CareerShield

Inspiration

We noticed that many students apply to internships online without knowing whether the posting is real, fair, or safe. Several classmates shared experiences where they prepared for interviews and submitted personal information, only to later learn the opportunity wasn’t legitimate. This problem inspired us to create something that helps students easily verify postings before investing effort.

What it does

CareerShield allows students to paste an internship or job listing and receive a safety evaluation. It highlights missing information, potential red flags, and vague details, then outputs a rating such as Safe, Caution, or Investigate Further. It also provides a brief recommendation so students can decide whether the listing is worth applying to.

How we built it

We started by researching common problems students face with internships and looking into reports from organizations like the FTC and Forbes. Then we identified patterns in misleading postings, such as unclear compensation, unverifiable company details, or requests for sensitive information. From these observations, we designed a scoring approach and mapped what an MVP web interface would look like.

Challenges we ran into

One challenge was defining what counts as unsafe, because not every unpaid or vague internship is actually fake. Another challenge was figuring out how to validate claims made by companies without having verified data sources. We also had to make sure the solution would be fair to companies while still protecting students.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud that we turned a common student frustration into a structured solution plan. We developed a clear evaluation system, defined an MVP that is realistic to build, and identified steps that would allow students to benefit quickly without needing a large team or expensive tech.

What we learned

We learned that many students rely on assumption rather than actual verification when applying for internships. We also realized that even a simple scoring model can help someone make smarter choices. Most importantly, we learned that clarity, transparency, and small protective steps can significantly improve the application experience.

What's next for CareerShield

Next, we want to begin building the MVP website where users can paste a posting and get an instant evaluation. After that, we plan to collect user feedback, create a verified posting list, and work with student groups and career centers to scale the system. Eventually, CareerShield could expand into a browser extension and support global student job platforms.

Built With

• google-docs