking strategies to secure preceptors for a dietetic internship. In today’s post, we’ll cover exactly how to reach out to potential preceptors for a dietetic internship and what you should say in an email or phone call.
We’ll also review the best strategies for staying organized and persistent throughout the process.
Start networking at least 6 months before the internship starts.
It can take several months to secure preceptors and you’ll want to start early in order to secure rotations at the sites that most interest you. In addition, some preceptors take on several interns a year and they might only have openings at specific times during the year. Finally, the contracting process with some facilities can take several months to complete. If you already know that you plan to apply to distance dietetic internship programs, you can start looking for preceptors before you match to a program.
If you’re wondering how to use LInkedIn to find preceptors, we have you covered here:
Know your rotation details before reaching out.
Potential preceptors are really busy. Make the most of every interaction by knowing exactly what you are asking for when you reach out. You should know the rotation type, the total number of weeks needed and specific dates or date options. Rotation specifics for KBDI can be found here.
Pitch the benefits of hosting you as an intern.
When reaching out to preceptors, it is not the time to be shy or humble. Preceptors want to know why they should take you on as an intern. Make sure that you include a brief introduction and your specific interest in their site.
If the preceptor agrees to have a further conversation with you, treat it as a mini-interview. This is a good time to bring up your own accomplishments and skills. If you speak a second language or have a lot of past experience in social media content creation, consider how this might benefit the preceptor. You can even offer to create a bilingual handout or social media posts for them if they agree to be your preceptor.
Some preceptors may ask to see a resume or your LinkedIn profile, so make sure those are professional and up to date. Other preceptors may ask to schedule a meeting to see if it will be a good fit. We highly recommend interviewing preceptors to also make sure that your own interests and rotation requirements will align with the rotation site.
Check out our blog post on making your LinkedIn Profile standout:
Be persistent.
Professionals are often inundated with emails and phone calls. If you don’t hear back from a potential preceptor, wait a week or two, then send a follow-up email on the same thread. Consider trying a phone call as well.
For some facilities such as clinical and foodservice, you may not be able to find an email address for the site Registered Dietitian. In these circumstances, you’ll likely have to call the hospital or site directly and ask to be transferred to the RD. Note that the operators often have a hard time figuring out who to call, so you might get bounced around a few times. Do not give up. Try asking for the Clinical Nutrition Manager or Food Service Director.
If all else fails, ask to be transferred to Human Resources and they will likely have more time to look up the appropriate contact. If you leave a message at a hospital or clinical facility, don’t be surprised if you don’t receive a call back. Keep calling and consider leaving your email address in the voicemail as well. You will need to be persistent.
Keep a detailed record of sites that you have contacted.
Create an Excel Spreadsheet or Google Doc with the name of each facility or RDN that you have contacted. List the facility name, contact information, date that you reached out, their response and when to follow up. This information will help you stay organized as you reach out to potential preceptors over the months leading up to the internship start date.
In addition, some facilities may not be able to commit to taking on interns when you reach out, but they will ask that you follow up with them in a few months. Keeping detailed records will help you track when to reach back out. If a facility or potential preceptor says no or maybe because of staffing or pandemic issues, don’t take this as a hard no. Follow up in a few months to see if circumstances have changed.
Treat every preceptor interaction like a mini job interview.
Whether you reach out to a potential preceptor via email or on the phone, make sure that you are professional. This includes triple-checking your email for grammar and avoiding informal salutations like “Hey” and “Hi”. If reaching out by phone, practice what you are going to say before you call. Treat all interactions like a potential job interview. As a bonus, if you match to KBDI, we provide interns with a sample preceptor email!
Even if a preceptor is unable to accommodate you, always follow up and thank them for their time. You can also ask if they would be willing to put you in touch with anyone they know that might be able to act as a preceptor.
We hope that our tips on how reach out to potential preceptors for a dietetic internship have been helpful.
While it can be challenging and time consuming to secure your own preceptors, we encourage interns to look at it as an opportunity to shape your own internship experience. You get to decide exactly where you complete each rotation in areas that most closely align with your interests.