I am interning at a company here in Israel, and I am considering the idea of moving here for work or to continue school. Therefore, I am always thinking about differences, both big and small, between workplaces at home in the U.S. and workplaces here in Israel.
This week, I had the chance to sit with an Israeli named Avner who works at a company called Citi, which you've probably heard of! Avner is my Citi Local Host, a global career mentoring program that I got to participate in because I am a Reach the World traveler. The idea behind our meeting was for him to give me some mentoring tips on what it's like to establish a professional life in Israel. I was really interested in talking to him because as a biologist, I don't know very much about what it's like to work in finance!
During my visit with Avner, we compared and contrasted what the work cultures are like here and in the U.S. Here are some of the observations we came up with:
— The style of clothing in Israel is more casual, even in professional settings. The only people who wear suits to work are lawyers and a small number of people in finance. Almost everyone else wears jeans or other relaxed clothes, even in meetings. In the U.S., people are often more dressed up. Almost everyone who works in a business office comes to work in suits, dresses or similar clothing.
