"I Will Yet Be a Partner in the Firm at Which I Am an Intern Now"
"Students indeed have high potential and abilities, and thanks to the program, doors are opened for them that otherwise would have been closed," says Shahd Safa-Makalda, director of the student program at Kav Mashve, an organization that helps high-potential Arab students reach the highest offices in Israel
Kav Mashve works to develop a broad and high-quality career for Arab college graduates and promote them to leading, managerial, and influential positions in the Israeli economy. The association guides exceptional and ambitious students who have a high potential for commitment, perseverance, and a desire to integrate into jobs appropriate to their education in the business sector. "We see positive trends in the integration of Arab talent into the Israeli economy. Although there are still challenges in integrating Arab students into the Israeli business sector, we believe that proper integration will accelerate the mobility of the Arab community and its contribution to the Israeli economy and society," notes Sami Asaad, CEO of the organization.
Shahd Safa-Makalda, Director of the Student Program at the Association: "The student program is supported by the Edmond de Rothschild Foundation and Bank Hapoalim. This is the 9th year of the program, which operates in three main areas: law, high-tech, and finance."
In the field of law, there are several groups, for law students at the University of Haifa, the Hebrew University, Tel Aviv University, and Bar-Ilan University, and this year students from Safed and Reichman College also joined. "We meet the law students in the second semester of the second year, and begin a year-long process, over 12 sessions, during which we prepare them for internship interviews and open doors for them to the largest firms in the country," says Shahd. "We work with them along three axes: developing a personal identity, where they get to know themselves, how to express themselves, and possible types of communication at interviews; developing their professional identity, that is, how to tell their personal story and how to prepare for the internship interview; and familiarity with the employment market, visits to large firms, meetings with lawyers and interns."
Special summer program
Practical legal training in the program takes place in the summer. It is led by Karem Eyadat, employer relations coordinator, and Lina Maraana, coordinator of the legal field in the program. This is the fourth cycle of this program, which began with the office of Agmon &Tulchinsky and has now expanded to include nine selected law firms.
"We have over 50 students in the program. We select the most serious and committed students and connect them with leading mentors in large offices. They are guided in personal meetings, workshops, research, and legal writing within the firms. Students and mentors work together on a legal issue that the lawyer is handling, and a personal acquaintance is established between them," Shahd notes, adding: "There are students who walk into the leading firms in Tel Aviv for the first time. Some of them come from the periphery, and this world is completely foreign to them. A month and a half later, we meet again and the students present their cases. Each office selects a winning presentation and awards a cash prize to the student. It's a very exciting event."
Yasmin Padilla, a graduate of the Hebrew University in the Kav Mashve business club program, did legal and practical training at a law firm as a student and will now join the firm in pre-internship because they decided they wanted to retain her. "I intern in the litigation department of S. Horowitz law firm," Yasmin says. "In the Kav Mashve program, we were trained to apply to the top 20 offices. We went through different stages to prepare ourselves for work and internships. Along the way, I was exposed to various offices and fields I was not familiar with. It was exciting to become acquainted with this rich world. I came to the program as a student, and so I was able to add more lines to my resume that made me unique. Kav Mashve gave us the tools to look for offices that are right for .us and taught us how to approach job interviews and write academic papers. As a student, I interned during the summer at Google, and from there I did another year and a half of pre-internship, which helped me a lot before I started my internship at S. Horowitz. The paper I wrote with the lawyer helped me personally apply for a job and get hired. Today I feel the gap between myself and students who came straight from school."
What is your professional ambition?
Yasmin: "I see myself returning as a lawyer to work where I am now, I see myself as a partner there. I think more Arab students [should?] join this program, to get a unique opportunity to get to know the field up close."
From Kav Mashve to the Supreme Court
Murad Khalilya, a lawyer at the Agmon & Tulchinsky law firm, is a great success story of the project. "I graduated from the University of Haifa. In preparation for the internship interviews, as part of the program, I participated in tours of the various offices, and I really wanted to join these firms, work in the private market, on high-profile and large cases, and in the end, I was accepted as an intern at the Supreme Court. It was an interesting, professional, and extremely challenging internship year. I was dealing, together with the bureau staff, with the top of the Israeli legal world. Decisions that affect the courts all over the country are made there. We worked behind the scenes on the biggest, highest-profile cases, as well as the simpler ones. The internship has added a great deal of knowledge, richness, vision, and a different perspective. Being in a formative institution that is often criticized, meticulous in its decisions, and to quote from it is an experience that shaped the 'lawyer' in me. It made me precise in my writing, presenting the facts and examining the legal arguments. Accuracy is celebrated in the Supreme Court."
"After my internship, I wanted to return to the large firms. I interviewed at Agmon. The insights I gained from the program and the experiences stayed with me even after the internship. The firm encourages diversity in employment, believing that it leads to professional improvement, harmonious and efficient teamwork, without sacrificing quality and excellence. This is one of its most prominent mottos."
It has been six and a half years since you graduated. What do you remember most about the program?
"The tours of the law offices were the most important points. As a student, you are in an academic bubble, especially as a student from Arab society. Suddenly you meet the world of industry and the private market, and you see that beyond grades, papers, and tests, there is a large world that requires qualities that go beyond mere learning. The program helps bridge between the world of academia and the private market at a relatively early stage, which in my opinion is good timing."
Kav Mashve has a desire for a shared and egalitarian life, and socioeconomic prosperity in Israel through meaningful and high-quality employment careers for Arab college graduates.
In association with Kav Mashve
