While Jacob
Kieval , 25, of Sharon, Massachusetts, is only one
of many graduates of the WUJS Israel program to return home to great
professional opportunities, he may be the first one to immediately find a job
with a popular reality show.
After graduating from Washington University in 2009, Jacob
decided to go to Israel to help figure out what professional path to take. Having spent a summer in Israel with USY
Pilgrimage and three months during his senior year of high school, it was a
logical choice. He researched various
Masa programs and based on the internship component, WUJS turned out to be
exactly what he was looking for, placing Jacob in Tel Aviv for his Israel
experience.
One of Jacob's two internships was working at Meirav
Productions in Ramat Gan, a company which produces commercials and promotional
videos. His work included capturing
footage and transferring media from one format to another, exposing him to a
side of the business in which he had limited experience. While many stories have been told about
people falling in love with their internships, propelling them to further pursue
a career choice, often ignored are the stories where people have valuable
experiences figuring out what they don't want
to do. Through this experience, Jacob
benefitted from realizing that this side of the industry was not a good fit for
him. Though he thought he may have ended up in the wrong production house, his
later experiences in Los Angeles only confirmed what he thought on the WUJS
program.
In his second internship, Jacob worked for WUJS itself, creating
and producing videos of the program participants which were sent out to their
parents on a weekly basis, giving him more hands-on experience of video and
film editing which is his real passion.
While not working, Jacob enjoyed his free time exploring Tel
Aviv from the beaches and restaurants to the bars. Shabbat provided a valuable opportunity to
take a break from traveling and spending money when Jacob would relax and enjoy
time with friends. He said that his time
in Israel allowed him to learn much more about the country on a practical level. More than seeing the sites, he got a real sense
of what it's like to live in Israel day in and day out, using transportation
and becoming familiar with city life.
As luck would have it, the director of WUJS at the time had
a connection to Mark Burnett Productions, the production company responsible
for such successful TV shows as "Survivor" and "The Apprentice". A few phone calls later, Jacob had landed a
position in the music department of "The Voice" as an associate music producer
in Los Angeles. Jacob works with the
house band which backs the performers to make sure they know what music to
play, helps them to acquire the lyrics and sheet music to prepare, and helps
contestants prepare for their performances.
Jacob plans to stay in LA
to see what this job leads to next and hopes to visit Israel every few
years.
And to anyone considering a Masa program? Jacob says that WUJS is a great program for
people looking for a great opportunity.
