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Student employee vs internship

The differences between student employees and interns can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a student employee and an internship. Additionally, an internship has an average salary of $35,254, which is higher than the $24,086 average annual salary of a student employee.

The top three skills for a student employee include customer service, food safety and financial aid. The most important skills for an internship are powerpoint, financial statements, and C++.

Student employee vs internship overview

Student EmployeeInternship
Yearly salary$24,086$35,254
Hourly rate$11.58$16.95
Growth rate-5%-5%
Number of jobs12,49751,064
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 66%Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Average age4747
Years of experience22

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.

What does an internship do?

Interns are trainees who are engaged by a company to work for them for a brief period. Interns usually use this opportunity to gain actual work experience, fulfill university or college requirements, and ensure that they are working towards the right career path for them. They sign on for a fixed amount of time. The responsibilities of interns depend on the company and the department that handles them. They do a variety of tasks that exposes them to the type of work that the company is engaged in and to the different aspects of the professional world.

Student employee vs internship salary

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

Student EmployeeInternship
Average salary$24,086$35,254
Salary rangeBetween $17,000 And $32,000Between $24,000 And $49,000
Highest paying CityDenver, COSan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateColoradoAlaska
Best paying companyUniversity of California, BerkeleyQorvo
Best paying industryEducationTelecommunication

Differences between student employee and internship education

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

Student EmployeeInternship
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 66%Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeNorthwestern UniversityWestern Carolina University

Student employee vs internship demographics

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

Student EmployeeInternship
Average age4747
Gender ratioMale, 46.1% Female, 53.9%Male, 42.0% Female, 58.0%
Race ratioBlack 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%Black or African American, 9.8% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 18.1% Asian, 10.3% White, 56.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%
LGBT Percentage6%6%

Differences between student employee and internship duties and responsibilities

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.
  • Show more

Internship example responsibilities.

  • Lead enrollment process efficiently through securing proper registration forms, official transcripts, immunization records, and IEP documentation as needed.
  • Manage all company financial transactions through QuickBooks.
  • Design PHP application to automate schedule updating process.
  • Manage a web-base graphical interface that utilize a SQL database to better track fabrication lab operations.
  • Organize online recipe content through the blog, design flyers for it and spread the contest word through twitter and blog.
  • Develop sponsored post strategy for LinkedIn and Facebook.
  • Show more

Student employee vs internship skills

Common student employee skills
  • Customer Service, 22%
  • Food Safety, 9%
  • Financial Aid, 7%
  • Front Desk, 7%
  • Food Preparation, 5%
  • Public Facilities, 4%
Common internship skills
  • PowerPoint, 10%
  • Financial Statements, 6%
  • C++, 5%
  • Mental Health, 5%
  • Data Analysis, 4%
  • Facebook, 4%

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