Career Change Internships: A Comprehensive Guide for Adults

Feeling stuck in your current job and yearning for a career change? You're not alone. The traditional notion of staying in one job for life is becoming increasingly obsolete. Today's workforce embraces change and evolution, with individuals often navigating multiple career seasons throughout their lives. However, making a career pivot can feel like a daunting "chicken and egg" cycle: you need experience to get a new job, but you need a new job to gain experience. Fortunately, career change internships, apprenticeships, and returnships offer a viable solution for bridging this gap.

Understanding Career Change Programs

Several types of programs cater specifically to individuals seeking a career transition:

Career Change Internship: This is an internship opportunity designed for those who are trying to obtain new work experience in a different field. Some of them are adult internships specifically built for individuals returning to the workforce after a career gap. Some are designed for anyone to apply.
Returnship: Returnships have become more common in recent times. They are essentially full-time paid internships for adults who have been out of the workforce. Many of them require at least a two-year career gap in order to apply for them. These are designed to help people get back into the workforce and you’d be surprised how many companies are offering them today. If you’ve had a career gap because you were raising kids or taking care of an elderly parent, or anything really, you could explore a returnship.
Adult Internship: Adult internships are typically short-term, temporary positions where you can gain work experience in a new field. You can find both paid and unpaid adult internships, but it is a myth that they don’t pay well. I went onto Simply Hired and searched for adult DEI internships and found this part-time one that paid up to almost $50,000 per year. Most people think of internships as something college kids do during their senior year of school. But today, career changers are taking advantage of internships at a growing rate.

Read also: Explore Cook Medical Internship Opportunities
Apprenticeship: An apprenticeship is similar to an internship. They are typically paid and apprentices have a much higher chance of being hired after they complete their apprenticeship. I used to think of apprenticeships as things that plumbers did to obtain their certification and a job, but today you can find apprenticeships for anything from finance to software development. The biggest differences between an apprenticeship and an internship are:
- Apprenticeships are typically more structured and focused on mastering specific skills.
- Apprenticeships are almost always paid experiences, whereas internships can be unpaid.
- Individuals who participate in apprenticeships and returnships have a higher chance of being hired afterward, between 80-90% for many. (Forbes)
- Apprenticeships often lead to an industry-recognized credential, whereas internships do not.

Why Consider a Career Change Internship?

There are compelling reasons to consider an adult internship, returnship, or apprenticeship when contemplating a career shift.

Test Drive New Jobs, Skills, and Industries

You can talk to dozens of people doing a job that you’re interested in, but nothing compares to experiencing it yourself. I’ve personally been a teacher, a marketer, a recruiter, an account executive, and a restaurant operator. In every single one of those jobs, I’ve met other people who loved them and those who hated them. The only real way to tell if something is for you is to test-drive it. Career change internships offer you that ability. I’ve learned a lot over the years about what I love to do and what I never want to do again because I’ve test-driven jobs. For example, when I started learning SEO through an apprenticeship, I loved it when I wrote for our company. But when I started writing for other companies, I hated it.

Learn New Skills in a Low-Pressure Environment

Learning a new skill is hard work. It takes a lot of effort, time, patience, and grit. A career change internship gives you the opportunity to learn those skills in a fairly safe environment where you can make mistakes and learn. Now let’s be clear, I’ve seen internships where companies are only trying to obtain cheap labor. They don’t teach you anything and it’s not a safe place to make mistakes. But the vast majority of the legitimate internships provide the low-pressure environment you need to learn. Another perk of these programs is that you have direct contact with an experienced professional who understands the skills you are trying to build. You could venture out and learn skills on your own. It’s possible and I’ve done it. But an internship for career changers will save you time by having someone there to teach you. A few years back, I ran a recruiting internship. It was very structured with weekly topics and lessons combined with an environment for interns to perform activities based on what they learned. The program built on skills and enabled interns to learn in a logical manner and apply those skills as they learned them.

Build Your Resume

If you’ve searched for a job as a career changer, you know it can feel impossible sometimes. You need experience to get a job, but you need a job to get experience. Well, yes, you need experience to get a job, but you don’t need a job to get experience necessarily. Among several other ways to build experience, internships can be a great way to build your resume. Skills and knowledge are great. They signal potential. But when someone is hiring, they are making one of the biggest investments they will ever make. Salaries make up one of the biggest line items on most company P&Ls. And while it’s good to have potential, past experiences, and performance often predict future performance. If you’ve done it before, you can do it again. Participating in a career change internship can give you the experience you need to write about on a resume so that you can make that career move and obtain your new job. If you want to know more about skills and experiences in a resume and how to prioritize them, read my article: Skills vs Experience in a Resume.

Read also: Unlock summer legal internships

Fill in Career Gaps

I’m not going to sugarcoat it. If you’ve been out of work for a bit, you’ve probably felt like your career gap has been holding you back from obtaining interviews and job offers. Your intuition is right. I’ve worked with many recruiters over the years and consulted with dozens of recruiting firms across the country and there is definitely a bias against recent career gaps. If you’re struggling with gaining traction in your job search and you’re a career changer, I would consider a paid internship. It will help you close the gap.

Build Important Relationships

When I talk to career changers, they usually struggle with networking. Everyone they know is in their old industry and they don’t know how to make new relationships with people in a different sector. And let’s face it, relationships are hard. It’s not like college where you’re stuck in the same class with everyone and relationships develop naturally. And you don’t want to be that pesky person trying to force yourself on others either. Career change internships can help you get started. You’re going to meet other people doing the work that you want to do next. You’ll meet fellow interns who are going to go get jobs doing the same thing. You’ll meet supervisors who could hire you later or be a champion for your application. An internship is a great way to start building those new, important relationships in a new industry.

The Downside of Internships for Career Changers

There are some downsides to obtaining an internship as a career changer. Let’s discuss the biggest one - money.

As we get older and obtain more experience, our salary typically increases as well. This can make it challenging when seeking out an internship. For many of us, they will pay less than the job we’re trying to leave behind. In addition, as we age, we take on more responsibilities. Some of us have kids to support or a large mortgage each month. I can remember when I took a $30,000 pay cut to make a career change. It was well worth it. The following year I was making double what my old job paid, but it was scary. And it doesn’t always work out that way for everyone. Because you are learning new skills as part of an internship, they do typically pay less than if you were hired to do the job permanently. It makes sense. No one is going to pay an intern the same amount of money as their full-time employee who has five years of experience. There’s no right or wrong decision here, but it can be hard to leave the golden handcuffs of our current jobs for an internship. It’s something you really have to think about and decide for yourself.

Are Career Change Internships Paid?

When it comes to adult internships, there seems to be some grey area in regard to whether you have to be paid or not. I’m no lawyer, but based on my HR experience and reading the FLSA rules, here’s my breakdown.

Adult Internships

If you’re participating in an internship, returnship, or apprenticeship that is not associated with a degree or university, federal law seems quite clear. Department of Labor). In fact, I wouldn’t participate in an unpaid adult internship. I would as a college student; I would not as an older career changer.

Internships Connected to College Degrees

For those of you who may also be returning to school for a degree and participating in an internship, the rules are slightly different. For those internships, they could legally be unpaid if:

You are aware that you will not be receiving payment for your work.
You perform duties that are similar to the training you would receive in an educational setting.
The internship is associated with your school or degree. You’ll most likely be eligible for college credit.
The internship is temporary and doesn’t displace other employees.
There are no promises that you will be hired at the end.

Keep in mind each state also has its own requirements for unpaid internships. For example, in California, the employer is required to submit an outline of the proposed internship to the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) and meet additional requirements before they can offer unpaid internships.

The table below shows that most internships are paid, even the ones associated with education.

Is 30 Too Old to Be an Intern?

Traditionally young people do internships, typically in conjunction with their education. But there is a rising trend of older adults doing internships as well. I did an internship when I was 29 with the Philharmonic. It was a great experience that opened new doors for me. Unlike your younger counterparts, you don’t start from scratch in an adult internship. When applying to internships, employers can recognize the experience you bring with you from other jobs. You have real transferable skills that are valuable to these internships. Highlighting your maturity and experience that younger professionals may not have yet can go a long way in obtaining an adult internship over the age of 30. The bottom line is, you are never too old to be an intern.

Can I do an Internship Unrelated to My Degree?

Yes, and you should if you are a career changer trying to do something unrelated to your degree. In fact, for many jobs, you don’t need to go back to school and obtain a new degree. Instead, a career change internship could be your answer. Instead of paying tens of thousands of dollars in tuition for a degree, you could be getting paid in an adult internship where you can build the relevant experience you need to obtain a new job.

If you’re unsure whether returning to school for more education or getting an internship would better your chances of making a career change, try A/B testing a resume to find out. You can learn all about how to A/B test a resume and download my free tracker in the article: How to A/B Test Your Resume.

Do Internships Eventually Turn Into Jobs?

While an internship itself may not result in a job offer from the company you intern with, they do have a high probability of turning into a job elsewhere. The mentorship, referrals, and experience you build during an internship are incredibly helpful to securing a new job. There are no legitimate studies about the probability of your career change internship turning into a job at the end of it, but there are some statistics that are positive. Sixty percent (60%) of Morgan Stanley’s returnship interns remain with the company after their internship has ended. Eighty six (86%) of General Motors’ interns also remain with the company after their internship ends.

How to Find an Adult Internship as a Career Changer

Finding an adult internship as a career changer is not the same as finding one when you’re in college. It’s a lot harder. Here are some ideas that can help you get started finding your own. In the next section, I’ll link to some of the resources I’ve used as well.

Online job boards
Contact companies directly.
Ask the people you know (network).
Join professional organizations like SHRM, IMA, APICS, PMI and others that specialize in the field you wish to explore.
Tap into alumni associations and career services at your alma mater.
Type in “career changer” and a “university” into Google and find resources. For example, “Career Changer University of Kentucky.”

Adult Internships for Non-Students

Here is a list of sites where you can find adult internships for career changers.

Aspireship: This is by far my favorite internship program for anyone breaking into the tech space. This site offers programs in customer success, revenue operations, SaaS sales, and software engineering. I’ve personally had so many people experience success with them, that I opened a partnership with them last year. You can use the link to sign up through our partnership and start any program for free.
Unlike other internships, this is an unpaid program and there is a small fee upfront if you decide to continue, but they only charge the fee to ensure that you complete the program. Once you complete the program, they will work with you to place you at one of the hundreds of tech companies they work with and if you find a job through them, they return your initial fee.
The Intern Group: This site has all kinds of internships, including virtual internships for career changers.
Refreshing A Career: This site is for my UK friends and readers. It has a UK job board specifically designed for restarting or changing careers.
Intern Abroad HQ: This organization has offices in the US, UK, and Australia and specializes in helping college graduates and career changers find international and remote internships. Both our overseas and remote internships for college students include an exclusive Experiential Learning Curriculum, which will help you articulate your strengths and industry experience during future job interviews.
Path Forward: This is a non-profit that helps people return to the workforce. If you have a career gap, this site can connect you with great companies that won’t care about your gap…

Returnship Programs for Career Changers

Returnships are structured programs designed for professionals returning to the workforce after a career break.

Virtual Internships for Career Changers

Virtual internships allow you to dictate the hours and scheduling in which you develop those new skills. Virtual internships are also an opportunity to explore a new field before committing fully.For most applicants, the most important draw of a remote placement is the flexibility. Career changers can pursue both full-time and part-time placements.

Success Stories and Testimonials

This Social Work internship provided insight into potential therapeutic professions, as well as my own capabilities within. I was tasked with. My favourite memory from the internship was after I presented the project management manual I have been assigned to compile. I remember feeling a sense of pride, since I had worked really hard on it, researching, and learning all kinds of new things.
My role as a law intern for a marine conservation institute contributed greatly toward my primary career goal of attending law school to study environmental law. Prior to starting this internship, I was very confident that environmental law was what I wanted to study and pursue my career in. However, I did not have any law background, nor any experience in environmental studies. Having studied international relations and foreign policy, there are certainly similarities, but I definitely needed something to assure myself that this is what I could see myself dedicating my life to.

tags: #internships #for #career #changers