Sometimes job seekers forget that they should be interviewing a future boss as much as they are being interviewed. Make sure you prepare questions that will help you assess management style and cultural fit. Pay attention to any red flags you see or feel during your interview as well. Here are some questions to ask your next boss:

What have you learned about yourself, or your leadership style based on feedback you’ve received from members of your team?

Post Written By: Sara Hunter, Wellness Advisor, OITE 

On this blog, we’ve shared a few posts about luck, including “What Luck Really Looks Like”  and “What’s Luck Got to Do With It”. We’ve talked about luck because, of course, it plays a part in a career.

This text is based on a presentation entitled ‘Depression and Depressive Disorders.’ This is the third part of a six-part seminar series from OITE entitled ‘Mental Health & Wellbeing of Biomedical Researchers’ focused on mental health, which aims at providing strategies and tools to help participants support their own mental health and that of others.

With five generations together in U.S. workplaces for the first time (Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Generation Xers, Millennials, and Gen Z), communication styles and cultural differences between the generations are emerging.  According to NPR, there are even generational differences in how emojis are interpreted. Take for example the “thumbs up” emoji, “older people” literally interpret this as an affirmative/yes, but “younger people” see this as passive-aggressive and even a close cousin of the middle finger!

Post written by guest blogger Angie Snyder, PsyD, OITE Wellness Advisor 

Last week, we wrote about the purpose of one's inner dialogue and we encouraged you to journal for a week to catch your own thoughts.

Shift to a Compassionate Critic

When we think of taming the inner critic, it can be helpful to look at the definitions of a critic.  There are two definitions of criticism with different connotations:

Post written by guest blogger Angie Snyder, PsyD, OITE Wellness Advisor 

Most people have an inner critic – one or more “voices” inside the mind that are critical, harsh, and just not pleasant to live with every day.  Examples include: “You’re stupid!” “You don’t belong here.” “You are unlovable!” “You’re such an idiot, how could you have done that!” and “You’ll never succeed.” 

The majority of people apply through the ‘front door’ for jobs. This typically means applying for a posted online application. In fact, over 96% of job seekers mass apply to jobs on Indeed, Monster, and LinkedIn using the one-click apply buttons. These features are incredibly convenient and can work, which is why everyone is doing it. The competition, though, for these jobs (and the masses applying) can be extremely high.

Narcissists tend to be especially good at self-promotion and ensuring that their contributions are not only known but recognized. A 2017 study found that most of the time narcissists’ high appraisal of their own performance does not match objective measures of their actual achievements.

A job search can be a long and grueling process. This process can be made even more challenging when a job seeker is looking for employment but lacks permanent US work authorization. If you find yourself in this situation, please account for the extra time your job search might take. On average we see job searches take 6-9 months; however, it will likely be longer for international candidates.