What is the chance of working in Holland for an Englishman?

Question

I'm English but would love a spell working in Holland, I like it there.

What are the chances of getting work or living here successfully, given as yet I have no Dutch?

Answer 1

8 out of 10

Answer 2

If you are qualified in your profession you should get a job. But you must be able to speak the language it is a stipulation.

Answer 3

Your best option would be to contact a british or american company which has offices in Holland.

With those, not speaking dutch is usually not a problem.

Answer 4

I guess the answer "it depends" is the most honest one

If your career path is a specalised or high level one, then you will struggle to find a job that doesn't require fluent Dutch

However for office work (e.g. Order processing, call centres, etc) there are International companies in & around Amsterdam, Amselveen around Schiphol (Amsterdam airport) & Hoofddorp closeby and they do employ non-Dutch speakers (especially if you have another language, but this is not required)

Basically 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

One thing I would really say though is that Amsterdam is great as a holiday location but as with everywhere it is different to actually live and work in another country with it's culture & language. Also accomodation is exceptionally expensive in & around Amsterdam due to it's popularity

If you want to work outside of Amsterdam & Den Haag, then you will really need to get going on the Dutch side of things before applying to a Dutch speaking job

I would really advise you to come over for say a week and in that time go around the agencies to get an idea of how easy it will be for you to get a job and find accomodation. Then try to live as if you were living here as a local - e.g go to a supermarket and imagine doing the weekly shopping. Talk to people and get a feel of the city/country but imagine being here without your network of friends & family.

Often it is a case of "the grass being greener on the other side"until you realise that the grass actually needs to be cut on the other side as well when you actually live and work there. Many of the issues that are taking place in the UK are not so dis-similar to here.

However putting the difficulties aside, if after your trip you still want to do it, then go for it. It can be a really great experience living & working in another country and you can learn a lot and grow personally from it - if nothing else it looks interesting on your cv!