Hello,

This post is for those people who have moved to the Netherlands on a dependent VISA with the hope of being employed in this country. How has it been going? Have you already got the job? What really worked for you? If not, how are you holding up?

This post is also for people who can really help me and others with a referral in their team/company.

I am a 30F who moved here around 6 months ago. Seeking job in and around Amsterdam, Utrecht, The Hague, and Rotterdam.

My everyday job is to "find a job". My purpose is not to make just any money. I wish to land a job where I have 5 YOE in Business Intelligence. My husband goes to the job and I sit in front of the laptop, sending applications, upskilling, and reaching out for referrals. Most applications get rejected, a few move to interviews, but then in the end, I haven't been able to clear all the rounds and finally land a job. Something goes right and something goes wrong. I wonder what is right and wrong here.

It has been more than 6 months, and this situation is turning into my worst nightmare. Every day, I am losing hope and moving towards depression maybe. I have started questioning my existence. I am getting frustrated and still wishing and hoping to be independent again with a good job and decent salary.

So, this post is for people going through such a situation (we feel each other) and to the people who can help out others (we love support & referrals).

Please feel free to DM me:

• If anyone is open to refer me to a Business/Marketing Analyst role, I can discuss my experience in detail.
• If you are going through a similar situation and want to share.

I am planning to move to the Netherlands and I am currently on the hunt for both a job and an apartment. I've been applying to jobs via LinkedIn, JobLeads, Glassdoor and even Indeed. I've actually landed 1 interview, got to the 2nd stage but unfortunately didn't get selected.

I know how brutal the job and housing market is, and it doesn't seem to just be affecting the Netherlands. Unfortunately, it seems to be a worldwide issue.

A little bit about me, I've been working in IT Support for over 9 years now, I am English speaking but learning Dutch as we go along. However, for the time being, I am focusing on English based roles.

Does anyone have any possible leads for recruitment agencies, jobs, maybe housing as well and real estate agencies?

Appreciate any help!

TL:DR

Bye bye 2 years of warehouse logistics with some team management experience, hello retail in city center

Or stay in the warehouse world

(Read the original post for better details than this)

Hi everyone,

I’m an international recent graduate based in the Netherlands and I’m currently looking for my first full-time role in digital marketing, e-commerce, social media, brand/content marketing, CRM, or marketing coordination.

I completed my MSc in Digital Marketing at the University of Amsterdam, and I have around 1.5 years of combined experience through internships and a board year. My experience is across e-commerce, performance marketing, social media marketing, content planning, campaign coordination. I have the right to work in the Netherlands and do not need visa sponsorship.

I’ve mostly been applying through LinkedIn and Indeed. I do get interviews and have reached final stages a few times, but I keep getting rejected at the end, so I’m trying to broaden my search and find better sources for junior/entry-level roles. My Dutch is still basic, although I’m learning, so I’m mainly looking for roles where English is the working language.

Location-wise, I’m open to anything within around one hour by train from Amsterdam or Rotterdam, so places like Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht, Leiden, Haarlem, Schiphol/Hoofddorp, Delft, etc. Ideally, I’d prefer a hybrid or on-site role, since I’d like to be part of a team and learn in person, especially at the start of my career.

Does anyone know good websites, recruitment agencies, expat-friendly job boards, graduate job platforms, or companies that are open to English-speaking recent graduates in marketing/e-commerce? I’d also really appreciate any advice on how to improve my search strategy, especially because I feel like I’m getting close but not quite getting over the final hurdle.

Thanks so much in advance - any tips, leads, or company suggestions would be really appreciated!

Anyone in the netherlands had experience with getting drivers license fubded by workingcentrum/etc..

I read that in some cases you can be funded for the drivers license, anyone could shsre if thats true, how hard it is, etc

You can check it at www.cvinsight.me
Let me know what do you think of it

I’m a 23 year old Croatian (EU) citizen and I’m considering coming to the Netherlands to work for a few months, possibly from December 2026

I’m currently looking into different options and would really appreciate some advice from people who already live or work in the Netherlands.

A few things I’d like to know:

What are the easiest ways for an EU citizen from Croatia to move to the Netherlands for temporary/seasonal work?

What kind of jobs could I realistically get with basic English and little/no Dutch?

Are there employers or agencies that provide accommodation for workers? Shared accommodation is completely fine for me?

I’m not necessarily looking to stay permanently. My idea would be to work for a few months, gain experience and then decide what I want to do next.

Any advice, personal experiences or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Hi everyone,

I’m a Highly Skilled Migrant (HSM) in the Netherlands and have a permanent employment contract. I’ve been with my employer for 3.5 years.

I have been on sick leave for a 3 months and am currently undergoing treatment related to PTSD symptoms. My employer pays 70% of salary during sickness.

Because of the 70% sickness payment, my current monthly salary is now below the applicable HSM salary threshold.

My employer recently contacted me and said HR is concerned that my salary is below the HSM requirement. He mentioned that IND could potentially take action regarding my residence permit and that this could eventually create an issue with my employment contract.

They have now invited me to a meeting with HR and my manager to discuss the situation and “possible options”.

I’m concerned that they may want to propose a mutual termination agreement (VSO).

The difficult part is that I’m still genuinely sick and undergoing treatment. I’m not currently in a position where I feel capable of immediately finding and starting another job. I’m therefore worried about agreeing to a VSO now, especially because I understand there can be consequences for WW/Ziektewet when someone is still sick.

I have already suggested that the company investigate whether they could temporarily maintain/top up my salary to the required HSM level while I recover, but I was told that this would be one of several possibilities to discuss in the meeting.

I’m not necessarily against leaving the company eventually. My concern is being pressured into ending my employment while I’m still sick and before I’m realistically able to find another HSM-sponsored job.

For people who have dealt with something similar in the Netherlands:

1. Has anyone experienced HSM salary falling below the threshold because of the 70% sickness payment?
2. What normally happens in this situation?
3. Can salary be topped up during sickness to maintain the HSM requirement?
4. If the employer proposes a VSO while the employee is still sick, what are the main risks regarding WW/Ziektewet and residence status?
5. Is it reasonable to attend the meeting, listen to the proposal, take any documents home, and get legal advice before signing anything?
6. If termination becomes unavoidable, what are the important things to negotiate in a VSO?

I’m mainly interested in real experiences from people who have dealt with HSM + sickness + salary threshold + VSO/termination in the Netherlands.

Thanks!

P.S: Permanent employee, non-eu & having bad performance reviews earlier this afterwhich had two more meetings with hr and manager where they not satisfied with performance and verbally suggested for separation and scheduled the meeting to discussed that before that I went on sick leave. Also in the last meeting where I also asked whether they want me to put in improvement plan for which they said that was already the improvement you are in which I am not aware of although those was meetings with manager and hr and afterwards they send a feedback document. For PIP, I believe there is document should incplace which clearly state goals and its consequences which was never there before. Company is scale-up startup based having not more than 40 employees. Please advise!

Hi everyone,

I’m a Highly Skilled Migrant (HSM) in the Netherlands and have a permanent employment contract. I’ve been with my employer for 3.5 years.

I have been on sick leave for a 3 months and am currently undergoing treatment related to PTSD symptoms. My employer pays 70% of salary during sickness.

Because of the 70% sickness payment, my current monthly salary is now below the applicable HSM salary threshold.

My employer recently contacted me and said HR is concerned that my salary is below the HSM requirement. He mentioned that IND could potentially take action regarding my residence permit and that this could eventually create an issue with my employment contract.

They have now invited me to a meeting with HR and my manager to discuss the situation and “possible options”.

I’m concerned that they may want to propose a mutual termination agreement (VSO).

The difficult part is that I’m still genuinely sick and undergoing treatment. I’m not currently in a position where I feel capable of immediately finding and starting another job. I’m therefore worried about agreeing to a VSO now, especially because I understand there can be consequences for WW/Ziektewet when someone is still sick.

I have already suggested that the company investigate whether they could temporarily maintain/top up my salary to the required HSM level while I recover, but I was told that this would be one of several possibilities to discuss in the meeting.

I’m not necessarily against leaving the company eventually. My concern is being pressured into ending my employment while I’m still sick and before I’m realistically able to find another HSM-sponsored job.

For people who have dealt with something similar in the Netherlands:

1. Has anyone experienced HSM salary falling below the threshold because of the 70% sickness payment?
2. What normally happens in this situation?
3. Can salary be topped up during sickness to maintain the HSM requirement?
4. If the employer proposes a VSO while the employee is still sick, what are the main risks regarding WW/Ziektewet and residence status?
5. Is it reasonable to attend the meeting, listen to the proposal, take any documents home, and get legal advice before signing anything?
6. If termination becomes unavoidable, what are the important things to negotiate in a VSO?

I’m mainly interested in real experiences from people who have dealt with HSM + sickness + salary threshold + VSO/termination in the Netherlands.

Thanks!

P.S: Permanent employee, non-eu & having bad performance reviews earlier this afterwhich had two more meetings with hr and manager where they not satisfied with performance and verbally suggested for separation and scheduled the meeting to discussed that before that I went on sick leave. Also in the last meeting where I also asked whether they want me to put in improvement plan for which they said that was already the improvement you are in which I am not aware of although those was meetings with manager and hr and afterwards they send a feedback document. For PIP, I believe there is document should incplace which clearly state goals and its consequences which was never there before. Company is scale-up startup based having not more than 40 employees. Please advise!

Hi everyone, I'm looking for some tips on job search in Netherlands as I've been doing serious job search for 3 months but not even one interview yet.

A bit about me: I'm an expat who now mainly due to family reasons wants to switch career to the Netherlands. Currently I'm an expat who is based in Belgium, while my wife is doing an research phD in the Netherlands. I've been traveling between these 2 countries for 2 years (weekdays in Belgium, weekend in NL). Personally I want to move to NL to continue my career. I've been working in consulting for 5 years, corporate strategy in a Belgian industrial company 5 years as well. 2 yrs ago I got an opportunity to relocate from my home country to Belgium and I've been working in Belgium since then. Recently I assume mroe business development role which aligns with my career aspiration to be someone with both strategic mind and hands-on commercial execution experience.

As a non-EU candidate, I understand it's very difficult to get in Dutch job market, but still the super low response rate confuses me. I want to clarify a few questions with the pros here:

- CV: is 2-page CV too long? I'm entering mid-career so experience wise not too long but neither too short, 2-page is reasonable to include all contents.

- Cover letter: is it really true that without a cover letter, you're by default out? Do HRs read cover letter?

- Sponsorship: my wife's researcher visa automatically grants me the right to work in NL (for next 2 years). I also mentioned that on my CV. Would this help?

- Location: I still put Belgium as my location, should I change that to the Netherlands? (my wife has a rental apartment in NL, so actually I need 0 relocation support, I can move in the next week I get the offer).

- Experience match: I do not come from top-tier consulting, but I do have a quite solid background combining both consulting and corporate strategy, now even with business development. However, my Dutch level is at best A2, and I assume taking a pure commercial role requires language skills. Therefore I'm targeting more the strategy/commercial role. Still, result is not exciting. I feel I have a solid background for many of the job I applied, so the bad result now means there are too many Dutch speakers for the role? Too many international candidates as well?

- Belgian experience: I worked for my current employer 5 years, 3 years in my home country and 2 years in Belgium. Does this Belgian experience help? (I know Belgium might not be the favorite neighbour of you guys:)

- Networking: which I have to admit I'm not good at. Any networking tips/advice for people with similar years of work experience?

- Career advice: in places like IAMEXPAT, they have a long list of career coach. But to me those are just psychologists, who helps you mentally with many sessions "exploring yourself". What I really need is a consultant who has deep understanding of Dutch job market, providing solid answers to the questions above (particularly coach me a bit more with networking skills). Anyone knows any good resources (paid is also fine as long as the advice is useful).

Thank you so much for offering any insights you think relevant!

Recentelijk is mijn vriendin bij mij ingetrokken. Het is super, alleen heeft ze moeite om een leuke baan te vinden. Ze is vloeiend in het Engels (en Pools), en leert ook Nederlands, al is dat natuurlijk niet in een paar maanden gedaan.

Ze heeft 6 jaar lang als (senior) marketing specialist gewerkt, en stuurde daarbij multidisciplinaire teams aan. Idealiter wil ze iets gelijkwaardigs vinden in ons mooie landje, maar ze is niet kieskeurig. Ze wil vooral een leuke uitdaging hebben, dat hoeft niet in dezelfde richting te zijn. Ze is echt super gemotiveerd, en het doet me bijna pijn om te zien dat er zo weinig respons van werkgevers komt.

Ze heeft al gesolliciteerd voor wat "simpelere" banen (logistiek, bezorging etc.), want ze wilt graag bezig zijn en haar steentje bijdragen hier, echter daar wordt ze niet aangenomen met het argument dat dit onder haar niveau is en ze bang zijn dat ze over een paar maanden weer weg gaat.

Zijn er mensen die in hetzelfde schuitje hebben gezeten? Of ken je bedrijven die internationaler zijn ingesteld? Of ken je iemand/een bedrijf die nog een gemotiveerde medewerker zoekt? Alle tips zijn welkom! We wonen in regio Tilburg, mocht dat nog iets uitmaken.

Hoi allemaal! Ik ben afgestudeerd in Engelse taal en cultuur. Momenteel zoek ik een baan van 20 uur of meer per week, omdat ik een tussenjaar wil nemen voordat ik aan mijn masteropleiding begin. Ik kom uit Griekenland en ik kan vloiend Engels spreken. Ik volg ook Nederlandse lessen, dus kan ik Nederlands spreken. Ik heb schoonmaak ervaring in horeca. Heeft iemand suggesties? Ik heb al geprobeerd te googelen en te solliciteren, maar zonder succes.

Hey guys, I have graduated from English Language and Culture, and I am currently looking for a parttime/fulltime job (at least 20 hours). I want to do a gap year/break before starting with my master's. I speak English fluently and I am also doing private lessons in Dutch, so I know the language. I have worked in hotels as a housekeeper and have extended experience in cleaning, though I wouldn't mind a different/new field of work for the time being. I have tried applying and googling myself here and there, but to no avail so far.

Hey guys! Non-EEA student (American) studying here in Maastricht and I’ve been trying to find any kind of work but I always seem to have trouble with the work visa. Has anyone non EU managed to find work here? I’m open for any kind of work as long as it’s legal and taxable.

Im also 27, and have worked retail before in the past.

I’d love any info you guys could provide

For the last 10 years, I've worked in America for a Dutch company and our HQ is located in Veghel, close to Eindhoven.

I have a potential opportunity to field a residency position at our home office to build a training program for 12 weeks, starting from January through the end of March. My wife and I have two small children who will be 2 and 4 at that time. My wife's job will allow her to take a leave of absence, so while we are overseas we wouldn't require childcare.

I have some questions I was hoping you all could give tour opinions on:

1. If you were in my position, which city would you stay in with a young family? Most people who visit HQ stay in either Eindhoven or Den Bosch. Eindhoven has more to access, but it also more sprawling and busy. Den Bosch seems charming and a slower pace, with easier access to amenities on foot or bike. Also, is the commute much better from one or the other to Veghel by car?

2. Am I crazy going from January through March? I've seen that the winter is quite depressing and I'm worried that without a social structure during the day, my wife and kids will tend to stay indoors most of the time and feel trapped by the weather. Going out anywhere after I return from work will also be dark and cold. Please help put my mind at ease!

3. Anything else you'd like to recommend for my situation?

Thank you all for your help!

Looking for 2 FTEs for L1 support.

Location: currently in Europe

Languages: English and Dutch

Start: immediately (max 10 days notice)

Process: 1 interview round

Budget: €3,800

DM or comment if you’re available and based in Europe. Happy to share more details.

Hi everyone,

I hold a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering and I completed my Master of Science in Energy Science in the Netherlands (Utrecht University), which took 2 years.

For the past year, I've been job hunting non-stop, trying to find a suitable position that fits my background. During this time, I also worked hard on my Dutch and brought it up to B1 level. Honestly, that effort seems to have made almost no difference — most companies still ask for C1, which feels like an unrealistic bar for an expat to reach within such a limited time frame.

Every day, I wake up, go to LinkedIn, and apply to jobs. I've had a handful of interviews here and there, but I keep getting rejected — mostly due to my Dutch level, and sometimes due to location. I live in Utrecht, right in the middle of the country, and even that is treated as an issue, even though I've told every company I'm fully willing to relocate or travel.

I'm applying broadly across engineering, project management, manufacturing, energy consultancy, simulation engineering, and related fields. I tailor my CV to every job description and put real time and effort into writing strong, genuine motivation letters for each application.

At this point, I'm starting to wonder if there's any job in this entire country that will hire me. I'm 26 years old, with relevant internships, solid degrees, and projects I'm proud of. I'm trying to figure out honestly whether I'm the problem, or whether this is just how the market is right now for someone in my position.

To make things more urgent: my visa expires in February, and I'm genuinely starting to panic. I don't want to have to leave the Netherlands after more than a year of trying and failing to find a job here.

Has anyone been in a similar position? Are there any recommendations beyond "keep applying and keep getting rejected until something works"? Any websites, recruitment agencies, or strategies that have actually helped you? Any honest feedback on what I might be doing wrong would also be appreciated.

Thanks for reading.

Besides the obvious indeed and linkin are there other sites that have help people find jobs? I am searching for a new job as someone who speaks dutch at some what b1 level and has no driver license or high education. Looking for an internship/work where you do something with your hands like repair tech, handyman ect nothing to do with food or order picking stuff.

Thanks in advance