The Silicon Valley Guide To Working Remotely From Israel

The Silicon Valley Guide To Working Remotely From Israel 4 How one man successfully made aliya and kept his Silicon Valley job all the way through. A lot of his advice is useful for any Israel-based freelancers and anyone considering telecommuting. This writeup was found on one of the Ultimate List of Mailing Lists For Your Israeli Job Search. The author allowed me to repost an anonymous version. Telecommuting eases the transition of aliya I made aliya in 2006 and upon landing continued to work remotely for the high-tech firm I worked for in California. I'm going to try to write out some information because now I see a number of people are currently planning to do so also.eval Working from Israel for a foreign company takes a little more setup, but I think makes for an excellent soft landing. Having work lets you take your time with everything else and eliminates one of the major “failure points” of aliyah. A few important considerations How do you get paid? How do you pay taxes? How about equipment? How do you work for someone in a different time zone? Can you actually handle working from home? Can you still integrate with Israeli society? 1) How do you get paid? I found this very easy, thanks to a great tip from a list co-member.eval There is a company called Yeul Sachir which will handle invoicing your “customers” (i.e. pre-aliya employer) in the USA, and you will be their regular employee. They will pay you a monthly salary out of that invoiced money. Also, they can handle setting up a Keren Hishtalmut and pension for you. It will all be deducted from the incoming funds before your “salary” is paid, thus lowering your effective tax rate. Their fees are very reasonable and they are very knowledgeable. At one point I had multiple people I was invoicing in multiple currencies â€" no sweat for them. They can also do things like expenses. If you buy a computer, Yeul Sachir will “buy it” and reimburse you for it, essentially the same thing as a tax deduction. You will get the money you paid for it sent to you tax-free. I also had a business trip which I was able to expense. 2) How do you pay taxes? Your taxes in Israel will be withheld and paid correctly by Yeul Sachir. For your American taxes, you can choose to go it alone. Some of the tax preparation software out there can help. However, I think it's much easier and worthwhile simply to pay for the service of someone more knowledgeable than you â€" e.g. an accountant â€" to prepare your taxes for you. It's easier than you think since you're a “regular employee” here and have a stack of paychecks you can hand them, instead of a pile of invoices and payments to the tax authorities. 3) How about equipment? Most of us have multiple computer systems already. However, it never hurts to ask your company. They let me ship a couple of company systems to continue using from here. When one of the machines later died, they even replaced it. My company was much smaller than most, so it may be they were more flexible and less paperwork. It doesn't hurt to ask. If they've approved you working in this manner, they should still be invested in making you as successful as possible. 4) How do you work for someone in a different time zone? Having good communication with the home office is a must. If they are paying for your cell phone, fine. If not, some VOIP solution is going to come in handy. I used a Vonage system when I first arrived, which worked fine. I then switched to Packet8, and now the entire company is on the Avaya VOIP phone system, so I have an Avaya phone. It has been a huge, huge help having a local USA number that coworkers could pick up and dial without having to think about calling from their cell phone or from their desk. I was surprised how many people didn't know how to dial internationally: “+972? How do I dial a ‘+'?” ?? You will also need to make sure you are available daily to speak with them. This means, be prepared to be working hours in the late afternoon/evening so that you have some overlap. East Coast companies will be easier than West Coast companies in this area. Be prepared to not know what is going on as well as you used to, and to not be involved in all the meetings. I joined every mailing list they had before leaving. Even though I was in engineering, I joined the sales, marketing, support, etc lists. That way I always found out the information I needed from one source or another. 5) Can you actually handle working from home? When I was leaving the USA, I spoke with a coworker about “working from home” and expressed my concerns to him that I may not be able to do it. I thought it would be too easy to be distracted (TV, video games, go out for a swim instead of working) . He told me that he was much more concerned that I would work too much rather than too little. He said he was never worried about how little people work from home (when that is their permanent state). How right he was. When your office is simply in the next room, it is very easy to “hop in to work” to check email. If someone has a request, you can think to yourself, “well, I'm not doing anything now” and start working on it. Sure enough, an hour (or hours) has gone by. It can get to be a real problem. I finally had to declare one room of the house the office, and when I am in there I did not interact with “the home.” At the end of the day, I would go out, close the door, and that was that. No more checking email. No more answering the phone. I was “home from work.” Keep your own personal tally of how many hours you spend working. Also keep in mind that you don't have any commute time, so working 9-10 hours here is roughly the same “time away from home” as when you had to commute in the USA. You also don't have to take a shower or brush your teeth before starting work if you so desire ?? 6) Can you still integrate with Israeli society? The other major problem you will have is integrating into Israeli society. You don't speak Hebrew, and you don't need to get a job so one major motivation for learning is gone. Since you're working already, cramming time for ulpan in is difficult. You do not have Israeli coworkers and you are not leaving the house much. You will need to be very proactive and force yourself into society and interacting with people or else you will end up a hermit at home. I solved this by getting a private tutor and doing my best to find cultural events to attend. Like cats? Go to the cat show. Like beer? Go to the pub, etc. Don't worry if you're going alone, get out of the house, do something, travel. Additionally, keep in mind that Israel works Sunday through Thursday but most other countries do not ?? I work Monday-Friday. It has its advantages and disadvantages. You lose one weekend day, but gain a work day for the country that you always have off. I go deal with government blah on Sundays, go shopping on Sundays, go to the mall without having to bat away the swarm of teenagers, etc. Whatever you do, DON'T fall into the habit of also working on Sunday! It's easier than you think! If you are religious this will of course pose larger problems. Also, if you want to party with the locals, it's difficult having to get up for work on Friday morning ?? Conclusion I am still learning all of this stuff as I go along, but this turned out to be a really excellent option for me. It has its challenges, but is vastly outweighed by the benefits. As of January 1st 2008, the company I originally worked for in the US has now incorporated a branch here and is opening an office. It has taken my career in new directions (I never would have thought I would have been interviewing Israelis for positions here before *I* went on an interview!) and really has made my aliyah significantly easier. If you are going to quit anyway, why not *ask* if you can do the same? How can it hurt? Good Luck! Mr. X, from Silicon Valley-Israel Relocating to work or working to relocate?

In Deep Shift Why Flexible Working is the Answer

In Deep Shift Why Flexible Working is the Answer The UK is in the middle of a flexible working revolution. But while flexible working is on the rise for a large portion of the UK’s workforce, there’s a vital segment that is being left out in the cold and getting a raw deal when it comes to opening up greater flexibility in their work schedules. And that’s the country’s shift workers. These are the people that get the product you ordered at 9 am on your desk by the end of the day; that fuel you with coffee every morning; that gets you from A to B. In short, these are the people that work to keep the UK working. And yet, for too long, these workers have been relegated to second place when it comes to making working lives better, simpler and more enjoyable. From investment in research through to advances in technology, the primary focus has been on ‘white collar’ professionals in ‘typical’ careers â€" and how to give them greater flexibility, help them perform better in their jobs and make their lives easier. A raw deal And Quinyx has the data to prove it. Our research Work that Keeps the UK Working â€" which polled 2,000 UK workers to gauge attitudes towards flexible working â€" found shift workers are twice as likely to have to miss important occasions like birthdays or weddings because of work, and one in five have had to ditch personal interests and hobbies due to their inflexible schedule. It, therefore, comes as no surprise that twice as many shift workers than non-shift workers claim a lack of flexibility is having a negative impact on their health and wellbeing (14% vs 7%), or that 20% of shift workers feel their employer doesn’t care about their life and well-being outside of work. And it’s not just shift workers that are struggling with demanding, inflexible schedules, but their families too. Our research found one in five shift workers find it difficult to manage childcare responsibilities alongside work, while one in four say their working hours mean they don’t get to spend enough time with family. It’s staggering to see that despite so many changes in the nature of work, and with wider access to new technology to make scheduling easier, this still hasn’t translated into equal opportunities for everyone, no matter their working pattern. Missing out on family moments and dropping extra-curricular interests is only going to lead to unhappy workers, which is ineffective from a business perspective, and disappointing from a personal one. Employers need to understand that flexible working can work for them and their workforce â€" it isn’t just limited to office workers with set schedules. A shift in focus towards a more flexible future At Quinyx we know that a happier workforce is a more productive one â€" and this applies whether you work a 9-5 office job or a shop floor shift job. But why isn’t it the norm for all segments of the workforce? The problem is that it still has a bad reputation. We’re stuck in an impasse in which employers associate flexible working with spiraling costs and scheduling nightmares â€" they see a trade-off between flexibility and financial performance. But this is far from the truth. With the right tools and technologies in place, flexible working can be easy. By cutting down admin and allowing business leaders and employees to collaborate on a schedule that works for everyone, solutions like smart workforce technology can improve productivity, save time, reduce costs and boost employee happiness. With Brexit closing in, bringing with it all kinds of questions around how the UK will keep the engine running as access to labor is restricted, it’s never been more critical for the UK’s workforce to be happy, engaged and productive. For this to happen, we need employers to put flexible working to the top of the agenda â€" and ensure equal access for all members of their workforce. About the author:  Quinyx  was founded in 2005 by  CEO Erik Fjellborg  after a summer spent working at McDonald’s. After witnessing how difficult it can be for managers to sort shifts manually, Erik built one of the world’s first  fully web-based Workforce Management solutions to do the heavy lifting.  McDonald’s loved Erik’s solution and became Quinyx’s first customer.

How to Get More Instagram Followers (PODCAST) - Classy Career Girl

How to Get More Instagram Followers (PODCAST) With all those instagram algorithm changes, its getting harder and harder to grow your following quickly. If you are struggling to get more followers and feel like your account is plateauing and not growing, you are going to learn today one secret behind growing an account quickly. I am going to interview a woman who grew her account from 400 to 10,000 followers in less than a year using this one strategy again and again. I cant wait for you to learn and see the results you can get. So lets dive in! Meredith Kramer Pre Post Natal Exercise Specialist 40weekfit.com How to Get More Instagram Followers (PODCAST) Meredith is first and foremost a mom. She believes motherhood is the greatest gift; a challenging one, but one that makes us stronger. She believes it’s important to be appreciative and thankful for the challenge because at the end of the day we have grown as individuals as a result of our children. She is a mom who turned ‘personal trainer,’ and not just in the literal sense. Throughout pregnancy and recovery, she bounced back from postpartum depression.    The process of working out tapped into a deep-rooted passion,  to help other women succeed during pregnancy; both mentally and physically. Her desire is to share everything she has learned with other moms so they can learn how it is possible to have a fit pregnancy! Subscribe  on  your favorite platform below: iTunes Google Play Music Stitcher Radio TuneIn iHeartRadio Sound Cloud Meredith is a pre and post natal exercise specialist.   She has a deep rooted passion,  to help other women succeed during pregnancy; both mentally and physically. Her desire is to share everything she has learned with other moms so they can learn how it is possible to have a fit pregnancy! Some questions I ask: Tell us more about what you do, your industry and who you help! What specific strategies have you used to grow your Instagram followers in the last year? What is a loop giveaway and how does it work to grow Instagram followers? How do you find a loop host? How many followers can I expect to gain in a loop, how many can I expect to unfollow me? How much do I have to pay? How did you get over the fear of Instagram lives? How do you grow your email list and customer base using Instagram? How can people follow you on Instagram and learn more about what your business? How do you find the time to make all this happen? Over the last year so much change! Episode Resources: Merediths Instagram Profile: @40weekfit You may also like these episodes: Get Started With Facebook Ads With Rachel Miller The Ultimate List of Tools For Pinterest Success Thank you so much for listening to this episode on growing your Instagram followers!!! I am thrilled you are here and I would love to know what you thought of this episode. Please leave me a comment below. And if you enjoyed this episode, please share it on social media. You can also leave a 5-star review on iTunes so we can help more women find career fulfillment TOGETHER!

Look for Patterns in the Choices Youve Made - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Look for Patterns in the Choices Youve Made - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Consider the dozens of life and career choices you’ve made over the years. Try to remember how and why you make those choices. What were you expecting at the time? How did the reality match up with your expectations? Did the choice of school, career, job, or spouse worked out better than you dreamed â€" or far worse? What do you know now that you wish you known at the time? How might you have made a more informed and wiser decision? What can you do to improve your decision-making the next time you’re faced with a life-altering choice? Then look for patterns â€" hidden similarities that underlie the choices you’ve made. On reflection, you might discover that you repeatedly chose the easier of two career paths â€" or the harder. Neither of these patterns is necessarily “right” or “wrong” â€" what’s important is that you recognize your own tendencies and make conscious choices about whether and how to change them going forward.

What is Your Current Salary How to Answer! [Updated] - Career Pivot

What is Your Current Salary How to Answer! [Updated] - Career Pivot What is Your Current Salary? I’m sure you have been asked early in the interview process, “What is your current salary?” If it was up to me, I would have everyone respond indignantlyâ€"None of your %^%#( business! However, that does not work in our current work environment. So, how should you answer the question, “What is your current salary?” Note: I originally wrote this post in August of 2014. It was updated in November 2017. I have a client who, just the other day, was asked this by a recruiter. It was the beginning of a series of interviews or, as I call it, she was going to run the gauntlet. My client very politely said it was early in the process and that she would discuss salary later. It was all about total compensation, benefits, yadda, yadda, yadda. Pretty standard response. The recruiter persisted in wanting to know. She finally said, “We need to know whether we can afford you. What is your current salary?” My client broke down and told her, but added twenty thousand. It turns out that this was in her range. I told my client I would have turned it around. Listen to the most recent episode Oh, you want to know whether you can afford me?What have you budgeted for this position and I can tell you whether you are within my range? Make them give you a number! Can They Ask? Really? The world is shifting as it relates to pay and pay equity. The states of New York and Massachusetts have passed laws that ban employers from asking the ‘What is your current salary’ question. Several cities in the United States are following their lead but this is being challenged in the courts. You might want to check on the following articles that discuss this issue: ‘What’s your salary?’ becomes a no-no in job interviews Cities are finally banning employers from asking everyone’s least-favorite interview question The answer for now is, yes, they can ask but that does not mean you have to answer. What Are You Worth? Recently, I wrote in a post called Managing Your Career is Like Selling a Vintage Fiat that a car is worth what someone else is willing to pay. Plus, you only need one buyer! You are worth what a company is willing to pay you. That amount has nothing to do with your current salary. This is particularly true if you have worked for the same company for 5 or more years. Over the last 5 years, pay increases have been almost nonexistent. Often the only way you will get a significant pay increase will be to change companies. Therefore, if you have been in your job for 5 or more years, your current salary is irrelevant to what you are worth in the current job market. Relocating Salaries can vary a lot based on location. Living in Austin, Texas I have had many discussions with Californians moving to Austin. They needed to understand that, if you move from San Jose to Austin, the salaries and cost of living will both be a lot lower. The amount of public information on salaries has exploded in recent years. What has changed is our willingness to share what we make on social media sites. Check out the following: Indeed Salaries LinkedIn Salaries Payscale.com Salary.com Glassdoor Salaries Ask Around In today’s work environment, it is perfectly acceptable to ask what someone makes. This is a big departure from when I started working in the 1970s where it was both taboo and could be a fire-able offense to disclose your salary. In fact, a few companies are making all of their salaries public. This practice is becoming more and more common. It is alright to ask colleagues at competing companies about what they make. Yes, most will tell you and they will want you to share what you are making. Determine a fair salary range that you would be willing to accept. Salary is Not Everything! What else do you want? You will need to determine how much Paid Time Off (PTO) you want. How much are you paying for health insurance and is your spouse currently covered by your plan? Health insurance has become a huge issue this year. You need to understand what you can purchase on the open market for your family because there is no guarantee that the new employer will cover your spouse and children with their plan? Check out the following article titledI have heard that because of Obamacare, employers have been dropping spouses from their plans. Is this true? You need to carefully evaluate what is covered by the employer’s health insurance plan. It could be a major factor in your compensation. For More:Evaluating the Job Offer â€" What is Missing? Does Gender Matter? According to the Harvard Business Review articleWhy Banning Questions About Salary History May Not Improve Pay Equity, yes it does. The author writes: People react negatively when women negotiate for higher pay. We know fromnumerousstudiesthat women face a “social cost” that men do not when they initiate salary negotiations, regardless of the gender of the person with which they’re negotiating. By not disclosing their salary, the women in our study may have signaled to a potential employer that they were intent on negotiating â€" and were punished for it. Women, it seems, may be penalized for sending this signal, while men are not. Employers may assume women who refuse to disclose pay earn less. Whether it’s conscious or not, employers may be jumping to conclusions about a woman’s salary when she declines to reveal it. The fact that a pay gap still exists for women iswell documented; most hiring managers are likely aware of this issue. Does the gender of the candidate refusing to disclose pay, then, affect an employer’s perception of what that candidate is likely paid (i.e. that a woman likely has a low salary)? In the absence of information, what information is being assumed? In our study, both male and female refusers tended to earn more in their current jobs than the candidates who revealed their salary history, regardless of whether they were asked or volunteered the information. What an employer didn’t know, in this case, potentially hurt some of our respondents, as offers made to these women were less than those made to women who disclosed salary. Is There Research to Back This Up? Yes, there is. The author continues on to say: There is a lot more research to be done on this topic area at PayScale, but in the meantime, it’s clear that asking salary history is having a negative impact on female job candidates, just in a different way than was previously believed. In addition, it’s worth remembering that there’s likely a double standard taking place with any salary history request: When employers ask about past pay, they’re asking for a level of transparency from the candidate that they’re often unwilling to meet themselves. Try asking a group of recruiters or hiring managers whether they’d consider including salary ranges in their job postings. I expect you’d be met with an awkward silence. There is a social cost for women who do not disclose their current salary. Even so, I still do not recommend disclosing this information. So What is Your Current Salary? If they insist on knowing your current salary, you can say, “I am looking for $xxxx in salary, but I will be evaluating the entire compensation package, which includes salary, bonus, and benefits. Do not tell them your current salary, but what you want to be paid! Marc Miller Like what you just read? Share it with your friends using the buttons above. Like What You Read? Get Career Pivot Insights! Check out the Repurpose Your Career Podcast Do You Need Help With ...

Coffee Cup Crease

Coffee Cup Crease Photo credit: Muy Yum via Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND The other day I was having coffee at Starbucks. Actually I wasnt having coffee, I was having hot chocolate with whipped cream.  And it wasnt Starbucks, but another coffee shop. So Im drinking my hot chocolate and I noticed something unexpected.  Hot chocolate running down my chin. Now Im not typically a sloppy eater or drinker. But there it was.  Hot chocolate running down the cup and down my chin. Why was this happening? I was curious. So I checked the lid, seeing if it was seated correctly.  It was.  I drank again.  And it still ran down my cup. “What the heck was it?” I wondered. Then I saw it. It hit me. Out of the blue. It was a crease. A crease on the coffee cup. I wondered to myself, “Could that crease be causing the drip?” Sure enough it was. The crease was causing a very small gap between the lid and the cup that a small drip of hot chocolate could get through and slowly dribble down my cup. It was small enough that my bottom lip couldnt complete the seal and prevent it from sneaking through. So how can I prevent it? I tried re-seating the lid multiple ways, but it just wouldnt create a tight enough seal. So that was out. And then it hit me. What if I turned the crease to the opposite side of the coffee cup?  To the side where no liquid was touching it and therefore it wouldnt slide through. So I twisted the crease on the coffee cup to the back and moved the spout of the lid to the front. Voila! It worked. Isnt that often how it goes? In work and in life. The little things make all the difference and how something is framed also makes a difference. “So?  What does this have to do with me?” You might be asking. The other day I was having a conversation with someone I was helping prepare for job interviews. He found himself getting nervous before the interview and then getting tongue-tied during the interview conversation. Which is curious because he didnt have that same challenge talking to me or talking to people at work. It was only when he was trying to craft  a response on-the-fly that he started to stumble and trip over his words. Why was this? It was because he was overthinking it. Thinking about himself and how his response needed to be just right or he loses out on the job. So he comes  across as nervous and Im sure that wouldnt help him show off his best side in the interview. So we tackled the issue head-on. I started him off retelling the story how he got into the business in the first place.  He picked a situation where he had made a difference and where he could see himself back in that situation again rather than telling it as a third person. Like magic, his nervousness went away. His story was compelling and interesting.  And I couldnt sense any nervousness when he retold it. One little thing. Focusing on the situation that hed actually lived before, rather than having to create an imaginary one.  And by doing that it took his mind off of himself and being self-conscious.  It was as if he was there helping out a software user to create a better experience.  Which made retelling the story super easy.  And the story was interesting too. And looking back, he was surprised at how the nervousness had gone away with his retelling of that one story. Is there something youre struggling with? Could the solution be something really simple like a crease on a coffee cup or a new way of retelling a story?

How To Cheaperly Create A Strong Federal Resume Writing Job Application

How To Cheaperly Create A Strong Federal Resume Writing Job ApplicationFederal resume writing cost can be a bit higher than that of a State or Local agencies. This is because the government in our nation is not as big as it used to be. So, it has to make some necessary investments in hiring the top and best of resume writers to handle all the requirements of their jobs.The federal job in our country offers a great scope for earning big bucks. The best way to achieve this feat is to go for a career in federal resume writing and hiring the most experienced and qualified resume writers.Resume writing cost is a reality of any federal employee's career path. If you are looking for a dream job and want to bring in some extra dollars in your pocket, then a career in resume writing is one of the best options available to you. Just think of the great payoffs to be received from making this kind of career decision. Here are few tips on how to make the most out of resume writing job:o To begin with, make sure that you possess a solid foundation of knowledge in the area of resume writing. The simplest and most effective way to begin the job application process is to understand and know what you are looking for in an employer. This will not only help you in finding the best job opportunity but also make it easier for you to find a good position. This is where resume writing is concerned.o Before embarking into the world of resume writing, you must know the basic points of the job in question. This includes knowing the requirements and knowledge requirements of the particular job. There are many companies who have very specific requirements about certain jobs.o Do a little research on the company that is looking for you and learn what pertinent requirements they have to cover. There are companies who have very specific salary ranges for their employees. Therefore, it is essential that you know these minimum salaries before you start on the job application process.o Lastly, e nsure that you have the skills and qualifications required to help with the job application process of resume writing. With these tips, you can surely take advantage of resume writing career and give a shot at a good job.