Convincing future employers on my 'ridiculous' intern experience

Question

Background:

I just finished my 8 weeks summer internship in Shenzhen within a large multinational corporate. I got this internship through a UK government scheme which sends British students to China. With around 5 people, our team focuses on developing new innovative products/ revenue arms with corporate level resources. We had another foreign intern and two local Chinese interns. Just when I started, my manager had initial ideas about a new product to build.

Issue:

I was given ridiculous amount of responsibilities. Essentially, myself and my manager became the early founders of a product that is now about to get VC funding. Unlike the other interns, I put far more hours (12-14 hour days mostly), had a proactive attitude, and was consequently made their supervisor. I dealt with hiring junior and senior candidates, having a final say in many aspects of the product development and strategy, and pitching to internal stakeholders (CEO). Obviously, my manager supervised me at every stage but he mostly just let me get on with it and have him just request the budget allocation for me. We did complete most of the tasks as a team, but we all knew our individual merit to the project.

Questions:

How do I put this on my CV/interviews without being seen as over-inflating my value added and responsibilities to future employers? Would a reference check be sufficient?

I am very grateful for being given the opportunity to do such work and develop the volume of skills I have but just slightly worried about how to convey the work to others.

Answer 1

Don't be shy on a resume. It's where you should be bragging about those experiences that best demonstrate your capabilities.

If you were employed as an intern for the full duration of your time (your title never formally changed), then list the position as an internship and detail your activities in your description of the position.

If you're now an owner and co-founder of a new product, list that as a separate experience if it will continue beyond your time as an intern.

Be realistic and honest in your description. Being asked to weigh in on hiring decisions is different than being responsible for them. Being a lead developer on a new product is different than being the product manager. Don't inflate your experience, but show off the great work you have done.