A new beginning in Netherlands

pman89

Member

Member since 16 January 2017

Eindhoven, North Brabant

pman89

16 January 2017 04:10:05

pman89

16 January 2017 04:10:05

Eindhoven, North Brabant

Hello all, I'm Peter 27 years old and I come from Greece. I'm a recent BSc Mechanical Eng. graduate and I want to relocate in Netherlands, find a job there and begin a new life. Unfortunately, all my research in job seeking websites (LinkedIn, Graduateland, etc) is without any significant result, mainly because of language (I am fluent in English but not in Dutch), and secondly because of lack of significant experience (only 6 months in a local technical company).

Could you please give me some advice about how should I make the rest job seeking process, in order to obtain some positive outcome? For example are there any specific places where I should look for engineering jobs? Maybe some state help or programs for fast-track Dutch courses, in order to close this language gap?

I would like to know also whether is it a good idea to come to Netherlands for a few weeks in order to make the job seeking process more "immediate".

Thank you all in advance for your replies!

Best regards,
Peter

Jobboard_Finder

Contributor

Member since 20 September 2016

Jobboard_Finder

16 January 2017 15:25:59

113

Jobboard_Finder

16 January 2017 15:25:59

113

Hi Peter,

You should have a look at the most popular Dutch job sites to find jobs in the Netherlands. These include Werk, Nationale Vacature Bank, Monsteboard, Intermediair.

For job sites specific to the engineering sector you should look at EuroEngineerJobs and Qreer European Technical Job Board.

I am sure you will be able to find opportunities that don't need a high level of Dutch.
Good luck & let us know how you get on!

Cynic

UK / Netherlands Expert

Member since 15 September 2015

Enschede

Cynic

16 January 2017 17:13:45

7387

Cynic

16 January 2017 17:13:45

7387

Enschede

Hi Peter and welcome to the Forum.

First off, at the top of this page is a link to our Handy Tools section, there you'll find articles about various items related to moving/living in Holland that you may find useful.

As a citizen of the EEA, you do have the right to live in Holland; there is a requirement that you register with the Gemeente (local council) once you find somewhere to live.

Job seeking, to be honest I suspect you'll find more problematic, mainly because you don't speak Dutch and many agencies won't even give you an interview once this becomes apparent. Holland has quite high unemployment and there will be lots of Dutch graduates competing for the job you are looking for.

I always see this as you needing certain things to get work anywhere in the world:

1. Luck.
2. Relevant experience.
3. Relevant qualifications.
4. Speak the local language.

The less of these you have, the less likely you are to be successful. My advice to you would be to find work in Greece to enable you to get some experience; at the same time, learn to speak Dutch, then in a couple of years you'll have 3 of the above items ticked off and you just need a bit of luck.

I wish you lots of luck in your journey.