Considering a change of career.

Hey everyone,

I may repost this in its own thread because I really need some help/perspective.

I'm an American living in the Southeastern US. My husband is Dutch and is seriously considering a change in career so he (we) can move back to the Netherlands. He misses his family and country a lot and I know he'd prefer to be there. I'm originally from New Jersey, so there's nothing much left for me in the South US either. I've found the Netherlands is a lot more like where I grew up than the South is.

Anyway, he will probably find a job quickly once he starts looking. It's really me that we're worried about. I just completed my Master's degree in social work so while I do have quite a bit of higher education, my field is very heavily language-based and I don't have a ton of work experience. I really want my job to be meaningful to society. I'm eager to work in fields like mental health, gerontology, child welfare, school counseling, etc., and I'm willing to work my way up from a lower-paid gig.

We're just not sure that's realistic because of the language barrier. I understand quite a bit of Dutch, but I can't speak it yet. This is a big deal because my career is really the last piece that needs to fall into place before we move. I don't really need to get a job before moving, I just want to know if jobs exist for expats in these fields.

Thanks in advance. This has been so stressful!