Stealing Second Base (Making Aliyah Without a Job)
[Advice to future olim:]
There is a wonderful saying attributed to Fredrick Wilcox: "... You can't steal second base without taking your foot off of first." (A more graphic and powerful quote, by Ray Bradbury is equally true: "You've got to jump off cliffs all the time and build your wings on the way down.")
This is particularly true about finding a job in chinuch in Israel. The American and Israeli calendars are not in synch at all. (This may be true for other countries too but I cant only speak from experience about the U.S.) In the U.S., if you are looking for a new job, especially a job in administration, you begin sending out feelers in December/January, maybe even earlier. As job offers come back (hopefully), you need to tell your current school in January/February that you're leaving.
In Israel, usually, schools cannot even speak with you about next year before February/March... and even that's early! (I was exteremely fortunate, thank G-d, that I got a job offer in February. I interviewed in a few places and other offers came after February. One offer came as late as June and, when I told the principal of that school that I already accepted another offer, he couldn't believe that I had already accepted another offer without waiting to hear from other places! June!)
What all this means is that you will, most probably, have to jump off the cliff and build your wings on the way... up (aliyah). That is, you will probably have to tell your current school that you plan on making aliyah before receiving a solid job offer in Israel.
That is scary, to say the least.
On the other hand, there is work to be found in Israel. You will (hopefully) receive an offer before arriving in Israel. That way, you can get on the plane knowing where you will be working, and approximately how much you will be paid. (See my earlier post about the Misraed Hachinuch and the ambiguities there in salaries.) (If I am not mistaken, many other professions cannot say that you will have a job before you get on the plane.)
In short, taking the leap will be (hopefully) harder than building the wings.
There is a wonderful saying attributed to Fredrick Wilcox: "... You can't steal second base without taking your foot off of first." (A more graphic and powerful quote, by Ray Bradbury is equally true: "You've got to jump off cliffs all the time and build your wings on the way down.")
This is particularly true about finding a job in chinuch in Israel. The American and Israeli calendars are not in synch at all. (This may be true for other countries too but I cant only speak from experience about the U.S.) In the U.S., if you are looking for a new job, especially a job in administration, you begin sending out feelers in December/January, maybe even earlier. As job offers come back (hopefully), you need to tell your current school in January/February that you're leaving.
In Israel, usually, schools cannot even speak with you about next year before February/March... and even that's early! (I was exteremely fortunate, thank G-d, that I got a job offer in February. I interviewed in a few places and other offers came after February. One offer came as late as June and, when I told the principal of that school that I already accepted another offer, he couldn't believe that I had already accepted another offer without waiting to hear from other places! June!)
What all this means is that you will, most probably, have to jump off the cliff and build your wings on the way... up (aliyah). That is, you will probably have to tell your current school that you plan on making aliyah before receiving a solid job offer in Israel.
That is scary, to say the least.
On the other hand, there is work to be found in Israel. You will (hopefully) receive an offer before arriving in Israel. That way, you can get on the plane knowing where you will be working, and approximately how much you will be paid. (See my earlier post about the Misraed Hachinuch and the ambiguities there in salaries.) (If I am not mistaken, many other professions cannot say that you will have a job before you get on the plane.)
In short, taking the leap will be (hopefully) harder than building the wings.
posted by T.Y.I.I. at
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
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