On Friday, January 29, Columbia University students were presented with a unique opportunity—an Israeli Startup Career Fair on their very own campus. The career fair was presented by TAMID Group at Columbia and boasted over a dozen early-stage Israeli companies with offices in New York. TAMID Group at CU is the Columbia chapter of the broader TAMID Group, a national apolitical organization that seeks to engage college students with Israeli businesses through experiential learning. The career fair was organized and run by a planning committee led by Teaneck resident Matt Landes, Columbia sophomore. “It was very exciting to have such path-breaking companies come to Columbia,” said Landes. “Pretty remarkable how so many of the startups that we use daily were founded by Israelis without us even knowing it.”
The career fair was designed to create a mutually beneficial opportunity for early-stage companies and students looking to become integrated with the startup scene. The event has earned a history of hosting the networking and introductions that have led to real internships. The career fair has become a landmark event, and has the added benefit of drawing student interest in applying for TAMID membership. Taking place at a campus known for its political charge, the event presented attendees with the opportunity to view Israeli companies through a business and career-oriented lens.
“The TAMID career fair provided students with the unique opportunity to interact with successful Israeli start-ups. I found the fair to be both informative and enjoyable, and I would definitely not miss the next one!” said Sade Cooper, Barnard junior. Yacov Lewis, Columbia/JTS sophomore, told the organizers, “This past career fair introduced me to companies with new technologies that were already changing the way we live, and led to multiple interviews with exciting job opportunities.” Shirley Feng, Columbia senior, shared that she got several interviews from the startups that she met at last year’s fair. “I eventually decided to intern at ConvertMedia for two months and had a wonderful experience. I will be returning to the company this semester for a spring internship. This year I joined the committee to organize the startup fair.”
A company in attendance that many, especially the Manhattan residents, have heard of is Via. Via is an innovative ride-sharing service that allows users to travel quickly and affordably. Christopher Shu, the representative at the fair mentioned, “It was a pleasure being at the fair and hearing all the positive feedback from everyone who has taken Via!” Michal Alter from visit.org, another interesting company hosted at the fair, wrote, “You guys did a great job organizing. Always happy to come to campus and interact with students, would love to hear about more opportunities to do so as they come.”
The event was funded by the Israeli Coalition on Campus and the Columbia/Barnard Hillel. It was open to all students from Columbia University and elsewhere. This is the third time that an event such as this has taken place. The initiative was introduced by Aryeh (then LionPac), the Israel advocacy group at Columbia, three years ago. The past two fairs have been hosted by TAMID as a regular event designed to supplement the TAMID curriculum and enhance student experience. Membership in TAMID is application-based and involves partaking in an education curriculum during one’s initial semester. Following this, students involve themselves in either a consulting or investing track, in which they do real pro-bono consulting for Israeli companies, compete in a mock-investing fund, and learn the ins and outs of consulting and investing. During the summer, select applicants are sent on an all-expense-paid fellowship to Israel to work for startups. In addition, TAMID Group at Columbia hosts renowned speakers and social events to augment the learning experience and foster community. The TAMID Group is a fast-growing organization that now has a membership of 30 university chapters.
Jeremy Sacks is a senior at Columbia University and president of TAMID Group at Columbia.
By Jeremy Sacks
