#Meet_the_Oleh Rachel Belsky

Aliyah Date: August 2015 Made Aliyah from: Philadelphia, USA Currently living in Tel Aviv

Rachel's life was significantly changed during COVID, like so many others -- but she used this experience to grow! Find out the rest of her Aliyah story below!

Rachel's story starts similar to many -- she was dating someone in Israel while on a program in the country, they dated long-distance for a while when she returned to the US, and then she made Aliyah. Two months later, they broke up...but Rachel decided to stay. Now what?

She wanted to learn Hebrew and change her career path. She was doing something quite common for people who make Aliyah -- nannying while she learned Hebrew in an Ulpan, and towards the end, she started looking for a new career. In the past, Rachel had worked with students in more educational environments, but she knew she wanted a change from that.

Rachel started out going to Nefesh B'Nefesh meetings, consulting with advisors, and other Olim with what to do next. She emailed many different people, one of which was a recruiter.

He told her he would help her find a job, and it seems...that's just what he did. He asked Rachel to help him with a one-day job fair in Tel Aviv, and luckily he was the right person at the right time. He hired her as a recruiter and his first employee, as the company was ready to expand and grow at the time.

Rachel worked as a recruiter for over four years, and that was her first real job in Israel. She loved it -- it was an interesting field, and she got a really unique view of the Israeli job market and different industries. However, when COVID hit, work slowed. Agencies didn't want to pay recruiters and so she ended up on the job market herself.

This was a challenging point in Rachel's Aliyah, she had always been the one giving advice, but now she was on the other side. She was afraid of something new.

She pushed forward anyways; she had built a life here already and this was just an unexpected chapter. She applied to jobs in recruitment and talent acquisition, and fortunately, things were starting to pick up over the summer.

After only about one month of looking and applying to jobs, she received an offer at her current company, Brix Software, as a Technical Recruiter.

They set her up with everything – all from home. It was perfect. Rachel loves the work/life balance and flexibility they provide, and in many ways, the situation is even better for her than before!

This was the challenging part of her Aliyah -- but what about the best parts?

Rachel has a few...

She made Aliyah with one of her closest friends and has a tight friend group of a few Americans from her days on her previous program in Israel. Seven years later they remain as close as ever while living just a twenty-minute walk away from each other!

The first date after her break up was with her now-husband! Her friends forced her to get on OK Cupid to get back out there, and it was successful! They got married a year and a half ago and adopted a dog. They look forward to their next life plans, and many more trips together.

Making friends can be challenging too, but Rachel has made the best of it. She joined a book club to get to know other women in Tel Aviv, and also enjoys meeting new people every day while walking her dog.

Rachel summarizes the ups and downs as follows, "Eventually things will work out. Try to put yourself out there as much as possible, and make connections as much as you can!"

Rachel's company Brix Software is now hiring! Contact her via LinkedIn if you're interested!