Young Couple Gets a Fresh Start through the Ariel Job Center

After just two months of training at the Ariel Job Center – a JDC-sponsored initiative that helps retrain professional Argentine Jews displaced in the country's economic crisis and facilitates their finding new employment – Alejandro got the call to interview. "At the Ariel Job Center, I've learned to focus on my assets," he says. "I feel so comfortable with the way the Center approaches this project. They did not get a job for me: with professional criticism and coaching, they trained me on how I could search for an opportunity on my own," notes Alejandro, who was offered two positions – one at the local Hebrew University of Jerusalem and another at a consulting company. Both institutions are among a number of companies that request to meet with Ariel Center job candidates to fill vacancies that they have. The Center then searches its database and sends qualified candidates to be interviewed by the company.

Born the second son of a retired teacher at Mendoza’s only Jewish school, and an obstetrician, Alejandro was raised in a family of strong bonds and financial comfort – a situation that changed dramatically with Argentina's economic collapse. "All of a sudden I had to ask for loans to pay off my credit cards, when I've never had to borrow money from anyone before," explains Alejandro, sitting beside an opaque glass table in the Buenos Aires rental apartment he shares with Monica. Piles of books resemble mountains over the floor. The apartment is virtually empty and mostly unfurnished, but the couple intends to fill it "with their daily lives." They plan to marry next year in a traditional Jewish wedding ceremony under a chupah.

Alejandro and Monica met on Shabbat a couple of years ago at Mendoza's only synagogue and began dating each other shortly thereafter. In 2003, Monica was transferred to Buenos Aires for a position at a Jewish institution. Alejandro had finished his studies in Marketing and Administration but was unemployed.

In July 2004, when he arrived in Buenos Aires from his hometown in the Mendoza province, he learned about the existence of the Ariel Job Center. "Immediately after I contacted the Center office, I started a training course there," says Alejandro.

The help to be aware of his own strengths – "energy, commitment, clear objectives" – was just one of the pillars Alejandro received at the Ariel Center. "I was also trained on how to move and speak on a job interview, how to control the anxiety and be able to understand the employer's questions as well as to respect his silences."

"Searching for a job is very frustrating within the context of a country in crisis. But it is an incredible opportunity to search together with companions, to share progresses and drawbacks, to learn from others' experiences. What is more important, the Ariel Center gave me enough self confidence to spread out my contacts without being inhibited, even outside the Ariel Center's walls," says Alejandro, whose latest challenge is to make friends in this new home city of Buenos Aires.

Meanwhile one of Alejandro's training partners from the Job Center celebrated this past Rosh Hashana with Alejandro and Monica. And together the two young men watch Boca Juniors soccer games on television, shouting instructions at the players to "pass the ball!" or "shoot already!" They are no longer alone in their struggle.