Internships aren't for the young anymore.

[Mai72]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/nextavenue/2014/04/21/internships-arent-just-for-college-kids/

http://www.npr.org/2014/04/01/293882686/an-intern-at-40-something-and-paid-in-hugs

I was watching Bill Maher tonight and he had on author Annabelle Gurwitch. In her new book "I see you made an effort" she states that the new trend for middle age workers is to take on internships with little to no pay. Obviously, the hope is to land a job with the company that your taking the internship with.

These are people who have switched jobs mid career, or it's people who have been laid off and they are desperately trying anything to get a company position.

Has anyone seen an influx of middle age interns?

 

[Mai72]

She also went on to say that a third of people 50 and older only have $30k in their 401k.

Maybe all of this is interconnected.
Has it really been this bad for a lot of people?

It's a very sad state of affairs.

 

[Drako]

I don't think so, but ...

If middle aged is 28, then yes. Yes I have.

 

[Drako]

She also went on to say that a third of people 50 and older only have $30k in their 401k.

Maybe all of this is interconnected.
Has it really been this bad for a lot of people?

It's a very sad state of affairs.

Wow, a younger McOwned? Or is this an alt. Nope, not a dumb.

 

[Mai72]

I don't think so, but ...

If middle aged is 28, then yes. Yes I have.

28 is still young.

 

[Drako]

28 is still young.

Yes it is, and that was my point. Maybe you are McOwned's doppelgänger. :hmm:

 

[Mai72]

Yes it is, and that was my point. Maybe you are McOwned's doppelgänger. :hmm:

:thumbsdown:

 

[uclaLabrat]

I was an intern at 33 this last summer.

 

[Drako]

I was an intern at 33 this last summer.

Do you consider yourself "middle aged"?

I thought not.

 

[Mai72]

I was an intern at 33 this last summer.

Did it pay off for you?

By the way I think that's great.

 

[Drako]

:thumbsdown:

Responding to your own thread within a couple of minutes is a McOwned thing. You are now a "Son of McOwned" in my book.

 

[uclaLabrat]

Did it pay off for you?

By the way I think that's great.

Hard to say, I was in a position of retraining essentially, and I was working at one of the biggest biotech companies, so that was good. I was, unfortunately, using my old skill set, but at least in a new environment, which was good. I ended up not taking a job with that company, but developments led to me getting a new job in a massively growing company doing new things with a huge growth potential.

Not the path I envisioned taking, but it's looking good right now.

 

[uclaLabrat]

Do you consider yourself "middle aged"?

I thought not.

You're right...I feel legitimately old now, but I still have the mentality of a 12 year old. Interesting dichotomy

 

[Kaido]

She also went on to say that a third of people 50 and older only have $30k in their 401k.

Maybe all of this is interconnected.
Has it really been this bad for a lot of people?

It's a very sad state of affairs.

I think a lot of it depends on the person in question, where they live, and what they're willing to do. If you're wiling to work & you're willing to relocate, you can basically get a job anywhere. A lot of places in my area were hiring all throughout the recession, but I'm 2 hours out of NYC. If you go to the city, things get a lot tougher because that's where everyone wants to be & it can be super-tough to get the job you want there. If you're willing to move (or commute), your options are wide open, especially if you're willing to try a new job. Those fracking-related trucking jobs were starting at like $100k a year up in North Dakota!

I did have a friend who got laid off a few years ago & struggled for a year or two to find a job. He finally got something that paid under $20 an hour (basically a full-time temp job in a warehouse or something), which was super difficult because he was married, had two kids, and lived in Connecticut, which is not a cheap state to live in (high taxes, boo!). Not really any savings to speak of. He didn't want to move & he didn't save anything up, so he was kind of stuck financially, which stunk. I think a lot of people don't really think about the future & don't have much in the way of personal financial training, so they get into bad situations as soon as something major changes in their lives, like the loss of a job.

I've seen it happen to all sorts of people, even people who were well-off, but got sick or got an injured and got swamped with bills. Sometimes your luck just goes bad. But sometimes people have their own struggles. Someone posted a thread recently about how companies don't want to hire old programmers, and there was an older programmer they interviewed who was basically screwed financially because he was having a hard time finding a job, but didn't save anything up from his lucrative years. So you have to get prepared if you want to be ready for the future!

 

[Drako]

Please ask yourself, "Aren't we all Interns"?