General internship vs student employee

The differences between general interns and student employees can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a general internship and a student employee. Additionally, a general internship has an average salary of $61,485, which is higher than the $24,086 average annual salary of a student employee.

The top three skills for a general internship include internship program, patients and powerpoint. The most important skills for a student employee are customer service, food safety, and financial aid.

General internship vs student employee overview

	General Internship	Student Employee
Yearly salary	$61,485	$24,086
Hourly rate	$29.56	$11.58
Growth rate	-5%	-5%
Number of jobs	88,761	12,497
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 72%	Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Average age	47	47
Years of experience	2	2

What does a general internship do?

A general intern is responsible for supporting the business operations by performing administrative and clerical duties under the supervision of a direct manager or tenured staff. Interns shadow employees from different teams to have a good grasp of the services and processes offered by the company, understanding each group's functions, and analyzing how the business works for the clients. They also attend and write meeting reports, assist with organizing programs and events, and conduct data processing procedures.

What does a student employee do?

Student employees are students who have a job within a school campus. Their duties may include working in the classrooms, cafeterias, and dorms. These employees receive a salary for their work, provided they maintain the grade requirements set by the school. The requirements for this position vary for every school. These may include having a minimum of 3.0 for graduates and 2.0 for undergraduates. They typically work 40 hours a week and may hold two or more positions to reach the required number of work hours.

General internship vs student employee salary

General interns and student employees have different pay scales, as shown below.

	General Internship	Student Employee
Average salary	$61,485	$24,086
Salary range	Between $44,000 And $84,000	Between $17,000 And $32,000
Highest paying City	Washington, DC	Denver, CO
Highest paying state	Washington	Colorado
Best paying company	General Motors	University of California, Berkeley
Best paying industry	Professional	Education

Differences between general internship and student employee education

There are a few differences between a general internship and a student employee in terms of educational background:

	General Internship	Student Employee
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 72%	Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Stanford University	Northwestern University

General internship vs student employee demographics

Here are the differences between general interns' and student employees' demographics:

	General Internship	Student Employee
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 51.4% Female, 48.6%	Male, 46.1% Female, 53.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.3% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 17.4% Asian, 10.6% White, 57.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%	Black or African American, 9.6% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 16.3% Asian, 10.3% White, 58.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between general internship and student employee duties and responsibilities

General internship example responsibilities.

Manage a web-base graphical interface that utilize a SQL database to better track fabrication lab operations.
Update and revise both standard and project specific engineering drawings in AutoCAD.
Update websites and Facebook page on the latest collections, successfully increasing followers and web traffic.
Work extensively with AutoCAD drafting floor plans, general planning, and designing using ADA standards.
Needle guidance for radiologists in thyroid fine needle aspirations and breast core biopsies under sterile conditions.
Handle all A/P functions with growing responsibility in the areas of A/R, purchasing and personnel administration.

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Student employee example responsibilities.

Manage club documents and advertise several events through Facebook.
Install structures and fixtures, such as windows, frames, floorings, and trim.
Instruct in helping students who struggle with mathematics.
Enhance, retouch, and resize photographs using Photoshop.
Create posters promote special guest speakers visiting CNM using Photoshop.
Coordinate college recruitment activities at career fairs, high school scholarship awards and specific industry requests.

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General internship vs student employee skills

Common general internship skills

Internship Program, 21%
Patients, 19%
PowerPoint, 11%
Patient Care, 6%
Financial Statements, 4%
Data Analysis, 4%

Common student employee skills

Customer Service, 22%
Food Safety, 9%
Financial Aid, 7%
Front Desk, 7%
Food Preparation, 5%
Public Facilities, 4%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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