If I were to move to Israel, will my degree from the USA transfer? Will I find a job? What's in demand?

Answer 1

You will need to give your degree certificate and academic transcript (a listing of all your individual courses and grade scores provided by the University) to the Education Ministry (Misrad HaHinooch) in order to get your degree recognised.

It is one of the pieces of bureaucracy that takes the longest to process - it might take six months or a year.

The Israeli economy is in quite good shape right now, so the job market isn't too bad. But Israelis are smart and generally have good qualifications, so the competition is quite strong. Specialist knowledge or experience working abroad is good for making you stand out. And be prepared for a salary cut - many jobs pay roughly a third of what they do in the US...!

Answer 2

It will transfer, but you may have problems with it.
It depends in what field your degree is in, the level of the university and where you want to work.
If you are M.D. (or lawyer etc.) then you should pass exams in order to work in Israel.
If you are in private sector, then you have to convince them you are qualified for the job and that is all.
If you want to work in government sector then you should convince them it is worth degree (Ivy liege university is good, community college might be problematic)

Answer 3

I would like you to keep two things in mind if you're going to move to Israel:

1. The fact that it's harder to make money here than in America, even though everything costs the same amount that it would in dollars (in Shekels/Shkalim, but in Dollar amount).

2. Though you probably had it in mind, the Draft. I'm not sure how it works or anything, but you should probably check just to be sure (if you haven't already). (I am, of course, refering to the military draft that forces people into the army.)