Why Internship Can Hurt You

	Pre-college years	College years	Post-college years
Common perception		Important (as part of college activities)	Important
Real impact	Very important (as interactive habits are formed)	Important	Important

Most people think that internships are among the activities focused on the college years. However, what truly determines success or failure are not the internships, but the students’ interactive habits and initiative formed during the pre-college years. Many students serve in minor roles of support that fall short of expectations. Their contributions also lack specificity, and the roles they led are not clearly identifiable. Such internship experiences fail to operate as differentiation signals for decision makers and can instead become weaknesses.

So, putting down shallow experiences on the resume is not most crucial. Employers want to know what leadership the applicant exercised, how the applicant influenced others, and what tangible and intangible values the applicant created. The key issue is whether decision makers can identify in the applicant any concrete evidence that leaves a very powerful impression.

In particular, some applicants receive poorer evaluations as their level of interaction with others increases. In such events, internships might cause more harm than benefit. So, the real preparation for internship must begin early through the pre-college years when interactive habits and initiative are first formed.