Frequently Asked Questions:
Internship Training Directors - Policy Issues
Updated July 30, 2025
POLICY ISSUES
- How long should agencies keep files of intern applicants?
- May internship sites require that internship applicants supply a photo along with an application?
- May internship sites take photographs of applicants who they personally interview?
- Is it permitted to ask applicants to submit video recordings of clients as work samples?
POLICY ISSUES
1. How long should agencies keep files of intern applicants?
A number of considerations are relevant:
- Some agencies and their larger institutions consider intern candidates as job applicants, and thus may have institutional policies about retention periods for applicant folders.
- Many agencies are subject to EEO Guidelines and local, state and federal regulations. Specifics vary by setting depending on state and federal affiliations and specific applicability of regulations.
- Accreditation self-studies, along with annual reports required of accredited programs, often ask internship Training Directors to describe certain characteristics of their applicant pool. Be sure you understand these requirements before destroying any materials in order to ensure that you preserve the information necessary for those reports.
Information that you should preserve indefinitely includes, but is not limited to, the Rank Order Lists that your program submits to National Matching Services (NMS), the Match results provided by NMS on Match Day, and all application materials submitted by the interns who matched to your site.
- Applicants (or their DCTs) who did not get matched to your site may contact you requesting feedback about their applications. If you choose to provide feedback in these situations, retaining application materials for some period of time after the conclusion of the Match (along with rating forms that may have been generated by a selection committee) can be helpful in that regard.
Ultimately, each agency needs to check their institutional guidelines and develop a policy based on the specific circumstances and preferences unique to their situation.
2. May internship sites require that internship applicants supply a photo along with an application?
No. This is not permitted by APPIC's Policy on AAPI Online Supplemental Materials.
3. May internship sites take photographs of applicants who they personally interview?
APPIC strongly discourages programs from requiring any photograph at any time during the application and interviewing process. The U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission's web site states that "...employers should not ask for a photograph of an applicant. If needed for identification purposes, a photograph may be obtained after an offer of employment is made and accepted."
Furthermore, sites may wish to consider the fact that photographs requested during the application process have historically been used in a discriminatory manner, and many applicants have reported to APPIC that the practice makes them very uncomfortable. Finally, a program that requests photographs may be in the position of having to justify these actions to the accrediting body.
At the very least, programs that wish to consider this practice despite this strong cautionary advice should seek legal opinions about whether such a practice is permitted based on institutional policies as well as laws applicable to their jurisdictions.
4. Is it permitted to ask applicants to submit video recordings of clients as work samples?
No. This is not permitted by APPIC's Policy on AAPI Online Supplemental Materials.