Finding a job abroad

KlodaX

Is finding a job abroad a difficult thing to do? I'm looking for a job in The Netherlands or Italy. Problem is I don't speak Italian or Dutch. I have a degree in computers, but I don't really want to work with computers, wanna try something completely different. I can't imagion it would be much use to me anyway without having a language. It was whilst searching through monster.nl that I noticed a lovely job in the body shop and was hit by the harsh reality that the description was in Dutch and I would most likely need to speak Dutch in order to work there. :rolleyes:

How do you set yourself up without knowing people? Do you leave the country with enough money to keep you going and hope to walk into a job in the tourist industry straight of the bat? or is there a more organised approach that I am missing?

Any successfull or even unsuccessfull stories will be appriciated. Tanks.

kenmc

To work with the public in Holland you would almost certainly need Dutch. If you worked in an office you could get away without it. If you move over you will not need dutch to get around much, as everyone speaks perfect english. i worked in Philips in eindhoven, and the working language was english - that said everyone else talked to each other in dutch, but to me in english.
i went over as part of work, contracted out. i met people through work (they don't generally socialise with work colleagues though) and through rugby. Also my girlf moved over with me and she met some people through work also. If you're willing to work in a call centre there are several (my girlf worked in one near Eindhoven)- that would get you started in english and at the same time you could be learning dutch.
Kenmc

KlodaX

Thanks Kenmc, I've actually been working in callcentres for the past 5 years so that wouldn't be a problem. I don't speak Dutch though, or any other language for that matter. Does your girlfriend speak German?

kenmc

nope, she spoke english, but others there spoke swedish, finnish, german, french, dutch etc - basically they put native speakers on the appropriate lines for that country where possible. a lot of the dutchies were able to double up as dutch, english and sometimes french/german etc.
for what it's worth though I wouldn't live in Eindhoven. Utrecht is nice, Breda is nice, Amsterdam is niceish in places.

KlodaX

I was hoping to go to Amsterdam, myself and bfriend are just back and fell in love with the place. We are both going to try to find jobs. He is more language friendly and picked up a few words in the short 5 days we where there. I'd say getting bar work takes time and persistance .... along with Dutch. Thanks for the info btw. Most helpfull.

dearg_doom

In Amsterdam, you should be able to get a barjob in an Irish pub fairly easily, if you contact a few before you head over you'll be able to guage how easily:)

Similar for waitering, but this is a bit more hit and miss.

KlodaX

I was thinking that dearg_doom ... but I wonder how many others where aswell. I found two Irish bars while I was over there. Should have asked while I was there!

kenmc

if you work in a coffee shop you'll only need english, as the vast majority of Dutchies don't go in there
Yeah an Irish/English bar you'll not really need dutch much, although there were plenty of dutchies in the Irish bars in Eindhoven, so if you can pick it up all the better - i found it quite easy to understand/read, but a bit difficult to speak. Also, dutchies will realise after about 2 seconds that you speak english and switch into it, thus thwarting your best efforts to learn to speak it. There should be plenty of dutch courses around though, GAK is one which springs to mind. It costs a fair bit though. If you can befriend a dutchie in the bar or whatever and get them to teach you then all the better. Get yourself a book called "undutchables" it's a funny yet real insight into the dutch way of life.
There's an cool comedy club in AMS which is called boom-chicago and they're looking for people - dunno if you'd need dutch, but worth an email :http://www.boomchicago.nl/
Oh here's one thing to watch out for. Apartments come in 3 flavours. Unfurnished, semi furnished and furnished. Furnished are expensive, around a grand a month. unfurnished means nothing - no floors, lights, cookers etc etc. Semi furnished you get floors and lights and maybe some electrical appliances. Just be aware of this. AFAIK amsterdam is quite expensive to live in in terms of apts etc. Get a good lock for your bike, else it'll walk away some day.
You will need to get health insurance which is dead handy cos doctors visits are free and prescriptions are free. Also the health system there is the best I've ever experienced. You will need to register with the "foreign police" in order to get a work permit, but it's just a formality. I didn't need to do it cos I was being paid via my Irish company, but my girlf did.
Rotterdam is also quite a nice place too, it's a bit more modern than amsterdam, and there's direct flights from dublin also.
I'll see if I can think of any more details.... PM me if you have any specific questions if you want.
K

Rossonero

U could maybe move to the country you want, get a job in a touristy bar until you've picked up the language and then apply from there?

Tobias Greeshman

I know in amsterdam it can be quite hard to get a good apartment. I knew a girl over there working for the summer and its a case that you sorta need to know the right people to get a good one. But once you do, its fairly ok to get a good apartment.

KlodaX

Tanx for the replies, they have been most helpfull. I've registered with the undutchables for jobs so hopefully something will appear there.

Kenmc... I've no questions as of yet... but as the plan formulates I'm sure I will! Thanks very much for the pm offer, I will take you up on that in the future.