Imposter Syndrome · Primly Community

imposter syndrome on an H1B is a different beast and i don't see it talked about enough

visa_vik · 4 replies

the imposter syndrome conversation in most career spaces assumes you have a certain cushion. you feel like a fraud but the worst case is you quit or get managed out and you find another job. uncomfortable, but survivable.

on an H1B it doesn't work that way.

i've been here 4 years. my visa is tied to my employer. if i lose my job i have 60 days to find a new sponsor or i have to leave the country. my family is here. my life is here.

so when i feel like i don't deserve my seat at the table, it's not just psychological discomfort. it sits on top of genuine material risk. the fraudiness and the fear compound.

what this does practically:

i overwork to compensate. i know this isn't healthy. i do it anyway. my imposter syndrome has a very specific and visceral threat attached to it.

i stay quieter in disagreements. pushing back on a senior person feels riskier when your employment security depends on relationships. this has cost me credibility in meetings, which then feeds the imposter feeling.

i'm terrified of PIPs or formal feedback processes. a PIP is a manageable thing for someone with a green card. for me it starts a clock.

if you have a visa-constrained colleague who seems overly cautious or quiet in meetings: consider that they might not be timid by nature. the stakes are genuinely different.

i'm curious if others on H1B, OPT, or similar have found ways to manage this specific flavor of the syndrome. the usual advice (advocate for yourself, take calculated risks, speak up) is real but the calculus is different when your right to stay in the country is in the equation.

4 replies

director_dee

hiring manager here. i've had this exact conversation with a few engineers on my team on visas and i think more managers need to hear it. the "just advocate for yourself" advice is structurally easier for people with more visa security. as a manager i try to make explicit that i'm invested in keeping people on my team so they have one clear anchor. not enough, i know. but it's something.

returner_ren

my situation isn't visa-related but i understand the compounded risk thing. when you have something concrete and external to lose, the imposter feeling stops being purely psychological. it gets teeth. i think the standard advice assumes a safety net that not everyone has.

nonprofit_nia

thank you for writing this. i think a lot of the imposter syndrome conversation is written by and for people with a certain amount of career privilege baked in. the advice looks different when the stakes are different.

visa_vik

exactly. i appreciate the receipts doc advice and the mindset reframes and i do use some of them. but they address the psychological layer. they don't address the structural layer. those need different tools.