Mishra hunting

Etmol (yesterday) at Ulpan, we worked on vocabulary for interviewing.  Some logical, and helpful words, included nisa'ion (experience), miktsoa (profession), hamlatsa (recommendation), and mashkoret (salary).  But there was a whole additional list of words that reminded me of my earlier post about the interview process here in Israel - gil (age), nisui/ravak (married/single), hametsav hamishpachti (family situation), ve yeledim (children).  These really are legal topics for discussion in an interview here.  It is hard for me to imagine wanting to work in a place with people who would discriminate on the basis of characteristics which should have nothing to do with a person's ability to do a job successfully. 

I recently sent out a couple resumes here in response to online postings, as a kind of fishing expedition to see how it works.  While this technique is generally about as effective as playing the lottery for the jackpot, I have had surprising luck landing several of my previous jobs this way (in the U.S.).  However, the Israeli online job sites require monthly subscriptions, which I refuse to pay out of principle (they make plenty of money off the corporations listing the jobs), so I am receiving somewhat limited, non-targeted listings.  This is a country based on human networks, so I expect that will be the required method for success, particularly because I am not looking for a traditional/well-defined job function.  One English listserv that I subscribe to here raised a confirming point in this matter - in Israel, "everyone know's everyone from the Army."  Of course, this makes it all the more important to position myself as having a skillset that is limited in availability, making it worth taking a risk with an outsider like me.

I may start pursuing networking more aggressively in the New Year, as I hope to be done with Ulpan sometime in the spring.  I miss having challenging, meaningful work.

Getting hired in Israel

Leave the U.S. and you will be reminded that while we have crossed the line of common sense with litigation, the original intent for having some legal recourse is a good thing.

I have been hearing some of the "horror stories" from job hunting first hand from a friend here.  While most of the major public corporations follow international hiring standards, she has had some interesting experiences with a few private firms. 

Not long into a recent interview, she was asked, "What does your father do for work in the U.S.?" and then, "So, are you married? Do you have any children?" She handled this as gracefully as she could, by replying with, "How will that be relevant to the position?"  The hiring manager apparently viewed this as an open opportunity for debate, as his response was, "Well, if a woman comes in for an interview, and she has four children, don't you think I have a right to know this?"  A few minutes of this back and forth made it quite clear that she wasn't interested in working with these people, so she gave him the best response she could - "Well, I'm single, have no kids, and would you like to know when I'm ovulating?"

On the other hand, she has had better luck getting an explanation when not selected, whereas in the U.S. the standard response is, "we had many highly qualified candidates and had to choose the one who was the best fit for the position."  And that basically means, I'm not telling you a thing because I don't want a lawsuit.

I have been networking a little here so far, but haven't gone on any official interviews.  I'll let you know what I discover first hand, although my meager Hebrew skills will probably preclude me from access to the good story-making interviews.