Working in Israel: Part Two of a Life in Israel Series

Erin Gold

Skyline of Tel Aviv at dawn

I’ve always thought of autumn as a time of work. As I watch the leaves change, I think of the summer holidays behind me and the goals that lay ahead. This year, as I set out on my duties, I’m constantly reminded of the five months that I worked in Tel Aviv, and how I balanced the exciting new atmosphere with a demanding internship.

There were a couple of things that made my workplace more relaxed. When I showed up for my interview in Tel Aviv, I wore my best dress Capri pants and a blouse, hoping I looked professional enough. To my surprise, the editor wore jeans and a faded t-shirt. Blame it on the heat or the attitudes, but barely anyone wears a suit to work.

People at Erin’s office didn’t dress up – most are much more casual than what North Americans consider “business casual” as pictured above

“They have something called ‘Israeli time’,” I tell my friend in Toronto as we’re catching up, “there’s no such thing as being late for work. 9 to 5 means you get there sometime between 9 and 10 o’clock stay until 4, 5 or 6 o’clock and they don’t care, as long as you get all your stuff done.”

“God Damn our Protestant work ethic,” she responds with jovial reference to Max Weber. What I hadn’t explained was that Israelis do have a strong work ethic. Tel Aviv is an expensive place to live. Wages are not very high. Most of the citizens I met carry two jobs. The difference in so-called work ethics is that Israelis have a strong cultural ethic that pervades work and lightens the load. “Israeli time” is just one example.

An anecdote about Purim, a holiday similar to Halloween, says it best. After a long night of partying at the street festival, where I saw DJs on apartment balconies, costumed people dancing in the street, restaurants open all night and everything joyous and wild; I totally slept through my alarm. I woke up at 10am, thinking it was late even for Israeli time, and ran, panicking out the door.

I rushed into my office, and to my surprise, it was empty. I was dumbstruck. I set up my laptop and looked around. My editor came in a few minutes later, nonchalantly carrying a coffee. “Where is everybody?” I asked. “This writer’s drunk or something, the other one went to see him.” He said, adding nothing about the graphic designer or anyone else. “Time for a cigarette break” He announced and walked back out. “Ok,” I shrugged and followed suit.

When the assistant editor eventually showed up, she explained that it was the day after a holiday, so it was kind of expected that everyone would be late and hung-over.

Sounds fun, no? The amazing part is how my office, with a staff of six plus an intern or two, running on Israeli time, could pump out five magazines a month. To pull off a tough career, you just need to balance with wholehearted celebration. That’s the general attitude. Have a balance between work and fun, and go full throttle on both ends, or as they say in Hebrew slang; gever, gever.

About Erin Gold

Erin Gold is a young professional and freelance writer whose interest in travel and culture has taken her to Europe, Israel, India and the South Pacific. She currently resides in Sydney, Australia where she makes time between her day job and new found love of surfing to write for educational publications in Canada while branching out into travel and food and drink reviews.