Roadmap to Work | Israel today

In recent years, and especially since the outbreak of the corona crisis, the labor market has changed significantly.

"In a global world," explains Dr. Gal Zohar, director of the research and policy department at the Employment Service, "the transitions are very accessible, both in terms of place of residence and place of work. This means that not only is the labor market changing frequently, so are workers. If in the previous generation they aspired to tenure, then today people are looking to pinpoint the right job for themselves at a given moment. On the one hand it is great that mobility has become public domain. On the other hand, a lot of people find themselves embarrassed in the face of the plethora of options and have a hard time finding their way. Moreover, along with the variety of opportunities, many employees may find themselves in instability and apprehension. "

In order to deal with the embarrassment, confusion and other challenges that may appear in today's job market, the employment service provides a variety of counseling and guidance tools that help job seekers accurately find the job that suits them, their skills and aspirations. Since the outbreak of the Corona crisis, despite the closures, the service has referred 78,673 job seekers to employment, professional and psychological counseling designed to help them mark career goals and work towards their fulfillment. In addition, 129,778 jobseekers were referred for training, most of them - for counseling sessions as well as for training - from peripheral localities. In addition to all this, tens of thousands of job seekers were referred to workshops for smart search, networking construction, preparation for assessment and sorting centers, route recalculation and more.

Alongside the meetings and workshops, the employment service places IAM Career - an advanced and first-of-its-kind system in Israel developed at the Adam Milo Institute. The system, which is open free of charge to the general public on the employment service website, assists job seekers in diagnosing and guiding careers according to their professional tendencies, character, skills and abilities. After completing a very detailed questionnaire, the system monitors for the job seeker his inclinations and skills. Beyond that, after the results of the diagnosis, she explains to him the variety of professions he faces in the face of his inclinations and skills and the study paths and institutions relevant to the realization of the results of the diagnosis. The system's search engine enters more than 10,000 study tracks and no less than 600 different subjects, including an extended list of them.

The working assumption of the system developers, which offers a user-friendly interface, is that the most reliable source for the personality, aspirations and professional tendencies of this job seeker is himself.

All he has to do is answer diagnostic questionnaires, at the end of which he reflects his professional profile, his inclinations and abilities, as well as the variety of professional and educational options available to him.

"Three components are required for success in choosing a profession," says Etty Tzur, senior director of employment counseling and placement services. "

"The system read me"

At the beginning of the second closure, Michal (42), a sales manager at a large company in the Sharon area, was expelled to the IDF.

At first I encouraged myself that it was just a challah and that I was not really fired, but very quickly my time became fixed and I found myself without a job, and mostly very confused. "

Michal was summoned to a zoom meeting with Shani, a career counselor at one of the employment offices in the Sharon area, to help her get out of the situation she found herself in.

"I do not know why, but I just opened up to her and for the first time in 15 years I dared to say out loud that I am not sure the sales world is for me," she says, "it's all I know how to do, but I have no more strength to carry and I no longer had a job."

After the consultation call, Shani referred Michal to the IAM system and the world opened up to her.

"I'm not a shanty and such," Michal smiles, "but I felt I had found salvation. The system just read me, but more than that - it not only left me with a diagnostic map but equipped me with a roadmap, of Tekel's where I continue from here. Since I left I felt very alone, I am with myself in the face of the unknown.

And here, comes a computerized system that recognizes me, even what is inside me, and just signals to me my next reference.

To use the system, search Google for "IAM Employment Service"

Computers re-route

Etty Tzur, Senior Manager of the Employment Counseling and Placement Service

With the outbreak of the corona crisis, many job seekers began to rethink their careers and see if it gives them personal satisfaction and fulfillment.

Building a career path or deciding on a change involves research and self-observation that require deep thought.

People are looking for a work environment where they will express their skills, skills and values.

The employment service works to assist job seekers in the observation process, and to this end provides them with many professional tools, one of which is the IAM Career computerized system that has the power to point precisely in the right employment direction for them at this time.

Etty Tzur, Director of Consulting and Placement Services.

"The corona has led people to recalculate a career path,"

Our self-examination of our professional inclination is carried out in two circles, internal and external, using three questions - what am I good at?

What am I interested in?

And what is important to me?

The system helps us to draw the inner circle, for example what our hobbies are, what our strengths are, whether a stable job or one that balances career and family is important to us, or perhaps a challenging job.

Whether in the field, or in the office, and more.

In addition, it helps us to draw the outer circle, which includes familiarity with the occupational environment - occupations, professions, what is the demand for these professions and where in Israel they can be studied.   

Finally, the system directs us to the paths of overlap between the two circles, thus helping us to define what is the occupational adjustment area from which we can choose a career path.

The system is available to everyone on the employment service website, and we invite job seekers to the employment bureau closest to their home.

There, we will benefit from the professional guidance of our career counselors who can assist them in translating the IAM results into a practical employment path and work to put them into practice.