I’ve posted about specific Jewish jobs before, but I’m afraid I haven’t really offered the kind of general links/resources that might make a job search easier. So today I want to mention that there are a number of Jewish job sites (these are all really good sites to bookmark!), and I want to reiterate that a Jewish job can be a wonderful thing.
Not just because it’s a doorway into a more involved and meaningful Jewish life and community… but because, well, to be honest—it’s easier to FIND a Jewish job. It sounds weird to say this, but it’s a narrower field, and there are lots of opportunities. Whatever kind of work you do, and wherever you want to be, there’s a Jewish job with your name on it. And you’ve got a much better shot at it than you do on Monster.com. It’s a great way to enter a new field, pick up skills, make connections, and find out if you like a particular kind of job.
One way to consider such a career choice is through an internship. Below, you’ll find links to a number of current posting, and ongoing yearly cycles. Especially for younger people (college age and beyond) these internships can really be wonderful chances to try out a Jewish career. Obviously, I can’t possibly link to every Jewish agency in need of interns, but this is a good start!
(the first few are portals to bookmark, the rest are specific internships)
Israel Internships (multiple posting here) work to support Israel in any number of ways, for a variety of agencies linked from this site Internships in Jewish Studies (multiple postings in the DC area) work with agencies like the AJC and the ADL—this list is maintained by American University for its students, but you can use it as a starting point! Steiner Yiddish Internship (Philadelphia, PA) work at the National Yiddish Book Center Neshamah Summer Internship (Connecticut) work at a gorgeous retreat center on areas like community building and assisting spiritual growth KolDor Internship (Tel Aviv) work to help coordinate “social action month” Jewish Museum Internships (NY, NY) work with the day-to-day operations of a Jewish museum Kohn Summer Intern Program (San Francisco, CA) work in marketing, advocacy, PR, event coordination, journalism, and a number of other fields, for a variety of Jewish agencies United Jewish Communities Internship (DC area) work in public policy Community Teen Education Co-op (Atlanta, GA) work with Jewish teens at a synagogue Jewish Women’s Project Internship (DC area) work on women’s programming with women from all walks of Jewish life Cleveland Jewish News Interships (Cleveland, OH) work in journalism, writing stories, researching, proofreading, etc. AHA Fellowship (Greensboro, NC) work with high school students at a Jewish boarding school National Foundation for Jewish Culture Internship (NY, NY) work in web design and communications Collegiate Leadership Internship (NY, NY) work for Hillel, while networking and developing skills in a professional field like law, business, etc Lipper (Museum of Jewish Heritage) Internship (NY, NY) work in Holocaust education, teching kids and teens Camp Chi Internships—multiple types of openings (Wisconsin Dells) work with Jewish campers in a number of ways Machon Kaplan Internship (DC area) work in Judaism and social justice Avodah Service Corps (Chicago, DC, NY) work to help ease and eradicate poverty in America’s cities
(And just FYI—I’ve tried to exclude internships that require you to be from a certain region, or living in a specific city. As far as I know, these opportunities are open to anyone. And PLEASE! If you have had an amazing/awful internship experience, I’d love to hear about it…)