The word “intern” rarely conjures images of mature white-collar workers seeking new job skills. But that's the picture Manhattan-based Women on the Web (WOW) is seeking with its Executive Intern program.

“We’re in a time where lots of our women friends are being fired, or their husbands are being fired,” says Joni Evans, 67, CEO of the online community for women over 40. “Or, for the first time they’re thinking that they’d better work, because their 401(k)s are being diminished.”

The program started offering unpaid internships in March and is giving about 30 participants a crash course in editing and Web technology skills. There's also a “virtual” internship program. For information, visit the company's website and click on “Think Up.”

Blair S. Walker, who frequently writes for the Bulletin’s In the News section, lives in Miami.