How to choose an IT course in Israel? Part Two.

In the first part, we began a discussion on how to choose the right course in Israel's high-tech sector. Let's continue.

5. Availability of consultations on the passed material

Throughout the course, it often happens that you miss a lesson for a legitimate reason (work, health, family, etc.).

Besides, even with a perfect explanation of the material by the teacher, something can be forgotten, "slipped out" of your mind.

For this case additional consultations are needed and, preferably, not once a month, but at least once a week, otherwise this material will drop out of the general picture, and you will get a "gap", which sometimes cannot be filled until the end of the course.

Also, help with the project and internship is badly needed.

6. Help in the employment process

I should say straight away that if you expect that employment at the end of the course will happen by itself, guaranteed and automatic - you are deeply mistaken, and you will be very disappointed.

"Guaranteed" employment is a myth, a fairy tale, a dream and nothing more. Employment "guaranteed" is a clever marketing trick that often has nothing to do with real life. Sometimes you are promised a portion of the money back if you don't find a job, or even offered a contract for future employment.

You will never get your money back, because the conditions are either simply impossible to meet, or they depend on the school (e.g. your grades).

A contract of employment is always a fiction, which only imposes obligations on you, but not on the educational institution.

The actual steps to your employment should be clearly explained and include all necessary steps: internships, resumes, preparation for telephone and technical interviews.

You must be guaranteed a certain number of interviews, and it's up to you to complete them. The educational institution and you have to make an equal effort to find you a job, i.e. 50% to 50%. Just the money you paid does not solve the problem; you have to work hard in your studies, in your internship and in your professional interviews.

7. Graduates' experiences

Of course, you are unlikely to hear only positive reviews. Moreover, even marketing experts say that if only positive feedback is given about a company, it is more of a fiction, artificially arranged by the company itself.

Often the reviews are sharply opposite. Those who succeeded - will praise, those who for one reason or another did not succeed - will be stigmatized. It is necessary to approach the situation adequately and look at both sides of the coin.

It is important that the graduate is really a graduate. Before listening to advice - find out the name of your interlocutor, where, when and what he studied (impersonal assistants most often are chatterboxes with "deep" knowledge in any field: from nuclear physics to the composition of dinosaur saliva). After getting clear data from the advisor, try to get into his arguments, and "all good" and "all bad" advice does not count - you need clear reasoning.

Real graduates can be found either in social networks (linkedin, facebook), or just ask the phone number of someone of them in the institution itself, while checking his resume in the same linkedin. Usually either on the website or in social networks some materials about successful graduates are published.

8. The professional language of education

Often I see and hear many people saying that taking "Russian" courses is just a waste of time and money.

First learn Hebrew, and then go to a "Hebrew" course.

Knowing Hebrew is necessary, who wants to argue? Learn it for sure, it's the key to your success in Israel.

But...

First of all, when choosing a course in IT, to be guided ONLY by the language of tuition is an unbelievable nonsense, "Hebrew" courses are no guarantee of quality, and they can be very different too.

Not all of their graduates get jobs, even though most of the students are fluent in Hebrew. Here's a hidden thought: only 10-15% of graduates get a job after taking a so-called "Hebrew course", no more.

This is personal experience, which I would dispute with any representative of these courses, based on papers verified by the inspection authorities.

This does not mean that all "Russian" courses are very good, the language of instruction does not affect the quality of the material at all. The really important criteria for selection are described in the previous paragraphs.

Choose a course in the language in which you feel comfortable with the material.

Secondly, the period of your Hebrew studies can last for years or even a decade, and during this time you will work in an environment where only Russian is used and it will become a vicious circle.

Unfortunately there are tens of thousands of Russian-speaking repatriates who can't break out of this vicious circle, and that's a pity.

The help of the state is provided only in the first years of repatriation, and after this help becomes unavailable - you have to lay out only your " hard-earned" money, which means that a decision can never be made at all.

And in conclusion ...

The most important thing - be an adequate and moderately trustworthy person, try to make a decision, taking into account all the criteria, be guided in your choice by professionals, and not by faceless Internet chatterboxes.

If you have chosen - good luck, and may it work out for you, as it did for many others. As you know, almost a third of Israeli Hi-Tech consists of Russian-speaking repatriates. If they succeeded, then you will succeed too, you just have to want it badly, be hard-working, and be patient.