Working in Holland without knowing Dutch?

Question

I will be studying in Leiden starting 2009. Can I find work there without speaking Dutch? Generally speaking, is it hard to find work in the Netherlands without knowing Dutch?

Answer 1

Nee, je moet Nederlands leren, ik heb et ouk niet gedaan, un keijn werkplaats krejjnd.

Answer 2

Leiden is pretty big, so you'll find easely a job, even without speaking Dutch. I think that their second language is English there, so most people will understand you. A job where you don't have to deal with public might be a good solution.

I remember working with an English speaking student while I worked in retail ( in Belgium), he worked in the stock room. Receiving and distributing merchandise, he did quite well!

Good luck!!!

Answer 3

OK one more opinion: it depends on what kind of work you are planning to do. For instance i have seen Amsterdam based jobs for native speaking US/UK speakers (callcenter). Preferrably you are bilangual (Dutch/English). I agree withe one of the answers that you should prepare yourself very well

Answer 4

Well it all depends what your duties are alot of dutch do understand English so i think you could be alright

Answer 5

You will get lots of Yes's and No's, but my answer is that "it depends"!

Basically it depends on where you are located and what kind of work you are looking for.  I am not so familair with the job situation in Leiden, but in & around Amsterdam, Den Haag, Hoofddorp, Schiphol (all are close enough to travel to depending on the public transport connection to the actual address) there are many International companies whose working language is English, and this is the area you should be looking towards.  

Working in a call centre is something that many friends did when students (although in Dutch but there are those in English as well).  Also the company I use to work for have a distribution centre near Schiphol and hire non-Dutch speakers for the warehouse as well, so it is possible.

There are many job agencies in NL and some of them do specialise in certain area's. A job agency is an 'Uitzendburo' or 'Uitzendbureau'.  You can also look in English in the yellow pages if you want (link here in English). http://yellowpages.goudengids.nl/display...

There are also some sites in English where English language jobs are placed.  The most famous one is

http://www.undutchables.nl

Then here are a couple more that I know of:

http://www.bluelynx.nl

http://www.xpatjobs.com

http://jobs.expatica.com/nl

What you can also do is check the Dutch version of Monsterboard and type "English" in the 'trefwoord' (keyword) field http://www.monsterboard.nl

You can also ask the University as well, as this will not be the first time someone has asked, so may have an info pack with useful info about it anyway, and more specific to Leiden.

The "But" comes!  If you are non-EU and have a study visa then make sure you check if you are able to work under the conditions of this visa being issued.  There are maybe "cash in hand" jobs to be found, but (a) you will be exploited in terms of pay and (b) if found then this could mean your study visa is revoked and end of your uni course.   So really pay attention to this and don't make assumptions.  Contact the Dutch embassy in your country first before you try to find a job.

Good luck