The APPIC Board of Directors endorses the statement provided by the Council of Chairs of Training Councils (CCTC)  on virtual interviewing as follows:

October 3, 2024

From the Council of Chairs of Training Councils

RE: Recommendation for virtual interviews for Doctoral, Internship, and Postdoctoral recruitment and selection

The Council of Chairs of Training Councils (CCTC) provides a forum for communication among doctoral, internship, and postdoctoral training associations in psychology across the United States of America and Canada. CCTC promotes discussion of professional education of psychologists, develops recommendations to be reviewed and possibly implemented by member organizations, and encourages communication between CCTC members and associated organizations.

The intent of this document is to provide member councils with recommendations for future doctoral, internship, and postdoctoral selection cycles. In 2020, there was an important shift from in person interviews to the use of virtual interviews for recruitment and selection processes. Since then, data from applicants and training programs indicate successful implementation of virtual platforms for doctoral, internship, and postdoctoral fellowship interviews^1-7, with the following benefits noted:

• Promotion of equity and increased access for applicants;
• Decreased costs;
• Reduced burden of travel, including weather disruptions;
• Less disruption to clinical and academic responsibilities;
• Mitigation of health and illness concerns;
• Reduced travel emissions.

These data also suggest that applicants have a strong preference for virtual interviews and were satisfied with the virtual interview process^2,3,7, with the majority of training directors also expressing satisfaction with virtual interviews^1,4. It is important to note that applicants believe they would be negatively evaluated if they opted for a virtual interview at a program that also offered in-person interviews ⁷, resulting in significant concern with this practice. CCTC supports the autonomy of member councils and their respective member programs in setting their interview and selection processes, and this document is not meant to override the judgement and responsibility of individual programs. Yet, CCTC acknowledges that virtual interviews have many advantages that appear to outweigh the disadvantages for applicants and training programs alike. For the reasons outlined in this document, CCTC strongly recommends exclusively virtual interviews for Doctoral, Internship, and Postdoctoral recruitment and selection processes for the 2024-25 cycle and beyond.

Respectfully submitted,

Council of Chairs of Training Councils

Members who wish to read more on this topic are referred to:

1. APPIC Internship Training Director (TD) Survey 2022
2. APCS Reducing Barriers to Clinical Science Education and Training: Student Preferences for Virtual Interviews
3. CCPPP 2021 Virtual Interview Survey Results: Trainee
4. CCPPP 2021 Virtual Interview Survey Results: DoT
5. APPIC Virtual Interviews Guidance Document (2022-23)
6. Domingo et al. (2022) Virtual residency interviews: Applicant perceptions regarding virtual interview effectiveness, advantages, and barriers. Journal of Graduate Medical Education, April 2022, 224-228. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4300/JGME-D-21-00675.1
7. Vas et al. (2023). Virtual interviews for doctoral psychology internships: Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Training and Education in Professional Psychology, 17(3), 231-240. https://doi.org/10.1037/tep0000445