Graduate vs. Intern — What's the Difference?
By Tayyaba Rehman & Maham Liaqat — Updated on May 4, 2024
A graduate has completed their degree, entering the workforce or further studies, while an intern gains practical experience, often while still in school.
Difference Between Graduate and Intern
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
A graduate is someone who has completed a degree program at a college or university, which signifies the end of their formal education in that particular field. On the other hand, an intern is typically still in the process of completing their educational requirements and works in a temporary position to gain relevant work experience.
Graduates often enter the workforce in entry-level positions related to their field of study, aiming to build a career based on their academic qualifications. Whereas interns may work in various fields, sometimes even unrelated to their studies, to acquire practical skills and experience that can benefit them in their future careers.
The role of a graduate in the workforce tends to be more permanent and comes with full employee benefits and responsibilities. In contrast, interns are usually employed temporarily and might not receive the full benefits that regular employees enjoy.
Graduates have the educational qualifications that can lead to professional certifications or advanced career opportunities. On the other hand, interns use their internship as a stepping stone to understand industry norms, network with professionals, and possibly secure a job in the future.
The status of a graduate implies a level of expertise and readiness to contribute to their field, while an intern is often considered a learner and is there to gain insight and practical knowledge.
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Comparison Chart
Educational Status
Completed a degree program
Typically still completing education
Position Type
Permanent job roles
Temporary, often part-time positions
Career Level
Entry-level to professional
Pre-professional, learning phase
Benefits
Full employee benefits
Limited or no employee benefits
Main Objective
Start a professional career
Gain experience and industry exposure
Compare with Definitions
Graduate
A person who has received a degree from an educational institution.
She became a graduate of Harvard last year.
Intern
A student or trainee who works, sometimes without pay, to gain work experience or satisfy requirements for a qualification.
She's an intern at the local newspaper.
Graduate
Often used to refer to someone who holds at least a bachelor's degree.
She is a graduate in marine biology.
Intern
Typically works under supervision in a temporary position.
The intern will assist with research and data entry.
Graduate
A graduate student is one who pursues advanced studies beyond the bachelor's degree.
He is a graduate student in philosophy.
Intern
Often used to describe a medical graduate in the first year of practical training after the completion of their degree.
She is a medical intern at the city hospital.
Graduate
Someone who has completed the requirements of a particular stage of education.
As a recent graduate, he's exploring job opportunities.
Intern
Someone who is in the early stages of gaining practical experience in a profession.
He worked as an intern in the finance department.
Graduate
Graduates are eligible to enter the professional field relevant to their study area.
The graduates of the program quickly found employment in their fields.
Intern
Interns may receive college credits for their work.
His internship counts towards his university degree.
Graduate
A person who has successfully completed a course of study or training, especially a person who has been awarded an undergraduate or first academic degree.
Intern
A student or trainee who works, sometimes without pay, in order to gain work experience or satisfy requirements for a qualification.
Graduate
A graduated cup, tube, flask, or measuring glass, used especially by chemists and pharmacists.
Intern
Confine (someone) as a prisoner, especially for political or military reasons
The family were interned for the duration of the war as enemy aliens
Graduate
Successfully complete an academic degree, course of training, or (in North America) high school
He graduated from Glasgow University in 1990
He graduated in the summer with a 2:2 degree
Intern
Serve as an intern.
Graduate
Arrange in a series or according to a scale
The stones were graduated in height from the lowest near the entrance to the tallest opposite
Intern
A student or a recent graduate undergoing supervised practical training.
Graduate
Change (something, typically colour or shade) gradually or step by step
The colour is graduated from the middle of the frame to the top
Intern
A physician who has recently graduated from medical school and is learning medical practice in a hospital under supervision, prior to beginning a residency program.
Graduate
To be granted an academic degree or diploma
Most of the entering freshmen stayed to graduate.
Intern
One who is interned; an internee.
Graduate
To change gradually or by degrees
"The most weighty of all the arguments against treating the races of man as distinct species, is that they graduate into each other" (Charles Darwin).
Intern
To train or serve as an intern.
Graduate
To advance to a new level of skill, achievement, or activity
After a month of diving instruction, they all graduated to back flips.
Intern
To confine, especially in wartime.
Graduate
To grant an academic degree or diploma to
The school has graduated many gifted chemists.
Intern
A person who is interned, forcibly or voluntarily.
Graduate
Usage Problem To receive an academic degree from
How many chemists graduated the Institute last year?.
Intern
A student or recent graduate who works in order to gain experience in their chosen field.
Graduate
To arrange or divide into categories, steps, or grades
Graduate an income tax.
Intern
A medical student or recent graduate working in a hospital as a final part of medical training.
Graduate
To divide into marked intervals, especially for use in measurement
Graduate a thermometer.
Intern
(transitive) To imprison somebody, usually without trial.
The US government interned thousands of Japanese-Americans during World War II.
Graduate
One who has received an academic degree or diploma.
Intern
To confine or hold (foreign military personnel who stray into the state's territory) within prescribed limits during wartime.
The Swiss government interned the Italian soldiers who had strayed onto Swiss territory.
Graduate
A graduated container, such as a cylinder or beaker.
Intern
To internalize.
Graduate
Possessing an academic degree or diploma.
Intern
.NET 2003 Developer's Cookbook (page 81)
Graduate
Of, intended for, or relating to studies beyond a bachelor's degree
Graduate courses.
Intern
(intransitive) To work as an intern. Usually with little or no pay or other legal prerogatives of employment, for the purpose of furthering a program of education.
I'll be interning at Universal Studios this summer.
Graduate
A person who is recognized by a university as having completed the requirements of a degree studied at the institution.
If the government wants graduates to stay in the country they should offer more incentives.
Intern
(archaic) Internal.
Graduate
A person who is recognized by a high school as having completed the requirements of a course of study at the school.
Intern
Internal.
Graduate
(Philippines) A person who is recognized as having completed any level of education.
Intern
To put for safe keeping in the interior of a place or country; to confine to one locality; as, to intern troops which have fled for refuge to a neutral country.
Graduate
A graduated (marked) cup or other container, thus fit for measuring.
Intern
To hold until the end of a war, as enemy citizens in a country at the time of outbreak of hostilities; - an action performed by countries.
Graduate
Graduated, arranged by degrees
Intern
A resident physician in a hospital, especially one who has recently received the Doctorate and is practising under supervision of experienced physicians, as a continuation of the training process; a house physician; also called houseman in Britain.
Graduate
Holding an academic degree
Intern
A person working as an apprentice to gain experience in an occupation; sometimes the position is paid a salary, and other times it is not; as, a white house intern; an intern in a law firm.
Graduate
Relating to an academic degree
Intern
An advanced student or graduate in medicine gaining supervised practical experience (`houseman' is a British term)
Graduate
To be recognized by a school or university as having completed the requirements of a degree studied at the institution.
The man graduated in 1967.
Trisha graduated from college.
Intern
Deprive of freedom;
During WWII, Japanese were interned in camps in the West
Graduate
To be certified as having earned a degree from; to graduate from (an institution).
Trisha graduated college.
Intern
Work as an intern;
The toung doctor is interning at the Medical Center this year
Graduate
(transitive) To certify (a student) as having earned a degree
Indiana University graduated the student.
The college graduated him as soon as he was no longer eligible to play under NCAA rules.
Graduate
(transitive) To mark (something) with degrees; to divide into regular steps or intervals, as the scale of a thermometer, a scheme of punishment or rewards, etc.
Graduate
(intransitive) To change gradually.
Sandstone which graduates into gneiss; carnelian sometimes graduates into quartz
Graduate
To prepare gradually; to arrange, temper, or modify by degrees or to a certain degree; to determine the degrees of.
To graduate the heat of an oven
Graduate
(chemistry) To bring to a certain degree of consistency, by evaporation, as a fluid.
Graduate
To taper, as the tail of certain birds.
Graduate
(Japanese entertainment) Of an idol: to exit a group; or of a virtual YouTuber, to leave a management agency; usually accompanied with "graduation ceremony" send-offs, increased focus on the leaving member, and the like.
Graduate
To mark with degrees; to divide into regular steps, grades, or intervals, as the scale of a thermometer, a scheme of punishment or rewards, etc.
Graduate
To admit or elevate to a certain grade or degree; esp., in a college or university, to admit, at the close of the course, to an honorable standing defined by a diploma; as, he was graduated at Yale College.
Graduate
To prepare gradually; to arrange, temper, or modify by degrees or to a certain degree; to determine the degrees of; as, to graduate the heat of an oven.
Dyers advance and graduate their colors with salts.
Graduate
To bring to a certain degree of consistency, by evaporation, as a fluid.
Graduate
To pass by degrees; to change gradually; to shade off; as, sandstone which graduates into gneiss; carnelian sometimes graduates into quartz.
Graduate
To taper, as the tail of certain birds.
Graduate
To take a degree in a college or university; to become a graduate; to receive a diploma.
He graduated at Oxford.
He was brought to their bar and asked where he had graduated.
Graduate
One who has received an academical or professional degree; one who has completed the prescribed course of study in any school or institution of learning.
Graduate
A graduated cup, tube, flask, or cylinder; a glass measuring container used by apothecaries and chemists. See under Graduated.
Graduate
Arranged by successive steps or degrees; graduated.
Beginning with the genus, passing through all the graduateand subordinate stages.
Graduate
A person who has received a degree from a school (high school or college or university)
Graduate
A measuring instrument for measuring fluid volume; a glass container (cup or cylinder or flask) whose sides are marked with or divided into amounts
Graduate
Receive an academic degree upon completion of one's studies;
She graduated in 1990
Graduate
Confer an academic degree upon;
This school graduates 2,000 students each year
Graduate
Make fine adjustments or divide into marked intervals for optimal measuring;
Calibrate an instrument
Graduate a cylinder
Graduate
Of or relating to studies beyond a bachelor's degree;
Graduate courses
Common Curiosities
Can a graduate be an intern?
Yes, a graduate can take an internship to gain specific skills or enter a new industry.
What is the main difference between a graduate and an intern?
A graduate has completed their educational qualifications, whereas an intern is usually still studying and working to gain practical experience.
Is internship necessary for all fields?
While not mandatory for all fields, internships are highly recommended in many industries as they provide critical real-world experience.
What qualifications do graduates typically have?
Graduates usually hold an associate's, bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree, based on the level of education completed.
What are the benefits of completing an internship?
Internships offer practical experience, industry contacts, and often a foot in the door for future employment opportunities.
Do interns get paid?
Interns may or may not be paid, depending on the industry, company policy, and the type of internship (academic credit or professional training).
How long does an internship typically last?
Internships can last from a few weeks to several months, typically one semester or summer for academic internships.
What industries are most likely to require internships?
Fields such as media, medical professions, engineering, and information technology often require or highly value internships.
What are typical responsibilities of an intern?
Interns are typically assigned tasks that help them learn about their field of interest, under supervision.
How does a graduate find employment?
Graduates typically find employment through job listings, career fairs, and networking.
How can a graduate make their job application stand out?
Graduates can enhance their applications by including internships, volunteer work, relevant coursework, and skills that align with the job requirements.
Can internships lead to permanent employment?
Yes, many internships are designed to transition into full-time positions if the intern performs well and there is a fitting role available in the company.
What should an intern do to maximize their internship experience?
Interns should be proactive in seeking responsibilities, networking with professionals, asking questions, and learning as much as possible about the industry and the company.
What is the difference between an unpaid and a paid internship?
Unpaid internships generally offer academic credit or professional training without monetary compensation, while paid internships provide wages in addition to professional experience.
Are there different types of graduate degrees?
Yes, graduate degrees include master's programs (like MA, MS, MBA), and doctoral programs (like PhD, EdD), each with specific focuses and requirements.
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Written by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
Co-written by
Maham Liaqat
