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Vocational Training for Immigrants - Israel
Source: Ministry of Immigrant Absorption
The goal of Employment Guidance Centers is to help improve the chances for immigrants of finding work through a mutual process involving the individual immigrant job-seeker.
Employment Guidance Centers offer the following services for immigrants:
Vocational Guidance Centers are designed for immigrants who are not working in their professions or in related fields to assist their integration into the job market. This includes developing job-search skills, and the strengthening of professional skills according to need, and upon the recommendations of a professional team. Methods include:
Applicants must have at least a high-school education, and must be in Israel for no more than 10 years. Immigrants may participate in an Employment Guidance Center only once during their period of eligibility, and for a period not exceeding 60 active study days.
Referrals to an Employment Guidance Center may be issued by the following:
Vocational ulpan offers Hebrew studies with a vocational orientation and an emphasis on professional terminology. Classes are organized according to professions, for example medical professions, engineers, etc. Guidance from a vocational psychologist is also featured, as well as concentration on job placement.
Vocational Ulpan is intended for professionals in technological fields and medical and paramedical professionals.
Preparatory Courses for Licensing and Certification
The Ministry of Immigrant Absorption participates in the organization and financing of preparatory courses for licensing and certification exams for the following professions:
Preparatory Courses for Licensing Exams for Accountants and Lawyers
Preparatory courses for licensing exams for accountants and lawyers are made up of a number of individual units in various subjects, based on the requirements of the professional bodies (The Israel Bar Association and the Israel CPA Council). Each course involves a set number of hours, and each student may study in a number of units during each semester in accordance with the guidelines of the professional body. Tuition fees are collected at the commencement of the second individual unit, at a rate of NIS 3 for each study hour. The first individual unit is free of charge.
Returning immigrant residents who are within their period of rights, and who wish to study the same topic in a preparatory course for the second time, are exempt from payment. Returning immigrant resident lawyers and accountants, who are within their period of rights, and who wish to study in a preparatory course for the second time in the same subject, pay 20% of the fee. Returning immigrant residents whose period of rights have expired must pay the full tuition fees. The organizing body of the course collects the fees.
New immigrants who have difficulty finding work in their professions may be able to participate in retraining courses for another profession. The Ministry of Immigrant Absorption organizes courses in fields that are in demand on the job market. The list of courses changes from time to time in accordance with demand. For example: automotive engineers can retrain as electrical engineers, software engineers, or technological instructors. Physicians can retrain in geriatrics, physiotherapy, radiology, etc.
The Ministry of Immigrant Absorption runs also training courses during evening hours for immigrants who work. These courses are designed to improve the vocational standing of new immigrants who are employed and to assist them in advancing within their workplaces or their positions. These courses are a direct reflection of Ministry policies to give those immigrants who are employed the opportunity to advance themselves.Employed immigrants up to 10 years in Israel. Participants in courses are responsible for covering tuition fees of NIS 3 per hour, or NIS 300 for a standard course of 100 hours.
Those registered in a course will receive a payment slip from the employment coordinator that is made out to the Ministry. Participants must deposit this slip in the Ministry's bank account according to the required sum. In cases where participants in courses must be classified according to profession prior to the start of the course, the slips will be distributed only once appropriate participants have been selected for a course.
Details pertaining to evening classes are subject to periodic change, and may vary from location to location.
Professional training courses are designed to train those who cannot find work in their professions, or who lack a profession and are experiencing difficulty finding work. The majority of courses are held under the auspices of the Ministry of Labor. Application is made through the Government Employment Service. For more information, or to apply for courses, contact the Employment Service office nearest you.
Ministry of Immigrant Absorption Assistance to Immigrants Participating in Professional Courses
Tuition: participation in the tuition fees for courses sponsored by government ministries or public bodies.
Tuition for Private Courses: immigrants who wish to participate in courses that are independent of public frameworks, but which have received official recognition by governmental agencies, can be eligible for participation in the tuition fees, up to a set maximum, according to the costs of the course (the maximum is adjusted from time to time). Assistance is given on a one-time basis, in accordance with Ministry budget guidelines, and on the basis of the Employment Division's assessment of whether studies in a given course will increase participants' chances of finding employment.
Assured Income: New immigrants within their first year following aliyah, and who are unemployed, or who are in the process of looking for work, or who are studying in recognized courses, may be eligible for assured income payments from the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption.
Exam Fees - Immigrants who participate in licensing-exam courses may be eligible for a refund of exam fees, with the exception of nurses.
In order to receive assistance, it is necessary to present a receipt for payment of fees to an employment coordinator at a branch office of the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption.
Participation in Travel Costs: Immigrants in the following categories, and who are not with the period of eligibility for receiving the Absorption Basket, may be eligible for a refund of travel expenses:
Ministry of Immigrant Absorption Participation in Employment Advancement
In order to encourage the employment of new immigrants, the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption assists employers by participating in the salaries of immigrants for a limited period. Assistance is designed to help advance new immigrants professionally, and the employer must undertake an obligation to continue to employ the immigrant at the conclusion of the period of assistance, according to need.
The factors taken into consideration when determining assistance include: the type of business, geographical location of the workplace, scope of the position, and the salary offered by the employer. The immigrant's age is also taken into consideration, as well as Ministry policies to promote certain fields of employment according to demand.
The period of eligibility is 10 years from the date of aliyah. The period of eligibility for returning residents is up to 12 months from the date of return to Israel.
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