Can you be "too old to intern"?

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

Because I have a decent-paying, undemanding, but sort of dead-end job right now, and I want to do something that could actually lead toward a career, or at least a more rewarding, interesting job. I'm thinking of maybe looking to intern at a label in my spare time. Is 26 too old to do something like this?

― Hurting (Hurting), Sunday, 10 July 2005 23:10 (twenty years ago)

Did Hstencil get hired by that CORNY INDIE label? WHERE IS HE?

― no tech! (ex machina), Sunday, 10 July 2005 23:13 (twenty years ago)

My interns are early twenties; you should be okay. How ya gonna eat tho?

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Sunday, 10 July 2005 23:15 (twenty years ago)

I've got an intern who's older than me!

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Sunday, 10 July 2005 23:17 (twenty years ago)

i'm 26 and i'm an intern. even though i do feel a bit old for it, it's been a good experience, and seems to be leading to bigger and better things.

― tylerw, Sunday, 10 July 2005 23:24 (twenty years ago)

I interned at 34, and it immediately led to the best job of my life.

But yeah, there was still some shame. If you can deal with that, it's worth it.

― loggedout, Sunday, 10 July 2005 23:29 (twenty years ago)

I interned at age 37 during law school. Really could give a fuck about what people think.

― Hunter (Hunter), Sunday, 10 July 2005 23:43 (twenty years ago)

OTM Hunter! Interning is the best way to find the right career path and if you hate what you're doing now cuz it's dead-end, get outta there. If you can afford to be an unpaid intern, no time like the present. Work PT if you have to around the interning. Best wishes!

― Wiggy (Wiggy), Monday, 11 July 2005 00:16 (twenty years ago)

i just did a 2 week internship (though we call them clerkships) at a law firm and i will be 29 in september. i'll be doing two more over summer before graduating age 30. i don't anticipate any problem getting a graduate position with one of the firms with which i have 'interned' either. so i guess my answer is 'no', in my opinion you needn't be 'too old to intern'.

― gem (trisk), Monday, 11 July 2005 01:10 (twenty years ago)

i'm 28 and just got out of grad school; the program was academic rather than practical, so internships are going to be vital i'm finding. so, there it is! fuck a age.

― g e o f f (gcannon), Monday, 11 July 2005 01:14 (twenty years ago)

My interns are early twenties; you should be okay. How ya gonna eat tho?

-- Forksclovetofu (forksclovetof...), July 11th, 2005.

Planning to keep my not-very-demanding job while doing an internship (hoping to find somewhere who can use help on afternoons/evenings and weekends)

― Hurting (Hurting), Monday, 11 July 2005 01:56 (twenty years ago)

YOUR THREAD INCLUDES MUCH FASCINATING PATHOS, DESPITE THE FACT THAT INTERNING AT A LABEL IS OBVIOUSLY A HORRIBLE IDEA.

THREE STARS FOR YOUR THREAD.

― I AM THE GAVEL., Monday, 11 July 2005 02:03 (twenty years ago)

Why is it a horrible idea? I am not being rhetorical.

― Hurting (Hurting), Monday, 11 July 2005 02:07 (twenty years ago)

i'm thinking of interning when i get back to new york. it's been a while since i've had a really good non-temp job anywhere, and my resume could use something impressive-looking that's recent.

― president carter loves repetition (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 11 July 2005 02:08 (twenty years ago)

I basically had a great internship, started at a shitty job for a year but did good work there, got offered a better job but one that still paid shit, and instead moved to a job that paid much better but offers me basically nothing career-wise, and now I've been there for a year.

― Hurting (Hurting), Monday, 11 July 2005 02:11 (twenty years ago)

interning isn't a horrible idea -- working in the music industry is a horrible idea. hence, working in the music industry FOR FREE is a really horrible idea.

it's no good, I'm serious. do you want to work in that business for the rest of your life, or at least for twenty years? it sucks, it's full of self-deluded fools, and there's nowhere to go in that world. find something that really matters to you, and intern in that world -- if making music really matters to you, that's fucking sweet, then make music, don't intern at a label.

― Hurlothrumbo (hurlothrumbo), Monday, 11 July 2005 02:24 (twenty years ago)

amen

― phil-two (phil-two), Monday, 11 July 2005 02:26 (twenty years ago)

I interned at 29/30. I was lucky in that I was sort of cordoned off into this little corner where the other intern was around 28 and a grad student. Another great thing about the internship I did was that it was 2-3 times a week, from 12 to around 5 or 6. I didn't interact too much with the other interns who seemed to be younger, recent college graduates. Then, as a freelancer, I came across an intern who was in her 30s. She was really cool. People may take you more seriously as an older intern, because older interns tend to have more investment in what they are doing, rather than just looking for something that looks good on their resume. However, I think the past some years with the job market being more difficult older interns are becoming more common. I would say definitely go for it if you find something that interests you. Twenty-six is now a fairly average age for an intern, I would think. However, I would really research what you are getting into and make sure that there is a good chance of getting something out of it--educational, networking, etc. I asked the woman who interviewed me if she thought I was too old for the position, and she said, no, that she actually preferred to have older people, because she thought they were more mature. In a lot of "glam" type industry fields an internship is going to be the best, if not only way to get noticed.

― Mary (Mary), Monday, 11 July 2005 02:41 (twenty years ago)

if making music really matters to you, that's fucking sweet, then make music, don't intern at a label.

-- Hurlothrumbo (rthache...), July 11th, 2005.

It does, and I do, which is part of why I want to learn the business side.

― Hurting (Hurting), Monday, 11 July 2005 02:43 (twenty years ago)

(Also volunteering is another great idea, and less age specific.)

― Mary (Mary), Monday, 11 July 2005 02:44 (twenty years ago)

for some reason i thought you were younger than me, mary.

we have a guy at my work who interns for us and is 40. he's had at least one career already. i don't see any problem with it.

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Monday, 11 July 2005 02:44 (twenty years ago)

People tend to think I am younger than I--perhaps it is my faux-naivitee.

― Mary (Mary), Monday, 11 July 2005 02:58 (twenty years ago)

amen

seconded!

― president carter loves repetition (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 11 July 2005 03:01 (twenty years ago)

Hurting, this is a serious piece of advice, from someone who makes music obsessively (sometimes for a living) and worked for a long time in a couple corners of the music business: if you really do want to immerse yourself in that world, get some training in accounting/finance, then try to get a paying job in that part of the business.

If you spend a year or two getting accounting training and a year doing that kind of work, even at the tiniest indie label, you will learn 800,000 times more about the music business than you would if you started off as an intern; and you'll also learn skills that will help you in a million other ways, once the music industry curdles for you.

If you decide to go the interning route, good luck -- as I'm sure you can tell from this thread, you're obviously not too old; I just recommend from the bottom of my fucking heart that whatever you do, you make sure you've set yourself up to learn stuff that's useful outside the music business.

(ie, don't stuff envelopes for self-important blowhards -- run their accounts receivable!)

― Hurlothrumbo (hurlothrumbo), Monday, 11 July 2005 03:01 (twenty years ago)

get some training in accounting/finance

this is excellent advice for any field you want to go into.

― president carter loves repetition (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 11 July 2005 03:27 (twenty years ago)

I've had assistant cameramen who were older than me (and I was REAL young at the time).

― Jimmy Mod Is Sick of Being The Best At Everything (ModJ), Monday, 11 July 2005 04:09 (twenty years ago)

hurting, can we switch? you can have my label job and i can have your dead-end job (provided it pays ok).

― hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 11 July 2005 04:32 (twenty years ago)

whenever someone tells me i was hired or admitted or whathaveyou because i am older and hence "more mature," i sort of laugh to myself. "you wanna bet?"

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Monday, 11 July 2005 04:58 (twenty years ago)

It's a good way to find out about the industry for yourself. Stuffing envelopes is fine as long as you're in earshot of the goings-on at the label and 'working' for people who are willing to answer questions about their jobs or give you a reference. If you'd rather have a rewarding, interesting job (as you said) than one that pays well, you're not too old. Of course, it's not guaranteed to be rewarding or interesting by any means, but that's what you're going to find out, right? Leave when you're done learning.
Interning for a publicist is also a good way to learn how it all works, and you get to annoy much of ILM, too.

― superultramega (superultramarinated), Tuesday, 12 July 2005 00:21 (twenty years ago)

In the music biz, observe well - one minute you're 'too young', the next you're 'too old'...

― SoHoLa, Tuesday, 12 July 2005 13:17 (twenty years ago)

OK IMPORTANT QUESTION:

i'm applying for an internship that i found out about a couple days ago, and MOTHERFUCK they don't want anything emailed, i just realized. yes this is with a magazine so a blown deadline probably means i'm toast on this one, but whatever, nothing to lose now. if i overnight it, it'll be a day late.

question is: should i put an apology for this IN THE COVER LETTER, or should i put that in a seperate note?

― g e o f f (gcannon), Friday, 15 July 2005 14:24 (twenty years ago)

I interned at age 37 during law school. Really could give a fuck about what people think.

This is the most inspirational thing I've read all... some period of time. Hurrah!

― Alba (Alba), Friday, 15 July 2005 14:36 (twenty years ago)

goddammit n.

― g e o f f (gcannon), Friday, 15 July 2005 14:38 (twenty years ago)

If you can afford it, who cares?

― Chuck_Tatum (Chuck_Tatum), Saturday, 16 July 2005 04:42 (twenty years ago)

I wouldn't mention the lateness. Just back-date it, and hope for the best.

― Mary (Mary), Saturday, 16 July 2005 04:49 (twenty years ago)

Most big companies in the US require you to be a student, or at least have a valid student ID, if you intern for them. Otherwise they won't even consider it.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Saturday, 16 July 2005 04:54 (twenty years ago)

I mean, sorry to be a wet blanket after the stories of coolness, but this has been my experience so far.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Saturday, 16 July 2005 04:55 (twenty years ago)

You can be student at any age though, Tracer.

― Alba (Alba), Saturday, 16 July 2005 08:43 (twenty years ago)

one month passes...

I am thinking of doing this.

― tokyo nursery school: afternoon session (rosemary), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 03:19 (twenty years ago)

but i hooked you up with mrtha stewart!

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 03:46 (twenty years ago)

Weird. I was 26 when I started this thread and I'm only 25 now.

― Hurting (Hurting), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 03:47 (twenty years ago)

What's your secret?

― pr00de, where's my car? (pr00de), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 03:47 (twenty years ago)

By the way, I just recently took a second job, rather than intern. C.R.E.A.M.

― Hurting (Hurting), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 03:49 (twenty years ago)

Is your second job better than your first?
I'm 27 and about to send off CVs asking for work experience/internships. Applying for paid jobs has made me feel too old, after having spent most of my life being the young one at almost every job/degree I've done.

― sgs (sgs), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 09:09 (twenty years ago)

six years pass...

I feel like there's probably a better place to put this (feel free to suggest) but it seems of interest to the ILX demographic:

http://moneyland.time.com/2012/05/02/the-beginning-of-the-end-of-the-unpaid-internship-as-we-know-it/?iid=pf-main-lede?xid=rss-topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:%20time/topstories%20%28TIME:%20Top%20Stories%29

― Scott, bass player for Tenth Avenue North (Hurting 2), Monday, 7 May 2012 00:44 (thirteen years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.