As internships in U.S. dry up, career advisers turn to Israel for opportunities

As the U.S. job market continues to shrink, some of America's most senior campus career advisers visited Israel last week to explore internship options for their graduates, who are struggling to secure internships back home. "In some fields in the U.S. there's a devastating drop in the number of available internships," said Jack Rayman, director of career services at the Pennsylvania State University. He heads a staff of some 40 career advisers.

The 14 advisers are directors of career centers at different campuses with sizable Jewish populations, including Brandeis, Boston University, University of Florida, New York University, George Washington and Rutgers. Their visit to Israel was the first of its kind. They came as guests of MASA Israel Journey, a project which offers young adult non-Israelis a host of Israel programs over a semester or year. Though open to anyone, MASA offers subsidies to Jewish applicants only.

Last year, Rayman's university - which has a student body of 85,000 - was approached by 420 local employers looking for interns. This year that figure dropped 28 percent to fewer than 300. The number of on-campus job interviews at Penn State fell by 10 percent, from approximately 15,000 to 13,500. "This, along with the growing importance of international experience, is making more students consider internships abroad," Rayman said.

"A few people might object [to the senior advisers' Israel trip]," Rayman said. "I had to justify coming myself. And I asked whether there are opportunities here for non-Jewish students. I was assured that there were, and I've talked to non-Jewish students here who are on programs," he added

"In the U.S., most internships are unpaid and may involve traveling, be it to Los Angeles, New York or Washington D.C.," said Marcia Harris, who until recently headed the career center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "For roughly the same cost and effort, Jewish graduates can come to Israel while getting professional experience," she added.

Prestigious or especially desirable internship projects like Teach for America are "extremely difficult" to get into, according to Harris. Most Israeli programs offered by MASA, by contrast, are vying for interns.

Harris, who is herself Jewish, added: "Many Jewish students don't make the connection between their desire to experience Israel and their need for work experience. In fact many see these to things as conflicting aspirations."

Both Rayman and Harris said the vast majority of programs they have seen will be of interest to at least some of their graduates. The 14 career center advisers toured intern-hungry high-tech companies, NGOs working with refugees and dialogue groups between Arabs and Jews, as well as government offices. "The variety is amazing," says Harris. "We saw internship opportunities ranging from working on detecting water pollution, through solar power solutions to becoming a make-up artist for the Israel Opera."