To do this unpaid internship in my 40s?

[Gallivanterer]

I'm trying to side step in my career, moving from quite a specific trade to a more general and future-proof role. Imagine I'm a set designer and I'm trying to get into producing, that kind of situation.
I'm in my 40s and have 15 years experience freelancing in my specific trade. The industry is highly competitive.
I applied for an internship ages ago and forgot about it, and just got an email saying they'd like me to intern for them.

PROS:

• Although I have a lot of experience in my niche, I'm worried that as a freelancer I will get overlooked for roles, with companies preferring someone with less experience but more in-house stuff on their CV
• It's a remote internship in an industry that is usually very London-centric

CONS:

• It's 15 hours a week for 6 months, unpaid. I can't help but bristle at that!
• I'm not necessarily looking for a salaried role in my new focus, I'd be happy to just pivot as a freelancer, so do I really need to do an internship (on the other hand, for the pros column, I could see this as a free retraining opportunity for a freelance pivot)

Help, good women of MN!
YABU = No to the internship
YANBU = Yes to the internship

Assuming in the UK, I thought internships had to be paid at minimum wage OP?

Agreed. I thought there were rules in place for internships and you couldn't just say you won't pay because it's an internship? You're still a worker so you should be paid.

You are both right, but this company is not based in the UK 😭

No, I don’t think I’d do something unpaid for so long unless there really really wasn’t another option and it sounds as though there is.

Honestly I wouldn't do it. Theres a reason why you're paid in the UK. They are looking for free labour and you should respect and value your experience in the field more than offering your expertise for nothing.

That's kind of what I think. I'm worried I will feel demeaned.

If you are going to work for free, I would try to do so for a charity or similar organization whose goals you are happy to support for free. So I would suggest you consider whether this organization is worthy of your support or whether you might find another to which you could offer pro bono work.
Someone with your experience even if it’s not specific will contribute a lot more than a fresh graduate, don’t undersell yourself.

I knew someone about that age who did a placement year unpaid in person about 4 days a week as part of a uni course for retraining, so it’s not unthinkable.

I’d try to get opinions from people in your field about how necessary, how much it would help and how they got into what they do.

The reason that unpaid internships are illegal in the uk is that it creates a barrier so that only people who have the family reasources to support them are able to enter the industry. Most people have to spend their wiek8ng time earning a living.

I know this isn't in the UK but I wouldn't want to join a company that used this method for recruitment. It's built upon a repellent ethos and the culture and people within will be skewed towards oligarchs and nepotists, so just an unpleasant place to be

Would the 15 hours per week enable you to continue with your freelance work?
On the other hand, foot in the door, networking opportunities etc. look like a good opportunity.

Unless there was a very high level of support and training, I wouldn’t. You won’t be valued and they will use you as free labour.

Very early on in my career, I did six weeks work experience. I was treated like a full time paid employee. It was a total piss take. Never ever work for free.

Yes, I could do my freelancing around it!

I guess I'm in two minds because I'm thinking maybe I could spend those 15 hours a week doing some short courses or networking...