Spring is coming up quickly, and lots of young people are gearing up for applications, interviews, and—hopefully—the coveted spring internship. Some of these internships will provide genuinely great learning experiences: you’ll get to see the inner-workings of an organization, and you’ll be more prepared for similar work later in your life. Of course, some of these internships aren’t valued just for the learning opportunities they provide. Instead, many young people will pursue these internships and achievements simply to pad their resumes—perhaps en route to their next internship, or even toward an eventual job.
I’m not going to completely denounce resume-padding or pretend that I’ve never been drawn by its allure (taking on a lot of commitments—not lying, which is different). In a competitive economy, young people need any edge they can get, and having a noteworthy name on your resume can count for quite some bit. Still, there is a right way and a wrong way to go about building your resume, and going about it the right way will serve you much better in the future.
