And now for something new

My friend Robert is a business communications consultant. And we were talking the other night about what to do with teenage children who don't go to sleep-away camp. Sleep-away camp, I now realize, is a very North American thing and definitely not a big Israeli thing. I always went to camp so I guess I just figured that every other Jewish kid went as well. My non-Jewish friends all went to the cottage to while away the summer swimming and canoeing. But not my Jewish friends -- even though many of them had cottages. I am willing to bet that they didn't even own canoes. Too earthy. They were more motor-boat types.

The problem for those of us with non-camp going teenagers in Israel is that most of us don't have good enough connections here to help our kids get summer jobs and very few succeed in the more traditional approach -- hitting the pavement and getting their own jobs. I think it is because we are still culturally compromised -- not savvy enough in the job seeking skills of native-born Israeli kids.

Anyway, here is my first guest blogger. And let me say, I am so excited to have a guest blogger!!!!


The following comes from guest blogger Robert Lakin. He writes on communications in the business world at http://clearconciseandcompelling.blogspot.com/

There was once a time when we worked in offices, for companies large and small, and, inevitably, there was a summer job that would save your teenager from weeks of boredom. The summer job provided the first whiff of independent income. It introduced them to the banality of the workplace. And it taught them skills – faxing, coffee-making, and unjamming the copier – that would follow them for many years.

But aliyah has changed all that. Too many of the husbands (and some wives) have enigmatic work situations. Some commute – that is, they get on a plane and rack up points in pursuit of a parnasah. While others hole up in their home office, where work and family blend into an amorphous grey. Yes, some of us actually have the traditional work setting – office building, water cooler, gossip – but they are few and far between.

Which leads me back to the summer job question: How are our children going to first experience the work world?

In my five years here, I've pursued my contacts within the Israeli business community with two purposes. The first, and obvious, is for financial gain. Less obvious, though, is to network for the future; our children will be better off if more of us were doing this.

My approach is to help younger olim – with their newly minted Israeli university diplomas – think about the work world. It's nothing formal. Coaching and advising the children of friends from 'chul. A connection made here or there. Encouraging participation in business social networks like LinkedIn. My strategy is that in a few years, these kids will be in the business world and likely to be a good contact for my kids. Pay it forward, aliyah style.