Printer Friendly

Email to A Friend

Friday October 16, 1998

Kohn intern program expanding to help grads find jobs

JOSHUA SCHUSTER
Bulletin Staff

But once the summer ended, most interns lost contact with their fellow workers and drifted off to jobs unrelated to the local Jewish community.

Now the Kohn intern program directors want to expand involvement beyond internships to place alumni in Jewish jobs.

"We've seen for a long time the need for continued outreach among Kohn alums," said Abby Snay, executive director of Jewish Vocational Service, which runs the intern program with money from the Kohn Fund.

"We've gotten assessment from kids and parents who see their kids struggling to find jobs," she added. "The transit from college to working adulthood is an important time in people's lives and we've heard from alumni who are sometimes floundering."

Sarah Yellin, a Kohn intern three years ago, knows from experience how crucial such help could be.

Yellin, 22, graduated from college last spring and has since been searching for a job, without much luck.

Though she has not been looking for employment in the Jewish community per se, she is excited about the possibility of finding contacts through the alumni program.

"I think that is a good idea," she said. "I think it would make it much easier to network."

While her summer as an intern energized Yellin to be involved in the Jewish community, once she left she found it "harder for people to keep in touch...We all go back to different schools."

When the Kohn Fund board of advisers decided to expand the intern program, JVS had several suggestions. Though plans are not yet solidified for the alumni program, JVS hopes it will provide:

*Job placement in the Jewish community.

*Mentoring and networking with past Kohn interns and professionals who have job opportunities or advice.

*A Web site and a newsgroup so interns in colleges throughout the country can keep in touch with the program.

*Online listings of available jobs.

*Job fairs and panel discussions.

*Referrals to other Jewish communities across the country.

The alumni outreach will take advantage of the Internet to enlarge its scope. However, "it is not going to become a virtual agency," Snay said. "We want personal contact and support groups."

Brainstorming for the potential projects has just begun, and the program will probably be implemented by next year.

Michael Jacobs, the Kohn Fund's advisory committee chair, said the alumni outreach is part of the board's desire "to strengthen the program."

But Jacobs worries that the intern program has not been doing enough to sustain Jewish identity in its interns.

"I'm concerned the community invests heavily in the program, and then we lack the resources to keep in contact."

Even though interns are spread out across the country, Jacobs hopes the alumni program can help facilitate referrals as people nestle into new Jewish communities.

Deborah Louria, who has run the program out of JVS for five years and will be the director again next summer, will implement the changes.

"It's a two-way street," she said. "The organized Jewish community has jobs available, but people have to seek those out."

Did you find this article interesting? Subscribe to our FREE newsletter and you'll be notified each week when "J." goes online. We'll tell you about the most important stories of the week and give you a link to each one.

This page contains a BETA version of Amazon contextual links. They are marked by the dashed underline.  Your purchases support our site. At times they point to items which are not related to the actual link. Please alert us by email if you discover objectionable links.