Looking for work in Amsterdam and can't seem to find any.
February 15, 2011 3:37 AM Subscribe
Looking for work in Amsterdam and can't seem to find any.
I've been looking for work in Amsterdam for couple of months now (lived here a year and been looking after our child) and I can't find any work anywhere.
There are several agencies in Amsterdam that deal with english people and none of the jobs they offer seem to fit my CV skill-set and even if I apply for them and hassle them they never get to interview stage. There's a whole load of other online agencies and I'm either under-qualified or don't have the language skills.
I don't think I'm a highly-skilled migrant, my background is design and project management (<2 years) without enough experience, according to all the online job agencies I've found, and my Dutch is not good enough for me to apply for Dutch only jobs and will be another 24 months or so before that happens.
I just need a job to pay the bills: outside, inside, preferably with other people. Not sure what to do now and I'd love to work somewhere and do something even if it's digging holes in the road. As long as I get paid and meet people. Any suggestions?
I've been looking for work in Amsterdam for couple of months now (lived here a year and been looking after our child) and I can't find any work anywhere.
There are several agencies in Amsterdam that deal with english people and none of the jobs they offer seem to fit my CV skill-set and even if I apply for them and hassle them they never get to interview stage. There's a whole load of other online agencies and I'm either under-qualified or don't have the language skills.
I don't think I'm a highly-skilled migrant, my background is design and project management (<2 years) without enough experience, according to all the online job agencies I've found, and my Dutch is not good enough for me to apply for Dutch only jobs and will be another 24 months or so before that happens.
I just need a job to pay the bills: outside, inside, preferably with other people. Not sure what to do now and I'd love to work somewhere and do something even if it's digging holes in the road. As long as I get paid and meet people. Any suggestions?
If you're already legally allowed to work in the Netherlands, you don't want to be a knowledge migrant. Authorization to work as a knowledge migrant is incredibly restricted as compared to authorization via a proper work permit, because it requires the hiring company to prove that they can't hire an EU citizen instead, and there's a minimum salary requirement.
In addition to working with job placement agencies, are you also looking at monsterboard.nl? Sometimes, the openings there are actually posted by agencies, but companies also post openings there. There's also werk.nl, although you might have trouble finding English-language jobs there.
Some shops in Amsterdam are willing to hire people who speak very little Dutch. There are stockers at my local Decathalon (sporting goods store) who don't speak Dutch, and I know someone who worked at Lush on Kalverstraat with pretty poor Dutch. This may also be true of fast-food places, where they'll let you work in the back.
posted by neushoorn at 4:09 AM on February 15, 2011
In addition to working with job placement agencies, are you also looking at monsterboard.nl? Sometimes, the openings there are actually posted by agencies, but companies also post openings there. There's also werk.nl, although you might have trouble finding English-language jobs there.
Some shops in Amsterdam are willing to hire people who speak very little Dutch. There are stockers at my local Decathalon (sporting goods store) who don't speak Dutch, and I know someone who worked at Lush on Kalverstraat with pretty poor Dutch. This may also be true of fast-food places, where they'll let you work in the back.
posted by neushoorn at 4:09 AM on February 15, 2011
Best answer: While you're at it, why don't you write down some more about your skills/education/background? I have some friends that run work agencies and who knows who else you could run into you right here at MeFi.
posted by tvdveer at 12:39 PM on February 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by tvdveer at 12:39 PM on February 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by wingless_angel at 4:08 AM on February 15, 2011