The ability to navigate the vast ocean of available information and perform reference services in digital environments is an essential component of the job for most of today's reference librarians, especially those working in academic libraries. Reference librarians face a challenge: they must be highly skilled at searching for, locating, and interpreting information in a constantly changing landscape of online databases, catalogs, and free Web technologies while also possessing the skills to be competent instructors and being personable enough to interact face-to-face. Library schools contribute to some foundational skills that a librarian builds, but digital competency is built through longer term on-the-job or internship training. That is why to be competent at their jobs, today's librarians must seek out opportunities to foster and build upon the skills learned in their library programs. One way to build these skills early in a librarian's career is to intern or volunteer at a reference desk. New York University, which partners with Long Island University's Palmer School of Library and Information Science, takes the experience of the physical reference desk and brings it into the digital realm with guided mentoring in their virtual "chat" reference program. In this article, the author discusses her experience with the program and the ways in which it improved her competency as a reference and instruction librarian. (Contains 1 table.)