Students aren't the only ones who can take advantage of internships! While it may seem like all of the opportunities are designed for college juniors and graduate students, mid-career folks are finding that an internship is a great way to ease into changing careers. This is also true for those who have been out of the workforce for an extended period of time and are looking for re-entry. While the intentions might be different, most of the same rules to the process of finding and landing your dream internships as a career changer as they do to the process of finding an internship as a student.

Making the Right Internship Decision

The first step is to identify what the purpose of the mid-career internship is: are you looking to gain new skills to apply to your current job, or to change fields entirely? The answer to this question will help you determine what kinds of internship position to accept, and which are not going to help you reach your goals.

Next, determine whether or not you must get paid. Most internships don't pay, and those that do are highly competitive and will most likely require that you have experience in the field, or at least something close. That means that if you are an accountant looking to break into fashion design, it could be difficult to land the top-paying gigs. The added disadvantage is that you can't intern for credit, venture capital malaysia - http://www.bshare.cn, which most employers offer in lieu of a paycheck. If you absolutely need to get paid, you may need to consider working at an internship part time, and getting a part-time job. Remember that most internships last for a summer or semester, so you won't have to work for free for very long!

Taking Advantage of Your Advantages

But there are many advantages to looking for an internship mid-career. If you are a seasoned professional, you will be able to show that you can work in an office environment and bring maturity to your work. After a sea of young people, you can be a sigh of relief to an employer who wants to make sure that there is one intern guaranteed to get the job done without getting caught up in office culture issues!

It is also important to remember that many of your skills will be relevant, even if the field is not. In the case of the accountant-turned-fashion designer, you may get your foot in the door by playing up your strengths with numbers and organization, negotiating a fashion design internship that has an accounting component. Any job with a writing component will also show that you have communication skills, which are attractive to almost any profession.

To really consider how to turn your desire to change careers into a position, find a mentor or advisor. This process can begin with an informational interview with someone in your field; this person can at the very least walk you through what might look good to an internship recruiter on paper. This relationship could result in some referrals to people in the field who are looking for non-student interns or interns with more maturity.

Thinking Outside the Program

In most cases, a less structured internship is a career changer's best friend. Not only will you avoid the timing issues (as most programs coincide with college semesters), you will also avoid lengthy applications asking for college transcripts and personal essays. At mid-career, or re-entering the workforce, you will be better off if a potential employer gets to know you personally right away. That way, you can explain exactly why you are looking for an internship and what you have to offer in your own words, without being burdened with the formalities that may not allow you to do that at all.