International Academic Life

Lightly edited from Zoom’s automatic transcript, so expect some transcription errors. Speaker labels come from Zoom, and […] marks a passage that was cut.

Elisa D’Amico Okay. I believe I'm recording. Yes, okay. So… Today? How do I… Okay, so today I'm going to be talking about… Navigating the international academic… sort of, like. lifestyle, what it's like to sort of move abroad different places. I know a lot of the people in this group will have gone through a lot of this, and so it could be just, like, good information sharing as a group in general, but I'm going to go through some of the things that I experienced, both moving, to different countries, academic institutions, but then also being on the international job market. From what was abroad to me at the time, and navigating some of that with the way things work, with things like flyouts, And the kind of things that different institutions like you to do for your professionalization while maintaining Some of the, sort of.

Elisa D’Amico Things that, like, other countries or other institutional settings will also want you to do while being on the job market, and just acclimating to these moves and this lifestyle. So first, I'm gonna talk a little bit about job titles and how that translates, because this can be tricky when on the job market, and when also sort of thinking about your own professionalization and career trajectory. Also thinking about, sort of, the right to work. How you frame yourself, and how you can sort of tailor your materials to be friendlier towards the international, sort of. academic scene. I'm gonna talk a little bit about visas, immigration, and some of the admin And then, just a bit about settling in an everyday life abroad, which I… very much underestimated when I personally, took my first position abroad. Okay, so something that can be really, really confusing about… I mean, at least coming from American academia, and then into British academia, which is… is very much its own thing, and then also being on, like, the broader European job market, is thinking about things like the tenure track. So, the tenure track is… is, like, the language that I'm really familiar with coming from the U.S. setting, where you have, like, whatever, your set amount of, like, quasi-probationary years, maybe, like, five-ish.

Elisa D’Amico 3 to 5, 6, 7, depending on where you're at. And a tenure track job is always what we wanted as PhD students. It's obviously not the only track, and we can talk about that a little bit, too. But abroad, when you're looking for a tenure track job, it's kind of a mixed bag. A lot of places, like in the UK, they'll have tenure… they'll… a lot of places have proper, like, tenure-track jobs. Where I'm at in Dublin has like, and my Ad Astra position is pretty much a tenure-track job. But a lot of, like, fully permanent… like… what would be, like, an American associate professor situation? Like, in the UK, you just are permanent right away. There's things like fixed-term contracts, which is a little bit more like what Americans call adjuncting. And so there's just… we'll talk, I think, on the next slide about it, but there's a lot of different, position types when you enter the international job market, and it can be a little tricky to compare them.

Elisa D’Amico And a lot… I feel like I'm seeing a lot more European and British… job ads and universities are adopting, like, American-ish titles. So, I think in the UK, you're often called a lecturer, which is very different in the US, but in you're now seeing at least, like, lecturer slash assistant professor, and a lot of, lines are just put out as assistant professor positions now as well. Which, again, is adopting this more, like, tenure-track language, but I think it's… To sort of just open up the job candidate pool, and make even, like, Transitionings and open-ranked position type calls just more accessible to the broader job market. So here, I say fixed term is not necessarily adjuncting, so both of them are not what we would, like, consider, like. quasi-permanent or tenure-track-like positions, but fixed terms are more protected, and they're salaried, and they have benefits. There just isn't necessarily, like.

Elisa D’Amico Tenure track or a track to permanency after, but sometimes there actually still can be. So these look a little bit more like VAPS, Visiting Assistant Professor positions, to American candidates. But… the adjuncting in the American sense is just more like picking up a class here or there, and… this is something that we try not to do after the PhD, lest we get stuck sort of doing that forever. So, fortunately, outside of the American job market, there are a lot more fixed-term positions that Are, safer, and maybe longer, and can even sometimes turn into something more permanent. The… Yeah, so we have these other terms, like an NTT, in America. This non-tenure track job is what we call, like, more people that do more lecturing, and they'd never go on the tenure track, but their job is fairly permanent.

Elisa D’Amico less so than a tenure track, but it's, like, they're… they will be there for their entire career. They won't get paid as much. But they're teaching… load is very heavy, and their research load is almost non-existent, and a lot of people want this track. Unfortunately, in the US, it doesn't get paid as much, but internationally, we have, like, in the UK, I know for sure. And in Europe, you have, like, more teaching-focused positions just off the bat, but they look more like… the tenure tread positions that Americans often speak. Okay, so there's lots of different words we use. In the US, we almost always say a postdoc is a postdoc. In the UK, you'll see, like, fellowships. Sometimes in Europe as well, you'll see, like, I think at Trinity, actually, here in Ireland, you, like, see associate lecturer for a postdoc, which can be very confusing on an application. I just was looking over postdoc applications recently and ran into this, So this can be sort of… Yeah, you want to at least, probably on your CV, put your, like, the various, forms of your… or the various terms you can use for your same position to make things clearer, especially depending on where you're applying, because you don't want it to look like you're stepping down, because that would raise red flags as well. Okay, And then in the… in Europe, there's a lot of different, like, terms for, like, various fellowships, but you will often just see postdocs as well.

Elisa D’Amico And then we have, like, these more, like, entry-level assistant professors on the tenure track. This is sort of… this is, like, what I am. This is what most Americans, after the PhD, after the postdoc, if they take a postdoc, are trying to do off the, like, right out of the gate. And then, like I said, sometimes you see that called lectures, sometimes there's even things like readers, and the route from assistant to associate can look very different internationally as well. Sometimes in… Europe, you will just see, like, people called professors, and then you will be a chair, which is, like, your full professor equivalent, and so these… All of these things you kind of need to… yeah, just, like, get a feel for the job lines that are out, and, ask your friends at conferences and things like this, especially your international colleagues. And then for, like, mid-careers, we have, in the U.S, this is your associate professor, this is once you're tenured. You'll see senior lecturers sometimes in the UK.

Elisa D’Amico again, professors in, some of the European settings, some of, like, the German track looks very different, for example. And then… Senior, like, more senior levels are gonna be, like, your full professors, or your professors, or chairs, or professor with a chair. there's, like, a lot of… and I think the Swiss system was similar. There's, like, a lot of different terms you can use for that level as well. So just be mindful, in… if you are applying with certain titles to also include your, like. equivalent counterpart titles as well, or explain it briefly in the cover letter. Okay So… things that count for promotion. I've talked about this in a lot of different sessions, in a lot of different ways. I feel like much of what I do touches on this. In… North America, publications, like, research articles, not book reviews, like.

Elisa D’Amico I mean, research notes are honestly normally okay, but, like, these more standard, like, Q1 articles are, like, almost… Not entirely, but especially at the R1 institutions, like, most of what makes up your tenure packet. grants, I guess, are good to get, but it's not something you need for your tenure packet, almost at all, at least in the social sciences. And then even for service. these kind of grow… like, they try to protect junior faculty in North America from Almost all service respons… or bigger service responsibilities until after their tenure, so that they can publish, which is great. And then I didn't even put teaching on here, because in many North American institutions, they'll say, we don't even care that much if you're a great teacher, just don't be a bad teacher. This isn't universal, it's obviously good to be a good teacher, but, like, if you're divvying out your time, this is not where you should be investing all of your time.

Elisa D’Amico And this is just also to know if you're on one of the, like, sort of… tenure track, quasi-tenure track, or job market tracks in one of these places, and you ever want to consider going to another, you'll need to kind of check the boxes on the alternate list. For, like, the side of the Atlantic. We see grants being a considerably, like, a considerable portion of what makes up your tenure packet, like, even in my job track, we have to apply for at least one grant every single year. Like, in North America or in the U.S, this would not be expected at all whatsoever. And this is also something that, if you're taking, interview from, like, the U.S, many people are not prepared for the grant capture-related questions at all. And then… teaching qualifications are more expected to have, like, taken classes or additional continuing education training, and sometimes they are required, for your tenure packet. And then PhD supervision It depends on the system of the school, but PhD supervision can count differently, because in North America.

Elisa D’Amico PhD supervision is more… it's almost like a master's student-level responsibility, because the department trains them, they take coursework for half of their time there. And then you have a committee where, yes, you have a supervisor, but the supervisor isn't, like, solely responsible for getting you through. Like, you'll have taken comprehensive exams and passed a proposal before they even really have to start deeply working one-on-one with you, so as a faculty member, like, the stakes are much lower, the requirements are much lower, and many times, this PhD student is actually helping you with research-assisted work anyway. Whereas in… like, across the Atlantic. The PhD supervision, if they don't have coursework, is much, like, much more serious, because it's like, you are guiding them almost the whole way through. You're helping them get their committee together, you're helping make sure they're trained on everything that they're, like, required… That they're required to complete, and that they're required to do and learn for their dissertation. And so the… this can sometimes count as its own category, which can be tricky because of the way PhD students tend to be funded abroad, and how you get one can be hard. And then service starts much earlier, like, right out… right off the bat, out of North America, where you're going to be putting on the PhD student professionalization workshops, or you are running the staff seminars, or you are on these various committees, this is something that you start with early.

Elisa D’Amico But the teaching requirements themselves tend to be lower than in North America. So yeah, you'll have to teach but… often there's, like, big tutorials with lots of tutors, and you're not really doing grading. In North America, you tend to be… it's more common that you're the instructor of record, and you kind of handle all of it, so these things sort of weigh a little bit differently. And so if… Also, books… I didn't put this on this list, but books in at least the UK, count for more weight. In the tenure track, they… or they tend to, not necessarily, so, like, it's good to hedge your bets, I guess, and if you're considering moving abroad, no matter which way, it's good to try to publish some articles, and maybe, if your research is conducive to it, see what you can do with a book manuscript. It just really depends on a lot of things, but it's, like I said, it's good to hedge your bets on all of this different promotion material, if you ever plan to transfer, but also just to know what you should be prepared for if you… are leaving the place you got a PhD, because your super… or your mentors will have told you, like, one thing, and you will have observed one thing, and it could be very, very different.

Elisa D’Amico So… also… so scales are fixed, but the entry point is often not. So. Our postdocs years are unusual for a certain… Okay, so with salary scales, in North America, you tend to make considerably more, even as an assistant professor, like, right out of the gate. Like I said, this is mostly for those on the tenure track. Postdocs can make okay money, And if you do have this postdoctoral experience, you should try to get into higher grade in Ireland and the UK, and I don't know as much about Europe, the rest of Europe.

[…]

Elisa D’Amico needed to be, thank goodness, because after you get the job offer, they do want to hire you, right? But in the US, it's incredibly common to negotiate, like, your salary, they'll expect you to, and not only your salary, but a lot of other things, too. Like, I also negotiated my relocation money. And… because I was moving things from both the US and the UK, and I got what I needed there. A lot of women in the U.S, because… time off is so poor, like, negotiate better maternity leave conditions, right when they get their job as well, and this is normal and fine, even though it's incredibly uncomfortable. Another thing that's interesting about money is that it's different in the U.S. with the way that they do their sort of pension system, but abroad, these pensions don't really travel, so right now I have a pension in the UK that will just pretty much live there until I retire, and it's the same in Ireland now, so I have, like… and I… when I worked for, like, I don't know, a decade in the US, before moving, I had, like, accrued added all this money towards, like, Social Security and things like this. But this… there's, like, a lot of tax-related things that become a bit difficult with how we navigate the different pensions and retirement schemes, depending on your citizenship and where you've been living and working. But honestly, for me personally, it's better I have this pension staying in Scotland and in Ireland, like, I'm hedging my bets. It's like, I also… they're… because you're a public servant in academia in these countries, it means you, like, get a way better deal anyway, and you get a lot of, like… Provisions in this regard, whereas, again, like, the U.S. system is just completely different with how you're… retirement funds work, and the matching, and the private system, and how things go into the market, and things like that. So there's also healthcare things… related things that would be good to negotiate, depending on where you're at. This is, like, common in North America.

Elisa D’Amico to just already have, like, nice packages, but in the, like, in the US and in the UK, like, there's… or in the… in the UK and in some places in Europe, it might be nice to see if you can try to get a private healthcare supplement to the public system for a lot of reasons. And then in the… so research allowances vary a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot, and this is also something you can negotiate into your salary, being like, you're expecting me to teach this heavier teaching load right away. I would like a bigger research allowance so that I can at least, like. Run things like survey experiments that should get me publications more quickly, or hire some assistants, or something like this. in, I… so in Ireland, my… with my position, I got, like, a pretty good research… allowance anyway, but most faculty don't. I'm on, like, a special line call that they do, so this is definitely something you should negotiate. In the U.S, like I said, they tend to be a little bit bigger, but they vary quite a bit, no matter what, and you can always at least try to negotiate more.

Elisa D’Amico So, the right to work and being on the job market and sponsorship and the track to permanent residency, all of these things can be very, very complicated. Pretty much all… I wouldn't work… well, it depends on your country of origin, but for the most part. country, universities everywhere are keen to sponsor visas, like, all… all academic faculty is coming from all over the world, usually. And… the… like, the problem that I found… not per… well, I mean… I guess I wouldn't know if it was affecting me on the job market on my end, but that I had heard from colleagues, while I was on the job market was about Like, certain departments being less keen to, like, fly you out if you were international, and that's kind of… like, I remember I spoke to somebody that was like, yeah, for this, like, for the line we have out right now, they're not even letting us entertain any applicants from overseas because we can't pay to fly them out right now for this position because of the… whatever cuts.

Elisa D’Amico And that's, like, that's huge, like, you don't want to be discounted because of that, so after I learned that, I put on my CV at the bottom, like, after my language… like, at the very, very end, after my languages, I had, like, all my citizenship, so I was like, I'm… an Italian citizen, so I'm… I'm an American citizen, and then I have the right to work in the UK. I'm keen to fly out from, like, Europe, or the US, or the UK, like… So, like… yeah, I forget exactly how I worded. I should, like, go find that and post it, but, just so that they would know that, like, I would be happy to fly out from any of these continents or islands or whatever in the event that they, like, would have been keen, but… like, yeah, the travel being some sort of an issue. Although in Europe and in the UK, it's a lot more common to have like, virtual interviews anyway. I was flown out for my position at UCD, and that was my first lieut that I did… on the side of the Atlantic, so it is a little bit less common, but… Okay.

Elisa D’Amico M… Yes. I've covered all that, pretty much. And there's more screening that is, like, virtual screening before you fly somebody out anyway, and that's, like, whether you're domestic or not. It's for a lot of different reasons. Oh, here I put some of this. Eligible to work, with and without sponsorship, available to travel. like, yeah, I, like, put… this isn't exactly how I word it, but I put something along these lines on my CV. I don't think that the dual nationality matters. I listed it just… again, to show that I was, like, more available for flyouts from different places, and honestly, you could… probably put it in your cover letter, just, like, briefly as well, even in, like, the footer or something. Yeah, we're gonna talk a little bit about the different… Residency things in a moment.

Elisa D’Amico So… There's, like, this thing that I've seen on being… like, on both sides of the hiring committee, where everybody's always talking, and I know you're not really supposed to do… well, you're certainly not supposed to ask about it, but you're really not supposed to do it, but everyone does it. They're like, oh, well, why would they want to be here, and are they going to stay? Like, I think that there's some fears that, like. Americans right now on the job market are just trying to leave America in order to, like, flee the Trump administration, and then they won't go back. And… and then they'll go back as soon as, like, things clear up and funding comes back to the U.S. And so, like, when we're… when… you're, like, trying to, like, make it clear that, like, you are keen to move or travel or whatever, this is when, like, maybe putting your all of your citizenships comes in handy. And also, like… I think… like, like, you always are supposed to signal, at least in an interview, like, when you ask questions at the end, you're at least supposed to ask one question about, like, the place to show that, like, you're actually… that is, like, makes it very clear that you're actually considering living there, and working there, and what life will be like there, and… Yeah, I, like, always sort of choked a little bit about being American.

Elisa D’Amico And very… being very happy to be out of America in my, interviews, and I think that that normally was well received. But… Yeah, let's see… Yeah, I think it helps that when you do, like, a postdoc here and a PhD here, and, like, when you show that you have been other places, it shows your keenness to, like. move and travel anyway. So, like, I do think it was a benefit to me when I was on, like, the European job market, that I had already moved to the UK, because it showed that I was already happy to be out of the country. At least, like, my move was before Trump got elected, and so I think that kind of worked in my favor. And I would kind of lean into this. As well. So here… okay, to be fair, I actually don't know as much about the U.S. visas that you will get. I know that there… it also depends a lot on what citizenship you have, but I know that it's not as friendly to like, foreign sponsorship as… I mean, out… At least, like, outside of the… like, PhD in the… more… like, high-salary positions as, like, as it tends to be in Europe, at least.

Elisa D’Amico So you have the H1B, which is, like. employer-sponsored, and then the J1 is, like, the… you get, like, a two-year home residency rule, so this is what you normally get for postdocs. The 01 is sort of like a global talent. It's kind of hard to… it's a little bit more common to get in the natural sciences, and it's… As varying levels of difficulty depending on, again, your country or your… Citizenship origin. And then you can also get some waivers. You can… yeah. Eventually, depending on your life situation, you can get these green cards, and there's just… there's a lot. baked into, like, your travel that you then are or are not able to do once you're in one of these integration positions, which can be, a little bit frustrating. But there's a big network of other scholars that are going through similar things. So, for the UK and the EU, I know in the UK you can get the Global Talent Visa.

Elisa D’Amico Otherwise you're, no matter what, gonna get a high-skilled worker visa. Then there's this EU blue card. Again, I don't know as much about the EU, Or the US, because I'm citizens of these countries, but for the UK, I would say that if you are going on a high-skilled worker visa, which is what you normally come over as. that you should, and you think you might be staying in the UK, you should honestly go for the Global Talent Visa right away, and ask the university to sponsor that, because they absolutely will, especially if you have, like, any publications, even. Like, I feel like in the UK, what considers, like, global talent in academia is, like. like, academics, like, easily exceed it, even with just a couple of publications, so I would recommend going for that right away, because then if you do plan on staying there, the amount of years you're there until you get permanent residency is, like, shrunk. I think it's, like, 3 years or something like that.

Elisa D’Amico Mmm… Okay. I just set that, and then… The thing that is changing a lot in different countries, especially in the UK and the US as well, obviously, it's also not always been very good in the US, period, is, like, the dependence and how you can sponsor dependents. What constitutes as, like, the partner dependent, or the parental, like, if you have, like, caring responsibilities for, like, a parent or something like this. These things can vary a lot, and you need to talk to people about this early on, and your university, and you also should check with your university whether they have, like, immigration lawyers that can deal with these things on your behalf. and get these things formalized as well. Also, who pays for priority processing if the visa renewal runs late is really important. Like, I… was getting my postdoc grant renewed, and they were, like, held up for some bureaucratic reasons that just happens sometimes, and therefore, because that grant wasn't renewed yet, they wouldn't re-sponsor my visa in the UK, and I ended up having to pay the priority fee, and I made my, like, PIs cover it, because I told the university to reimburse, and they were like, oh, we don't reimburse the fees, only the flat rate, so I made my PIs reimburse me the full thing, which they were happy to do anyway. I was not about to absorb that cost.

[…]

Elisa D’Amico So… the… yeah, there's a lot of paperwork that is gonna have to… and, like, admin that's gonna have… happen while you're, like, making these transitions, so you should absolutely get started on it right away. Book your biometric appointments or whatever you need to do as soon as possible. like, in my situation, moving from the US to the UK, you literally could not start the work before the visa was issued, even remotely. there was some stuff, like, how did I navigate this? I was able to get a consultancy contract for, like, a semester before I moved. You can negotiate something like this. But then even so, like. I didn't have my passport back from the biometrics with my visa for my right-to-work check, so they had to, like, push my start date, like, 2 weeks later or something like that, but then they gave me, I don't know, like, a bigger relocation stipend or something to compensate for it.

Elisa D’Amico Again, the renewal period can be very sketchy, so you should also… sometimes some, university admin is better than others, and it's best to, like, get on your… Like, visa or immigration part of your university right away. I talked a little bit about the dependents and partners already, and the extra fees that you would tack on to this will add up really, really quickly, so you could also try to negotiate some of this into your, Into the, like, initial discussions when you're taking the post. I would get… this is just, like, moving away from that sort of admin to different sorts of admin, but, like, I would get a, like, eSIM with a local phone number immediately, because I mean… I, like… I don't know what it's quite like in the US, if it's easier or not to have, like, a foreign number there, but in Europe and in… the UK, like, the bureaucracy that you need, like, a UK phone number for is insane, like, if you want to get on the NHS, if you want this, if you want that, like, if you want your… like, phone calls to come in when you get a package, like, things like this. I use, like, a mobile, it's really easy and cheap, and it's one of the only ones that's super easy that will give you, an international like, a local phone number, like, just, like, via their, like, web interface without having to, like, walk into a Vodafone, for example. And then, of course, you want your national numbers right away, but, like, you'll get all of these things told to you when you get your first, like, starter packet anyway. I love Revolut because… I got my UK, income going into there, and I paid my UK bills out of there, but then as soon as I had a Swiss income, it made me a little Swiss bank account, same with euros, when I got the job in Ireland.

Elisa D’Amico And so now I have, like, all of these in American bank account as well, when I have to transfer money into dollars. So now I have, like, all of my currency, like, incomes in one place, and I can transfer them easily. I have, like, a little… Like, I have, like, a… I don't know, I pay, like, 25… pounds a year or something, so that I never have any transaction fees or any, like, currency exchange fees when I'm, like, switching these different bank accounts. To American dollars, or, like, to my Bank of Ireland account, like, so I, like, definitely, definitely recommend doing this, because trying to operate out of your, like, one like, the American account, for example, is a nightmare, and you often need local bank accounts for, like, other bureaucratic things as well. And this is what this page is about, proving you exist, getting a bank account, getting an apartment, like, these are all things that can be kind of tricky. Like, oftentimes you… like… need to have all of these things at once. Like, you need proof of a… bank account to get an apartment, but then you also need proof of residency to get a bank account, so these things can be tricky. I would have your, Like, you're… like, head of school, or department chair, maybe just, like, write a nice letter that, like, explains your situation, that you're an academic, that it's common for things to work this way, and that this is why you don't have an address, or this or that, yeah, and that often can take you pretty far.

[…]

Elisa D’Amico But… Of course, be diligent with your immigration documents, Settlement clocks are brutal, just be mindful of how many days you need to be in and out a year. Be careful of overstaying visas, extending visas, and just, like, navigating your entire right-to-work thing. thinking about the, like, long-term goals you have if you do want citizenship. That's why, like I said, it might be good to get a Global Talent Visa earlier on. If you do want to get permanent residency, changing employers can restart this. And then, once you finally get your permanent residency, then you don't have this, like, horrible visa problem anymore. So… This I've talked about in other sessions, so I won't talk too much about it right now, but there's different cultural norms in departments. Fortunately. Academic settings are used to seeing people from all sorts of different institutional backgrounds and from different countries, so they're more used to how other places operate, but there definitely is a culture that you have to calibrate to, like.

Elisa D’Amico I mean, like, I come from Chicago, and in, like, departments in Chicago, like, when you're watching a presentation in a department, you, like, interrupt them, ask them a million questions in a way that almost comes across as rude. Like, I would never do that in the UK. I would never do that in the UK. So you just need to be mindful of how these things matter. Yeah. it's… it's just, yeah, being mindful, it's kind of easy to get used to. Self-promotion norms differ a lot, like, I don't think this hurts Americans going on the international job market, but I think it hurts international people going on the American job market, because the, like, U.S. academics or U.S. trained, I don't know if it's cultural or academically cultural or what, but they are, like, very confident, and, like, they very much sell themselves and sometimes oversell themselves to some degree. It can be, like, slightly off-putting, and everyone knows that Americans do it, but… also, like, their credentials look good, and it's something that you should try to meet them at if you're on… if you're gonna be, like, on the job market with these people as well. Hierarchies can be strange. In the US, it seemed much more, like, flat, like, yeah, we had a department chair, things were mostly dealt with inside the department. Sometimes, like.

Elisa D’Amico In the UK, I remember it was like, oh, well, you need to talk to the head of school, which needs to talk to, like, the provost, which needs to talk to, like, this and that, for, like, very simple, like. post-doc contract-related things, so it's useful to know, So asking about these norms is good. So just briefly on seminar culture, this can also be different. Like, the Q&A, like, can be received very different. I remember when I was at in the UK, there was, like, a little bit of… not coddling, but, like, very, very, very, very, very, like, protective nature on, like, the students. well-being, happiness, things like this, which is great, but, like, some… in many American settings, this was, like, not something that, like. the faculty were overly protective or cognizant of, so be careful in the way you deliver things in your modules. And also written feedback differs. I remember in the US, also, everybody would, like, get an A, in, like, almost every class, like, that was the expectation, but, like, in… when you move abroad, or when you teach abroad, it's, like, very rare that everybody gets an A type of a thing. Or that that was, like, definitely not the norm, or something that students should expect, at least.

Elisa D’Amico And being junior and female can make your behavior in these settings, just… much worse for a bunch of horrible reasons. There's accent bias in teaching evaluations. We know this. This is something that we can't control, but to be mindful of. But yeah, a lot of this isn't anything that's anyone's fault, it's just, like, something to be sort of, like, mindful of and to talk to your, like, new colleagues about when you're moving around. Okay, so this is the last thing I'm briefly going to mention. So, when you move abroad, you have, like, a social network, more or less, in your department. Some departments are friendlier than others, and that can be very fragile, and… it's not good to have your whole life be your work. When I first moved abroad, most of my work was from home anyway as a postdoc, and so it was, like, quite isolating. I didn't really know anybody in my department, and you can get very, very lonely, and it becomes very not fun.

Elisa D’Amico After a while, and also it's compounded by the fact that if you move abroad when you're still on the Greater job market, you're working your absolute butt off, and… You can sort of, like, work yourself into some crazy burnout, and then that burnout makes… has you feeling, like, even lonelier, because you obviously uprooted your life for this big move. and you're in this place of limbo, and you don't know, should I meet people here and put down roots just to leave again? Like, you're navigating all of these things and feelings, but I think it's absolutely worth it to make a network outside of your like, university and your, like, FaceTime, Zoom long-distance friends as well. So yes, I highly recommend, like, joining a club or doing something or getting, like, one friend or one social group outside of your academic circle, like, as early as you possibly can. It is, like, crucial for your, like… ability to leave the house and do something social and, like, your state of mind. And after the PhD, you don't get, like, your, like.

Elisa D’Amico you're, like… batch of friends the way that you have your whole life leading up until now. there's, like… to be fair, I haven't tried any of these, but everybody tells me that these are great, and I am going to now that I, again, moved to a new country. But there's Meetup, there's Bumble BFF, there's Internations, which is… I think I get Instagram ads for this one. This is for expats. There's, like. different classes you could take. Like, I remember meeting… I met a lot of my friends in Scotland at yoga classes, that were, like, catered to, like, something social. It was, like, yoga and coffee after, and that was, like, huge for me. If you take language classes, even if you speak it a bit, it's gonna help, like, you meet other people that are trying to, like, stay there long-term and integrate, and that are gonna be in the same situation as you. All sorts of… any sorts of, like.

Elisa D’Amico Like, even a book club, or, like. things to do for peoples in their 20s or 30s, or whatever, like, these sorts of, like, events can be really, really useful. And volunteering always helps you feel less isolated as well. Some thoughts on some of these options. Try to say yes to at least all social things, because you're already probably overworking yourself. If not… to offset some loneliness, or because you're on the job market, or whatever reason. Even if you're not gonna do something social with somebody else, it's good to, like. like, I remember I was in such social isolation, and I moved to Scotland that I would try to, like, go to a new cafe to work every week in a different area of the city, just to get out of the house, and then I was, like, scheduling, okay, like.

Elisa D’Amico this weekend, you're gonna go to this museum you haven't been to before. Next weekend, you're gonna do this. Then you're gonna take a weekend trip. Like, I was, like, trying to, like, force little things in my schedule that helped me a lot, to feel like a human again. M… And it can be hard because your friends and your life and your people are doing things where you left behind, and that can be hard, especially if you've done this several times now. It's really fun to meet up with old colleagues and friends at conferences, and to keep your mentors and your letter writers and other co-authors as much as possible, but some of these networks do tend to dwindle, especially after the PhD. Yes, always go to, like, that conference, like, I always go to APSA, And I see people from all over the world, like, old colleagues, new colleagues, like, people I've met in other mini-conferences in Europe, and so, like, these networks keep growing. Go to these receptions that you know, you'll see all these people at that you've met along the way. Highly recommend this.

Elisa D’Amico Also, like, I… when I moved to Dublin, I… this is academically, at least. We now have, like, the European Europe Cost Action Groups that are, like, really, really, really… I joined this, like, climate and conflict one, and they're really, really good for getting you involved with, like, deep into your niche network in… Europe with other European scholars, that was great for me, and now I see them at APSA and, like, other places as well. And your funding opens up to these other, sort of, like, research groups and stuff as well. And so when you move, this can kind of leave, but then you still will have those connections that you had, made, and that you… they're in your network, right, your broader network, so you'll see them again. Time zones can make collaboration harder. Honestly, I'm really, really bad at this, because I collaborate… like, I have co-authors in, like.

Elisa D’Amico three continents, like, many countries right now, and, like, four different times, 5 different times, 6 different time zones, actually, so this can be really hard, like, I will answer emails at any time of the day because, like, my American colleagues will be waking up, like, when… And, like, getting to their emails when I'm, like, having dinner, and so I don't really have great boundaries for this, but I would recommend having, like, one night a week that you… Have for your, like. your colleagues, that are in different time zones, and try to just protect it to just that. Otherwise you can email them, like, the next morning or whenever you get to it, you know? But, like, scheduling these meetings and this sort of thing, like, maybe one night a week if you can is… Probably best.

Elisa D’Amico I'm gonna skip this, because I've already covered this. Things that surprised me were, like, food. Like, I really miss, like, my American Red Dye candy food. Like, I also noticed that when I moved abroad, like, the food actually goes bad in the fridge pretty quickly, so now I go to the grocery store much more frequently than I did before. These are okay. Some of the bills can be tricky, like, when I first moved to Scotland, I was, like, looking at what the rent was, but I didn't know what council tax was, and that kind of hit me pretty hard.

[…]

Elisa D’Amico Just at the end here, taking away that, yes, so the contract types and probationary terms, like, these can differ depending on the title, so be mindful of them and what you think you would normally expect, but that might not be the norm in other countries or institutions. And so what you need to ask for that might otherwise be assumed. Negotiate no matter where you are, even if it's, like, not normal, because who's gonna know? Your head of school is gonna know, and that's really… I mean, all… the only person that should know, and they're gonna understand… like, they get it. Like, it might not be common, but they understand and they get it. It's fine. again, if you can go for these, like, higher level visas, off the bat, I would recommend doing so, because it can make future you grateful if you get this permanent residency, and then get a local phone number as soon as possible, figure out the healthcare system as soon as possible, get your bank account started as soon as possible, And I think… That is it, and again, just, like, at least get one circle or group of people, outside the department.

Elisa D’Amico In your work that you can sort of, like, have a social network with. As soon as possible. Okay, I will stop there. And, Let me stop recording. Separately.