How to Land Your First Programming Job in Israel: Tips for Beginner Developers

Finding a junior developer position in Israel can be challenging. The tech job market is competitive, with tough processes and hidden obstacles. Here’s practical advice to help you navigate the journey and take your first steps into the tech world.

Understanding the Job Market

Junior programming roles are highly sought after, and the competition is fierce. Even excellent candidates may face multiple rejections before landing their first job.

Be aware of “phantom job postings“—positions listed but never actually filled. These can sometimes be marketing tactics or used to demonstrate growth to investors.

As with most industries, trying to understand the current state of tech-jobs from any source, whether it’s media outlets or active roles within some company, will be highly biased towards “it’s tough at the moment” or “I don’t see our HR hiring as much as before”. These are false claims in most cases, simply because massive hiring is a very rare occurrence, while layoffs are quickly spreading due to such articles draw unreasonable amount of attention (i.e., click-bait).

Building Your Strategy

There are an abundance of resources to find your first entry-level IT job, so making a list and prioritizing them can clarify your next a step.

Polish Your CV and LinkedIn Profile
Ensure your LinkedIn is up-to-date, public, and showcases your skills effectively.

Every job listing might require slightly different CV, to address the job requirement. So prepare a base forman for your CVs in Google Drive (e.g., utilize Google Docs or Google Slides apps) to have multiple variants and iterate on them as you’re getting more familiar with the hiring process.

Leverage Course Resources
Since the 2000s Dot-com bubble, especially in Israel, many high-tech placement and courses companies been established. Some act as external HR hiring agencies, while other provide end-to-end education and hiring agencies.

Although these are long, intense and expensive courses, they are often subsidized by the Israeli government in many programs:

• • “Lohamim LeHigh-Tech” (combatants for High-Tech) – usually at least a year long programming, QA or DevOps course for former IDF army combat soldiers.
  • “Hasava LeHigh-Tech” (conversion to tech job) – is a general term for tech courses, that might work for people with existing tech/science related university degrees or jobs.
  • “Haredim LeHigh-Tech” (orthodox for High-Tech) – is an example of other niche programs and software companies. These are aimed at integrating members of the ultra-orthodox (Haredi) community in Israel into the high-tech industry. This effort focuses on bridging the gap between the Haredi community and the tech sector, offering them opportunities for education, training, and employment in high-tech fields.

One of the selling/marketing points of such courses is their job placement services. Reach out to them, seek advice, and learn what approaches have worked for other graduates.

Note: these courses effectiveness in landing you a job is highly varies and depends solely on your personal abilities. This is probably the toughest route to get into the tech industry in Israel, due to competition and the amount of education organizations operating in this field since the 2000s era.

Popular tech jobs search portals:

• Geektime – most popular Israeli tech news website, with lists of companies, occasional articles  with interesting recently opened jobs (by the wat that’s where I found my first serious full-time position).
• HUJI Career (job listing portal of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem) – every educational organization usually have their own job portals, that companies and HR recruitment agencies sometime use to find talents from specific educational institute.

Popular tech-course companies:

• Infinity Labs
• Experis
• John Bryce

Popular tech-course and software companies:

• Ness

Popular HR tech jobs companies:

• GotFriends

• SQlink

Connect With Peers

Stay in touch with peers from your course (i.e., “networking”). Check where they are working and explore opportunities at their companies.

It might not necessarily help you to find the first job, but these people might be willing to help you improve some areas in your CV.

Explore Different Avenues

Government and Public-Sector Jobs

Many government offices and state-funded organizations (like universities, museums, libraries and archives, etc.) have IT (QA, DevOps) or programming/development roles. Many public institutions often hire for computing department positions.

If you see an organization within your living area that you’re interested in, you can contact their HR department to consult on some roles or where you can find them.

Note that each department and organization will have most roles posted on their official websites, but some may post in additional places. Like nearby educational institute websites, where they tend to hire students from, or centralized government portals, like National Digital Agency.

Student Jobs

Consider applying for student positions. If required, you can register for minimum credits at The Open University of Israel to qualify.

Google Maps Search

Explore nearby tech hubs using Google Maps, such as the technology parks, to identify potential employers.

Check Niche Resources

Look for Israel-specific job sites like the “Startup Map” (if still active) or Startup Nation Central to discover opportunities in your area.

Conclusion

Breaking into the tech industry isn’t easy, but persistence is key. Keep refining your skills, tailoring your applications, and connecting with others in the industry. Success will come your way!

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