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.

It is vitally important to educate yourself on the specifics of your visa status and requirements as they can vary widely. Some international candidates employ the help of immigration attorneys to help them navigate this process. If you are a trainee at the NIH, you can also consult with the Division of International Services.

Not all employers can afford to sponsor and hire international applicants. A good indicator if an employer will be able to sponsor you is to see how many people they have sponsored in the past. There are a number of websites that link to the Department of Labor’s annual list of employers who sponsored visas last year. Operating under the assumption that employers who sponsored visas in the past will likely be able to do so again.

One website that can be helpful and is free to use is: MyVisaJobs.com. This site provides the ability to sort the government’s H1-B report by career path/industry, occupation, city, state, job title, etc. Scientists might be interested in in the Scientific Research and Support database - https://www.myvisajobs.com/Scientific-Research-and-Development-Services-5417-2021IN.htm

Utilizing resources like this don’t guarantee that an employer will be able to sponsor you; however, it can help you to identify organizations that will be more likely to do so.

Many people work as freelancers nowadays and it can be confusing to know how to properly not only list but also highlight your entrepreneurial experiences on your resume. Sometimes these experiences raise more questions than Many people work as freelancers nowadays and it can be confusing to know how to properly not only list but also highlight your entrepreneurial experiences on your resume. Sometimes these experiences raise more questions than answers for recruiters and hiring managers. They worry you are trying to cover up an employment gap. The best way to market your own self-employment is to explicitly answer these known questions/doubts.

You should absolutely list self-employment on your resume and the rule is to treat it like you would any other kind of employment. With that in mind, it might be helpful if you consider a business name and to give yourself a job title. Try to avoid “Self-work” here and help contextualize what you have actually done; whether that is consulting, writing, photography, web design, etc. Just as you would with any employment, add bullet points to your experience and explain what you have done within this role with a big focus on accomplishments and outcomes. If you can quantify these results even better. Some even suggest adding in dollar amounts for your freelance work in statements like, “Completed development projects ranging in scale from $1000-$10,000.”

Another section which might help highlight self-employment on a resume is a “Projects” section. You can list project names and if you partnered with any external clients. Often times, within this section you can also note great transferable skills for future positions.

Steve Dalton’s book The 2-Hour Job Search recommends creating a LAMP (List, Advocacy, Motivation, Posting) list to help you identify and target key employers. This can be a helpful activity to help you both expand and then narrow down your options. The main goal of creating such a list is to develop a prioritized list of at least forty employers. Yes, 40!

Steve Dalton’s book The 2-Hour Job Search recommends creating a LAMP (List, Advocacy, Motivation, Posting) list to help you identify and target key employers. This can be a helpful activity to help you both expand and then narrow down your options. The main goal of creating such a list is to develop a prioritized list of at least forty employers. Yes, 40!

Dalton strongly encourages people to think of at least forty employers because he feels it helps job seeker move past the “usual suspects” – those big-name employers that seem to attract all the attention but are often very difficult to break into. Nearly 2/3 of employees work at employers with fewer than 100 employees. These small organizations often fall off one’s radar, even though they shouldn’t!

You can approach your list-making in anyway; however, Dalton recommends focusing on four groups:
1. Dream employers – your ultimate wish list
2. Alumni/Affinity employers – companies where you have a contact/connection
3. Actively hiring employers – companies that often pop up in online job searches
4. Trending employers – employers you see popping up in the new or trending on Twitter

Once you have gone through these parameters, you will likely have your target list of 40 and the “L” part of LAMP is complete.

Moving onto “A” Advocacy part: from your list, you are going to cull your professional networks/contacts (LinkedIn can greatly help with this) and note if you have a contact or a potential advocate within each organization. The Advocacy column can be a simple “Yes” or “No” or you can list the names of your contacts. Think about fellow alumni from your alma mater, fellow NIH trainees, or professional associations to which you belong.

For the “M” Motivation part: you are going to rank your level of interest in each employer based on what you know about them right now. Use a scale of 0 (no interest) to 3 (high interest).

On to the last component of the LAMP list – “P” Posting. In this section, you are going to search each company using a job search stie like Indeed.com to see if they have any positions posted. The use of quotes can greatly help aid your search – “Company Name”.  Similarly assign a 0 to 3 ranking based on the number and quality of postings that you see listed.

Once your list is completely populated within Excel, you can now select and sort according to your rankings. This will help you visually get a sense of who your true top 5-10 employers are. Excel makes it easier to sort, but you can also use the PDF worksheet here - https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e1d009b4c50125c6759f939/t/5e88b9cc1249b6227915be66/1586018765043/LAMP+Template.pdf

This text is based on a presentation entitled ‘Anxiety and Anxiety Disorders’. This is the second 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.

Colloquially, we often speak about anxiety as a feeling, often referring to stress or worry. Anxiety is an expected emotion that arises situationally and does not significantly interfere with daily functioning over time. In fact, anxiety can bring to our attention the situations that are important to us. It can drive us and may help with performance, problem solving, and alerting us to threats. This type of anxiety can be helpful in carrying out the lives we want to live.

If anxiety becomes persistent and increases in severity, this can interfere with functioning. At times, this might look like avoiding the work that needs to get done. Other times, it might look like doing a lot of work, but not focused on the goals at hand. Both of these scenarios lead to a lack of balance and causes suffering. This type of anxiety is unhelpful because it outpaces the realistic threat level and gets in the way of what we need to do. Unhelpful anxiety can develop into anxiety disorders, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, social anxiety, and panic disorder. There are a few factors that can affect severity in anxiety, including cognitive distortions and perfectionism.

Cognitive distortions are unhelpful thoughts we have around a specific situation that can drive unhelpful anxiety. These thoughts make it difficult to differentiate helpful and unhelpful anxiety. Because of this, it can be beneficial to find a trusted other to help you see how realistic the threat level is and recognize some cognitive distortions. Cognitive distortions often keep us in cycles of emotion and behavior driven by shame and negative self-talk.

Perfectionism is another mechanism that can drive unhelpful anxiety, functioning as an unhelpful protector against pain. It centers the idea that if we do things perfectly, we can minimize or avoid the pain of blame, judgement, and shame. Perfectionism can feel like the solution to many of our problems, especially in high-achieving environments; however, it creates great anxiety.

Now that we know these factors, how do we move away from it? Moving towards healthy striving can help us carry out our functions and reduce the amount of anxiety we experience. This looks like recognizing that mistakes are a part of learning and that our self-worth is not linked to our productivity. By managing cognitive distortions and reducing anticipatory anxiety, the process can be much more enjoyable.

Self-compassion is a tool that can help us achieve healthy striving as well. Self-compassion can replace the cognitive distortions and help you move away from the cycle of avoidance and overwork. This can be difficult to implement, but it can be helpful to think about how you would talk to a friend or a loved-one. How can you apply that same compassion towards yourself?

Oftentimes, we need the help of others to strive towards healthy practices. Communicating about your anxiety with others can be crucial in managing your anxiety. An important part of this is thinking about what you want from these conversations and deciding on a clear ask. It can also be helpful to clarify boundaries and practice the conversation.

Lastly, in order to do well, we also have to be well. Taking care of ourselves is a major part of managing anxiety, and it greatly aids in staying productive. We have to take care of our:

• Mind – staying present, self-compassion, healthy striving
• Body – proper sleep, nutrition, exercise, rest
• Heart – connection, community, nature
• Spirit – purpose, mindfulness

Oftentimes anxiety might feel daunting and an endless cycle; however, there are ways to move through the anxiety and achieve healthy striving. While this is a process, working through patterns of perfectionism and cognitive distortions with self-compassion allows us to stay present with our lives.