Full-Time Jobs: Strategies To Enhance Your Job Search

Full-Time Jobs Overview

People build careers from many kinds of experiences, including degrees and credentials, part-time jobs, freelance work, internships, experiential learning, and volunteer work or community service – but full-time jobs are the primary building blocks of a long-term career.

Depending on your industry, Full-Time Jobs are usually around 40 hours per week (and usually five days per week) and often come with benefits like healthcare coverage and retirement accounts. At different points in your life, you’ll have different priorities as to what you want out of a full-time job.

Your First Full-Time Job

Your first full-time job in your field is one of the most important jobs you will have! Your first job out of college lays a foundation for the next 10 years of career success, sets you up for future advancement, and is pivotal to building wealth and social mobility in the future. Put a lot of planning and intention behind securing your opportunity.

If you’re not already working in your field while in college, we recommend landing that first full-time job within 6 months of graduating to maximize your long-term success. Even if you need a graduate degree to practice your profession, there is usually a valuable full-time job to look for right out of undergrad that will help you launch your career. 

Careers Are Not Linear

In most cases, your career will center around a series of full-time jobs with progressive responsibility and salary in your field, or a collection of full-time jobs in multiple industries. But, don’t feel boxed into a specific plan; careers are almost never linear, and you have the freedom and the power to design how you want it to unfold.

Throughout your career, sometimes you’re prioritizing your income, sometimes you want to make a specific move for your career, sometimes you need more work-life balance – the considerations are endless. Your strategy might need to change as your priorities change – and our coaches can always help you figure these things out.

Imposter Syndrome At Work

Full-Time jobs are opportunities to learn, grow, build a network and establish your professional reputation. You’ll get a firsthand look at how businesses and organizations operate, learn about company structures, decision-making processes, and workplace dynamics, all of which contribute to a strong professional foundation.

Full-Time jobs sometimes come with a learning curve, so it’s completely normal to experience some imposter syndrome. The key is to embrace the learning experience, ask questions, seek out guidance when needed, make sure you’re protecting your mental health and leveraging your employer’s company benefits.

Building Confidence In Your Job Search

If you’ve ever felt drained or discouraged during a job search, you are not alone. On average, a job search can take six months in a good economy and up to a year in a challenging one. Internships can also take several months to secure, especially in competitive fields. In fact, you may only hear back from 2-10% of the applications you submit. Networking can certainly improve your odds, but even that comes with its own set of rejections or non-responses. Recognize this isn’t personal, but rather a normal part of the process.

Staying resilient, and building confidence during a job search requires balance and persistence. Some best practices are — (1) set realistic goals to avoid burnout (2) use available resources to strengthen your applications and interview skills (3) acknowledge setbacks without letting negative self-talk take over (4) remind yourself that you are capable and you will find the right job (5) schedule breaks to recharge (6) let go of past disappointments and (7) know that you are as strong as your community around you. Build and strengthen your personal and professional relationships. 

Planning Is Key

Start searching early! You’ll want to start well in advance and set specific goals to keep your job search moving. If you’re planning to graduate in May, for instance, it’s a good idea to begin your search at some point in the spring semester (assuming you want to begin working soon after you graduate). 

A successful plan involves working independently (and with career coaches, advisors, and mentors) to define your career goals, identify your interests, strengths, and long-term aspirations, research industries/roles that align with your skills/values, and strengthen your application materials. Once you know what you are searching for, be sure to set aside time every week to dedicate to your search. We strongly recommend building your job search activities into your weekly calendar so that you intentionally invest this time in yourself. 

Another key component of your plan should be authentically making connections with industry professionals. MercyLink is a great platform for you to do this. Check out the tutorial here.