Gone are the days when a young person used to seek financial support from their guardians. We are millennials; we take pride in our self-reliance. Indeed, it is this self-reliance which is challenging the patriarchal mindset everywhere, and which emboldens youth to pave their own path.

But financial sustenance far from home in an entirely new environment, and on a visa status — the rules of which are being hotly debated in contemporary times — can be tough. It becomes even more difficult for a person of strong preferences to work in such an environment, but survival is of prime importance, and compromises need to be made. I did exactly that, and am currently employed by NC State Dining.

A large portion of international students have an F-1 visa status. There are some restrictions for people having this visa status for working part-time.

Individuals having F-1 visa status may work for the first nine months (first academic year) in a university enterprise, and they may work for no more than 20 hours in a week. This restriction is relaxed when an individual indulges in the Curricular Practical Training or Optional Practical Training.

Legal formalities aside, an international citizen must tread cautiously, for when you are new to a culture, everything has the potential of going wrong, or at least it appears to you that way. And this was the case for me.

I tried to get a job at several places, and ultimately ended up working at Jason’s Deli. There are several steps that an international student follows in their job hunt. First is the shortlisting of jobs, which is time-consuming, but not a difficult process since almost all the job listings are available online. My mentors helped me a lot in this process, and I suggest that everyone accept the help of seniors in shortlisting.

The next and the most crucial step, in my opinion, is applying for the shortlisted jobs. I am not talking about the online application. The online part of the application process hardly takes 10 minutes, and from my experience it is a mere formality. Many of my friends got jobs without applying online (we still tease each other about it).

Regardless of whether you apply online or not, you will have to go to meet your managers. It is an absolute must. One must never make the mistake of waiting for a response of an online application. I never got any acceptances or rejections from my online applications.

The manager will most likely tell you a little about your job, tell you your requirements and help complete some formalities. This is especially true for university enterprises which recruit part-time workers en masse. However, there are several other jobs requiring much less work force and have more sophisticated requirements.

For example, an assistantship under a professor will be much more sophisticated than the requirements of NC State Dining. A provision of Federal-Study also exists for students who demonstrate financial need and meet eligibility requirements. Again the requirements of such jobs is much more sophisticated than several other classes of jobs.

In most cases one’s shifts will be discussed and decided in the first meeting itself, based on the limits set by the employee and the availability of time slots of the employer. However, this is the easier part. The ordeal comes later.

Once you get the job you must also undergo an online training which is not all that difficult.

However, there is another document verification process, and that is a true test of one’s patience. As far as I remember, we need a passport, F-1 form and I-94 for the verification process. Other documents may also be requested by the officials implementing the verification process.

When it was my turn for this process, I clearly remember that there were almost 25 of us standing in a line in the bookstore in the basement of Talley Student Union, where the verification process was going on.

My experience was not very good. There was some confusion and, by the end of three hours, my friend and I were the only ones left and we were told that the verification would take place another day. In no mood to relent after investing three hours, we managed to talk to the official and get the job done, or so we thought. One month into the semester, we received an email stating that our verification was incomplete and immediate action was needed or else it would lead to immediate termination.

We later realized that while the official on our verification day had done the formalities, she had forgotten to record them. Fortunately, we were able to undo that and did not lose our jobs.

While the experience was a bit panic-inducing, overall I learned one of the most important lessons: when taking care of formalities, make doubly sure that the final step has been taken before assuming that the process is complete. It is true in all spheres of life.

I would just like to say that the process for getting a part-time job can be time-consuming and confusing. However one should pay close attention to details and documents or else one may end up exerting more efforts later on trivial issues.