In a recent email exchange with a chaver from the Areivim mailing list, I was told:

“You’re coming on aliya at the perfect time; shortly after finishing your eductaion, with a bit of experience. Good planning.”

If I am not mistaken, this is one of the only positive things anyone has said to me regarding finding a job in Eretz Yisrael (first from hundreds if not thousands of conversations/emails that I have exchanged with people). Just about everyone who else whom I have heard from has only had negative things to say (ie: “you are in computers? Oh, I’m sorry”, how difficult it is to find a mat’im job in computers- or any job in computers, how much less you get paid than in the US, etc) or neutral things to say (“well, it seems like things may be getting better, though I am still having lots of trouble”).

Instead of this I was given a positive, constructive and encouraging message regarding future employment prospects. While I can believe that all parnassah is min hashamayim, and that when we are in a place where “tamid einei Hashem Elokecha bah” that we will be taken care of if we put in our hishtadlut, it is harder to put into practice when the only things that I hear are about how hard everything is. Thank you for the positive outlook and encouragement!