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How to count full-time employment experience?

Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2011 6:10 pm
by splbagel
I'm struggling with the question on several applications that asks me to enter "Full-time employment experience - Total number of months."

(How) do I count the following?

Half-time employment experience; i.e. a 20-hour per week paid graduate research assistantship? For example, if this is for nine months, should I count it as 4.5 months of full-time experience, or not count it at all?

Full-time unpaid internships? Say I worked full time for a non-profit for three months during the summer in college, paid not by the organization but by a grant from my school? Does this count at all?

Thanks TLS friends!

Re: How to count full-time employment experience?

Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2011 6:31 pm
by bdubs
You have no full-time employment experience. Internships and part-time work are generally not considered comparable to full time work experience.

Re: How to count full-time employment experience?

Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2011 6:45 pm
by splbagel
bdubs wrote:You have no full-time employment experience. Internships and part-time work are generally not considered comparable to full time work experience.
Well, I do have about 30 months of full-time, paid employment experience on top of these things. Is the consensus that I should count only this experience, and nothing else?

Re: How to count full-time employment experience?

Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2011 10:33 pm
by Bobeo
Does seasonal, yet full time during the season count as full time work experience?

Re: How to count full-time employment experience?

Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2011 10:43 pm
by tennisking88
splbagel wrote:
bdubs wrote:You have no full-time employment experience. Internships and part-time work are generally not considered comparable to full time work experience.
Well, I do have about 30 months of full-time, paid employment experience on top of these things. Is the consensus that I should count only this experience, and nothing else?

I was curious about this too. Do you count the months leading up to law school if you are currently working?

Re: How to count full-time employment experience?

Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2011 11:41 pm
by splbagel
tennisking88 wrote:Do you count the months leading up to law school if you are currently working?
I'm only counting the number of months up through the time of application. I plan to submit my applications in October, so September would be the last full month of employment I would count. Does that sound right?

Re: How to count full-time employment experience?

Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2011 11:44 pm
by bdubs
splbagel wrote:
bdubs wrote:You have no full-time employment experience. Internships and part-time work are generally not considered comparable to full time work experience.
Well, I do have about 30 months of full-time, paid employment experience on top of these things. Is the consensus that I should count only this experience, and nothing else?
There is no reason to even bother including your internships and part-time work if you have 30 months of standard full-time experience. I don't think schools care about anything more than 24 months unless it means you got some exceptional opportunities.
tennisking88 wrote:I was curious about this too. Do you count the months leading up to law school if you are currently working?
Most schools will explicitly state at matriculation, but if they don't you should use the number of months at the time of application.

Re: How to count full-time employment experience?

Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 12:03 am
by splbagel
bdubs wrote:There is no reason to even bother including your internships and part-time work if you have 30 months of standard full-time experience. I don't think schools care about anything more than 24 months unless it means you got some exceptional opportunities.
Well, that's good news. I figure they'll see it all in my resume, anyway.

Speaking of which, do you really have to fill out the "employment" section of all of the applications? Would it be so terrible to just write "please see resume"?

Re: How to count full-time employment experience?

Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 12:06 am
by thederangedwang
splbagel wrote:
bdubs wrote:There is no reason to even bother including your internships and part-time work if you have 30 months of standard full-time experience. I don't think schools care about anything more than 24 months unless it means you got some exceptional opportunities.
Well, that's good news. I figure they'll see it all in my resume, anyway.

Speaking of which, do you really have to fill out the "employment" section of all of the applications? Would it be so terrible to just write "please see resume"?
Yes

Re: How to count full-time employment experience?

Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 12:13 am
by splbagel
Bobeo wrote:Does seasonal, yet full time during the season count as full time work experience?
I would think so. Why not?

Re: How to count full-time employment experience?

Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 1:14 am
by bdubs
splbagel wrote:
bdubs wrote:There is no reason to even bother including your internships and part-time work if you have 30 months of standard full-time experience. I don't think schools care about anything more than 24 months unless it means you got some exceptional opportunities.
Well, that's good news. I figure they'll see it all in my resume, anyway.

Speaking of which, do you really have to fill out the "employment" section of all of the applications? Would it be so terrible to just write "please see resume"?
You should be able to copy and paste. If it's really that hard then you are applying to too many schools.

Re: How to count full-time employment experience?

Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 1:16 am
by bdubs
Bobeo wrote:Does seasonal, yet full time during the season count as full time work experience?
For something like tax accounting or school teachers, the answer is yes. If you are talking about your summer as a lifeguard, then no.

Re: How to count full-time employment experience?

Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 8:30 am
by icedflames
I thought the definition of full-time is that you are working say 40 hours per week.

Would a full-time internship count? I've been working at the same place as an intern for a few months now and will continue to do so into the next year, and I'm not sure if that counts as zero or as three or four.

Re: How to count full-time employment experience?

Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 1:38 pm
by bdubs
icedflames wrote:I thought the definition of full-time is that you are working say 40 hours per week.

Would a full-time internship count? I've been working at the same place as an intern for a few months now and will continue to do so into the next year, and I'm not sure if that counts as zero or as three or four.
Full-time means permanent employment, internships are generally not counted unless they are part of an industry where "interns" are a well defined position that leads directly to full-time paid employment (99% of internships don't fit in this category)

Re: How to count full-time employment experience?

Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 5:13 pm
by imjustjoking22
Ooh, not to hijack this thread, but I listed working several full-time jobs under "full-time employment" (when it asked for what length of time I had worked full-time) - is that ok? They were all part time on their own, but there were about 6 months that I was working 2-4 jobs simultaneously, so 40-50+ hrs/week...

Re: How to count full-time employment experience?

Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 5:41 pm
by coldshoulder
I think internships count depending on what you're doing.
I'm doing a Senate Internship where I work 9-6 every day of the week, and you can bet your ass it deserves to be called full-time work experience.

Re: How to count full-time employment experience?

Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 11:33 pm
by bdubs
imjustjoking22 wrote:Ooh, not to hijack this thread, but I listed working several full-time jobs under "full-time employment" (when it asked for what length of time I had worked full-time) - is that ok? They were all part time on their own, but there were about 6 months that I was working 2-4 jobs simultaneously, so 40-50+ hrs/week...
I would think that would qualify, so long as you're not doing it at the same time you're classified as a full-time student.

Re: How to count full-time employment experience?

Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 11:35 pm
by bdubs
coldshoulder wrote:I think internships count depending on what you're doing.
I'm doing a Senate Internship where I work 9-6 every day of the week, and you can bet your ass it deserves to be called full-time work experience.
Politics is one of the 1% where internships are a pretty regular form of employment because of the oddities of govt. budgets and political science students. Working as an intern during an externship semester or during the summer would probably not count though.

Re: How to count full-time employment experience?

Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 7:38 pm
by imjustjoking22
bdubs wrote:
imjustjoking22 wrote:Ooh, not to hijack this thread, but I listed working several full-time jobs under "full-time employment" (when it asked for what length of time I had worked full-time) - is that ok? They were all part time on their own, but there were about 6 months that I was working 2-4 jobs simultaneously, so 40-50+ hrs/week...
I would think that would qualify, so long as you're not doing it at the same time you're classified as a full-time student.
Nope, wasn't a student, and thanks!

Re: How to count full-time employment experience?

Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 7:40 pm
by iamgoingtolawschool
Ok, so if I worked as a camp counselor from 8am-5pm throughout the summer, this does NOT count as full-time employment? I feel like it technically is, but I'm not sure.

Re: How to count full-time employment experience?

Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 7:45 pm
by bdubs
iamgoingtolawschool wrote:Ok, so if I worked as a camp counselor from 8am-5pm throughout the summer, this does NOT count as full-time employment? I feel like it technically is, but I'm not sure.
No, not full-time employment.

Re: How to count full-time employment experience?

Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 9:02 pm
by nucky thompson
bdubs wrote:
icedflames wrote:
I thought the definition of full-time is that you are working say 40 hours per week.

Would a full-time internship count? I've been working at the same place as an intern for a few months now and will continue to do so into the next year, and I'm not sure if that counts as zero or as three or four.


Full-time means permanent employment, internships are generally not counted unless they are part of an industry where "interns" are a well defined position that leads directly to full-time paid employment (99% of internships don't fit in this category)



If the applications wanted to know how many months you were at a permanent position, I feel like they would ask. Instead they ask for "full time employment" - A quick google search came up with this

"The Bureau of Labor Statistics defines a full-time employee as one who works 35 hours or more per week, but there are no labor laws that set a particular number of hours as determining full-time employment."

So you're telling us, that law schools expect applicants to understand "full time employment" to be as narrowly defined as you say?

Re: How to count full-time employment experience?

Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 9:20 pm
by iamgoingtolawschool
Is there a limit of employers you can put down? I'm trying to add my 11th but LSAC keeps saying there's a server error. It is driving me nuts.

Re: How to count full-time employment experience?

Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 9:26 pm
by bdubs
nucky thompson wrote: If the applications wanted to know how many months you were at a permanent position, I feel like they would ask. Instead they ask for "full time employment" - A quick google search came up with this

"The Bureau of Labor Statistics defines a full-time employee as one who works 35 hours or more per week, but there are no labor laws that set a particular number of hours as determining full-time employment."

So you're telling us, that law schools expect applicants to understand "full time employment" to be as narrowly defined as you say?
Yes, they are trying to figure out how much real world experience you have outside of K-College. It would be unfair to use the strict BLS definition for people who legitimately worked in non-permanent positions, but were supporting themselves as independent non-students.

Re: How to count full-time employment experience?

Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 9:31 pm
by chem
iamgoingtolawschool wrote:Is there a limit of employers you can put down? I'm trying to add my 11th but LSAC keeps saying there's a server error. It is driving me nuts.
God I hope youre old if your putting down more then 11 employers. Christ