Studying and working in Netherlands

[lenric]

Hello

First of all, I'm sorry if there is a specific thread about this kind of subject, but I couldn't find it.
I'm about to finish my Bsc in Economics in Portugal and I'm considering enrolling in a master in Maastricht SBE, so that I can work in Netherlands (the alternative being either Germany, or France, with other schools native to those countries). If that happens to be my decision, I will learn dutch, so that I can increase my chances of getting a job in Netherlands (I'm also fluent in French, so I guess I'll have a shot in Belgium).

My doubt is, for those who work in Netherlands: are dutch companies (either national, or multinational ones, such as PwC, Deloittle, EY and KPMG) way more inclined to natives, or is it kind of irrelevant? (assuming that the official language of the company is English)

Thanks

 

[Pennino]

Interesting choice!

As a Dutchman in my experience it doesn't matter at all. As long as you're qualified enough, have other interesting experiences (which you seem to have) it can also be certainly a pre to be a foreigner. But you have to be aware of huge competition. Very strict and formal procedures. Good luck

 

[RedheadDane]

You don't think this would be better in the Café?

 

[lenric]

Re:

You don't think this would be better in the Café?

Damn it, I thought I was creating this thread in the cafe
Thanks for the heads-up! I'm sorry for my mistake.
Moderators/Admin, move this to the cafe please, sorry for the distraction.

 

[lenric]

Interesting choice!

As a Dutchman in my experience it doesn't matter at all. As long as you're qualified enough, have other interesting experiences (which you seem to have) it can also be certainly a pre to be a foreigner. But you have to be aware of huge competition. Very strict and formal procedures. Good luck

Well, I have already created a company in Portugal (a nursing home, which was quite helpful in raising some money to finance my education), but due to legal changes in that sector, I had to close it (not enough money to cope with the changes required), hence being older than the majority of people who finish their Bscs. So, I have some experience in my area (management).

Apart from that, I played professional football and was a professional swimmer at F.C. Porto, so I have a couple of valuable experiences... at least, they were quite helpful at teaching me about how to deal/work with people, being a teamplayer and all that.

Apart from that, Netherlands is a country with a lot of economic potential and seems to be a peaceful and rewarding country to those who work... Portugal, unfortunately, isn't.

Thanks for the input Pennino, it was helpful!

 

[Pennino]

Interesting choice!

As a Dutchman in my experience it doesn't matter at all. As long as you're qualified enough, have other interesting experiences (which you seem to have) it can also be certainly a pre to be a foreigner. But you have to be aware of huge competition. Very strict and formal procedures. Good luck

Well, I have already created a company in Portugal (a nursing home, which was quite helpful in raising some money to finance my education), but due to legal changes in that sector, I had to close it (not enough money to cope with the changes required), hence being older than the majority of people who finish their Bscs. So, I have some experience in my area (management).

Apart from that, I played professional football and was a professional swimmer at F.C. Porto, so I have a couple of valuable experiences... at least, they were quite helpful at teaching me about how to deal/work with people, being a teamplayer and all that.

Apart from that, Netherlands is a country with a lot of economic potential and seems to be a peaceful and rewarding country to those who work... Portugal, unfortunately, isn't.

Thanks for the input Pennino, it was helpful!

That sounds perfect. It depends a bit on the culture of a company, but there are certainly possibilities also for non-Dutch speakers in management. I guess you have an eccellent shot. The fact that you're an Ullrich fan is another card in your favour :razz:

Unfortunately I cannot compare our situation to yours in Portugal. I'd say it's okay, especially if you have a qualified job.

You're welcome!

 

[Red Rick]

It's not my sector, but my guess is it's not gonna be much of a problem, especially if you learn Dutch. Dutch is a hard language to learn though.

There's probably better sources of discussion for this than here though.

 

[lenric]

Re:

It's not my sector, but my guess is it's not gonna be much of a problem, especially if you learn Dutch. Dutch is a hard language to learn though.

There's probably better sources of discussion for this than here though.

Yes Red Rick, and I've been collecting information from various sources when it comes to know intel about graduates in economics.

But when it comes to know general points about a country, this kind of forum is a good source to gather some info from, because you guys can give the perfect insight about which cities are better for foreign guys, more industrial, more touristic, etc, while not being focused on a specific sector.

Yeah, dutch seems to be tough, especially the pronunciation, which will be the biggest sticky point for me, since I will be learning dutch all by myself.


Thanks for the input Red Rick!

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

It's not my sector, but my guess is it's not gonna be much of a problem, especially if you learn Dutch. Dutch is a hard language to learn though.

There's probably better sources of discussion for this than here though.

Yes Red Rick, and I've been collecting information from various sources when it comes to know intel about graduates in economics.

But when it comes to know general points about a country, this kind of forum is a good source to gather some info from, because you guys can give the perfect insight about which cities are better for foreign guys, more industrial, more touristic, etc, while not being focused on a specific sector.

Yeah, dutch seems to be tough, especially the pronunciation, which will be the biggest sticky point for me, since I will be learning dutch all by myself.


Thanks for the input Red Rick!

One thing that can make it hard to learn Dutch is that most Dutch people speak English well enough to communicate and will automatically switch to English if they think it's easier. Be clear about wanting to learn Dutch. That should help get the practice in once you're in the Netherlands

I don't know if you use reddit, but the Dutch subreddit is one of the most active in the world, and has a faq which might be useful, and people who know more than I do.

https://www.reddit.com/r/thenetherlands/wiki/faq

 

[kingjr]

Dutch is just a dumbed down German dialect, if you know English it shouldn't be too hard.

 

[Irondan]

Re:

Dutch is just a dumbed down German dialect, if you know English it shouldn't be too hard.

I'm not even dutch and that offended me...

 

[lenric]

Re: Re:

It's not my sector, but my guess is it's not gonna be much of a problem, especially if you learn Dutch. Dutch is a hard language to learn though.

There's probably better sources of discussion for this than here though.

Yes Red Rick, and I've been collecting information from various sources when it comes to know intel about graduates in economics.

But when it comes to know general points about a country, this kind of forum is a good source to gather some info from, because you guys can give the perfect insight about which cities are better for foreign guys, more industrial, more touristic, etc, while not being focused on a specific sector.

Yeah, dutch seems to be tough, especially the pronunciation, which will be the biggest sticky point for me, since I will be learning dutch all by myself.


Thanks for the input Red Rick!

One thing that can make it hard to learn Dutch is that most Dutch people speak English well enough to communicate and will automatically switch to English if they think it's easier. Be clear about wanting to learn Dutch. That should help get the practice in once you're in the Netherlands

I don't know if you use reddit, but the Dutch subreddit is one of the most active in the world, and has a faq which might be useful, and people who know more than I do.

https://www.reddit.com/r/thenetherlands/wiki/faq

I don't use reddit, but damn, thank you for the link, it is incredibly useful!
It has a lot of information (for example, I got scared with how high is the personal income tax ) and I will surely use it.

Just one question: what do you think of Maastricht for studens/young people?

Thanks again Red Rick, you and Pennino were very helpful.

 

[kingjr]

Re: Re:

Dutch is just a dumbed down German dialect, if you know English it shouldn't be too hard.

I'm not even dutch and that offended me...

It is what it is, don't blame me.

 

[Jagartrott]

Maastricht is close to both Belgium and Germany, which makes it interesting. It's also in a pretty and slightly hilly region in The Netherlands (think Amstel Gold Race). Finally, the climate is better (warmer) than in the more northern provinces.

Dutch is just a dumbed down German dialect, if you know English it shouldn't be too hard.

I'm not even dutch and that offended me...

It is what it is, don't blame me.

You could say it does away with much unnecessary complexity in German. Optimised might sound better than 'dumbed down'.

 

[kingjr]

Re:

Maastricht is close to both Belgium and Germany, which makes it interesting. It's also in a pretty and slightly hilly region in The Netherlands (think Amstel Gold Race). Finally, the climate is better (warmer) than in the more northern provinces.

Dutch is just a dumbed down German dialect, if you know English it shouldn't be too hard.

I'm not even dutch and that offended me...

It is what it is, don't blame me.

You could say it does away with much unnecessary complexity in German. Optimised might sound better than 'dumbed down'.

You could.
The same way all the regional dialects within Germany do away with unnecessary complexity. That's why these days all the parents are very eager for children to speak those dialects.

 

[lenric]

Re:

Maastricht is close to both Belgium and Germany, which makes it interesting. It's also in a pretty and slightly hilly region in The Netherlands (think Amstel Gold Race). Finally, the climate is better (warmer) than in the more northern provinces.

Dutch is just a dumbed down German dialect, if you know English it shouldn't be too hard.

I'm not even dutch and that offended me...

It is what it is, don't blame me.

You could say it does away with much unnecessary complexity in German. Optimised might sound better than 'dumbed down'.

Oh cool. Being from a warm country (Portugal), I fancy the idea of Maastricht being warmer than most of the remaining cities in Netherlands.

 

[Irondan]

Re:

Maastricht is close to both Belgium and Germany, which makes it interesting. It's also in a pretty and slightly hilly region in The Netherlands (think Amstel Gold Race). Finally, the climate is better (warmer) than in the more northern provinces.

Dutch is just a dumbed down German dialect, if you know English it shouldn't be too hard.

I'm not even dutch and that offended me...

It is what it is, don't blame me.

You could say it does away with much unnecessary complexity in German. Optimised might sound better than 'dumbed down'.

Bingo!

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

It's not my sector, but my guess is it's not gonna be much of a problem, especially if you learn Dutch. Dutch is a hard language to learn though.

There's probably better sources of discussion for this than here though.

Yes Red Rick, and I've been collecting information from various sources when it comes to know intel about graduates in economics.

But when it comes to know general points about a country, this kind of forum is a good source to gather some info from, because you guys can give the perfect insight about which cities are better for foreign guys, more industrial, more touristic, etc, while not being focused on a specific sector.

Yeah, dutch seems to be tough, especially the pronunciation, which will be the biggest sticky point for me, since I will be learning dutch all by myself.


Thanks for the input Red Rick!

One thing that can make it hard to learn Dutch is that most Dutch people speak English well enough to communicate and will automatically switch to English if they think it's easier. Be clear about wanting to learn Dutch. That should help get the practice in once you're in the Netherlands

I don't know if you use reddit, but the Dutch subreddit is one of the most active in the world, and has a faq which might be useful, and people who know more than I do.

https://www.reddit.com/r/thenetherlands/wiki/faq

I don't use reddit, but damn, thank you for the link, it is incredibly useful!
It has a lot of information (for example, I got scared with how high is the personal income tax ) and I will surely use it.

Just one question: what do you think of Maastricht for studens/young people?

Thanks again Red Rick, you and Pennino were very helpful.

I honestly don't know very much about Maastricht, but the student life is usually pretty good in the cities with the 'universiteiten' or scientific universities. It does not get the hype of student life in some other cities however. Afaik, Maastricht isn't connected very well to much of the rest of the country. It's relatively far from the Randstad, the area in the west of the country where all the big cities are and which tends to get the most media attention. However, I'm sure there's plenty of things to do, and being where it is, that only means that the rest of Europe is a whole lot closer.

 

[lenric]

Well, that's one thing that makes me afraid of applying to Maastricht. Despite being the 2nd best business school in Netherlands (only behind Rotterdam), it's very far from all the other big cities, so I fear that other business students from Tillburg, or Amsterdam, even though being from lesser known schools, may have the upper hand.

Of course, we can be optimistic and say that precisely by being far away from the remaining big cities, students from Maastricht SBE may have an advantage to get a job in that area.