When you envisage a typical intern, the image of a fresh-faced young college student may come to mind. But in a world where older workers are staying in the workforce longer and reinventing themselves mid-career, that image may not be entirely accurate anymore.
If you’re a 50-something who’s wants a change of direction, or a bored retired person looking for a greater purpose in life, don’t rule out the possibility of doing an internship.
You may have seen Robert De Niro as Ben Whittaker in a film called “The Intern,” an older person, who does work experience at an online fashion business in Brooklyn.
Seventy-year-old widower Ben discovers that retirement isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Seizing an opportunity to get back in the game, he becomes a senior intern and proves to be a source of support and wisdom to his young boss.
More and more companies, are realising that having older people involved in the company as interns, can be rewarding for both parties and the wisdom and experience they bring, extremely valuable.
What is an internship?
An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organisation for a limited period of time. They are typically undertaken by people looking to gain relevant skills and experience in a particular field. Employers benefit from these placements because they often recruit employees from their best interns, who have known capabilities, thus saving time and money in the long run. The system can be open to exploitation by unscrupulous employers, as interns are usually unpaid and often the work can seem trivial and undervalued.
Is an internship suitable for older people?
For older people, an internship may be an interesting interlude in their lives; an opportunity to learn more about a particular business or sector, or even a life changing event.
It may be a way of restoring confidence and reinforcing the belief that they still have mature judgement, valuable experience and skills to share.
We like the idea of challenging the conventional wisdom that internships are exclusively for young people. People of all ages are looking for ways to enhance existing skills and learn new ones.
In our view, if you can afford a change of direction in terms of loss of salary and/or free time and you are not worried about starting at the bottom of the ladder again, you’re never too old to learn something new and gain fulfilment from another challenge.
We believe that there are some instances that pursuing an internship mid-career can make sense. In particular, if you’re looking to start a new career, rebooting an old one (like De Niro’s retired Whittaker or a stay-at-home mum re-entering the workforce) or returning to civilian life after military service, an internship may work very well. In such cases, it can help you open the door to reposition your future.
There may be hurdles!
Although you’re never too old for an internship, you’ll have to overcome the ageist prejudices of some hiring managers to get one. Recruiters are often looking for fresh young talent that they can mould into tomorrow’s leaders—while paying them little to nothing.
Another challenge is that once you are mid-career, your financial obligations are likely to be greater and many people don’t have the resources to quit their jobs to work for free.
What else do I need to think about?
Be sure to set your tasks and goals for a fixed period of time. Going into an unpaid internship with an indefinite, unlimited timeframe is not ideal if you’re older.
Don’t forget that you have a plethora of skills and years of experience to offer, just not within that particular field.
Do recognise that you’re likely to be the “office junior” again as you build your confidence and learn new skills.
Be clear with new colleagues and indicate that you’re not above doing anything assigned to you.
People may feel guilty giving you “busy” or “trivial” work since you’re older, so you should specifically mention that you’re there to work on whatever they need accomplished.
It’s likely you’ll get higher-level responsibilities quickly if that’s what you want.
You may need to be persistent to get the role that would interest you most.
Who knows, you may find yourself informally mentoring your younger peers—maybe even your boss like Ben Whittaker—which is a tremendous path toward a fulfilling new career and/or your own self-worth and wellbeing.
If you have been thinking about a change of direction and want to know if you financially afford this, do get in touch for a friendly chat.