CAREERS NOW 02-20-08

Changing Careers: Will Internship Work For You?

DEAR JOYCE: I'm a 43-year-old woman who needs a change. I no longer want to work in the auto industry. I have my eye on a specific local company in another industry but, without related experience, they won't give me an interview. A friend suggested that I offer to work there free for 30 days to prove myself. How do I go about doing this or is it a dumb idea? - P.H.H.

It's a dumb idea. Unless you're in a formal internship, working without pay for a profit-making company is illegal. That's the word according to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and state labor laws may also apply because free work to benefit a business is considered exploitation of workers.

MORE SOBERING NEWS. Even if it weren't illegal, giving your time away makes you seem desperate, encouraging unprincipled employers to devalue your talent and abuse your generosity. At the end of 30 days or so, such an employer might say, "Thanks but goodbye - unless you're sucker enough to work another month without pay. We can't justify the cost of hiring you. We'll be in touch if anything changes."

(Obviously, these cautions do not apply to volunteers at hospitals and other nonprofit organizations who are making social welfare contributions that not only are acceptable but encouraged.)

MID-CAREER INTERNSHIP. An internship - where the accent is on education and training - could be part of your career-changing solution. Internships come with or without pay and aren't limited to young beginners. If you can afford to work cheap or free for the short-term, reflect on the idea of enrolling in a college course that allows you to participate in a school-sponsored program - you may be able to do this with a single continuing education course. You generally can expect these characteristics for formal internships:

-- The work relates to the intern's education with clearly identified learning objectives. The training is supposed to primarily benefit the intern, not the employer (in reality, both parties benefit).

-- The intern receives course credits and prepares a written report of the work experience for a faculty supervisor.

-- A job is not guaranteed at the end of the internship but interns frequently are offered employment.

REALISTIC CHANGE-OVERS. A well chosen internship allows you to claim real experience that qualifies for entry-level employment. How long do you have to work in the program? Three to six months is a good range for mid-career interns. But don't hope for instant credibility when the distance from old work to new is dramatic; you know an internship won't move you from the auto industry to astrophysics.

TIT FOR TAT. If you decide to seriously shop for an internship, watch out for sinkholes of busywork. You want meaningful tasks that build on your existing skills in a position where you are supervised and mentored. Remember, you're there to learn as well as to contribute.

ACTION STEP. To score a career makeover through interning, scout colleges for structured, formal internship programs - from community colleges to universities. Contact the institution's internship coordinator. To find internships connected with online study, search on Google for "internships distance education."

How about creating your own internship? You can try but associating it with a college suggests that you learned specific skills, rather than settled for a hit-or-miss experience in a temporary job.

ON BALANCE. You'll have a negative cash flow when you both pay tuition and work at an internship that doesn't pay a salary or stipend. Ugh. But if you can survive the money squeeze, a documented internship experience will add substance to your claims of having a beginner's experience to do a new kind of job.

One more benefit: An internship at this stage of your life opens a window on a type of work that seems attractive from the outside. If its appeal turns out to be an illusion, you'll get quick feedback and can refocus without wasting years. And you'll have a better feel for whether the lower income you'll receive starting over in a new career will sustain your desired lifestyle.

A mid-career internship is not the only way to get inside a company when you can't get past people who have the power to say "no." But it's a viable option to consider.

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