Whether to start your career in the Netherlands or back in your home country after graduating from TU Delft is a question that all foreign students must answer at some point during their studies in Delft.
Delen
So, what to do? Look for job or PhD position in the Netherlands? And if yes, where do you start and what does it involve? A recent TU Delft graduate assesses the current career opportunities open to foreign students in the Netherlands.
Are you tired of struggling with the difficult Dutch language and ready to return home? Or are you now used to the inclement Dutch weather and eager to start your professional career here? As recently as a couple years ago, it was very difficult if not impossible for most foreign students to find professional positions in the Netherlands, because the economy was stagnant and many Dutch companies had consequently postponed their future investments.
Nowadays, however, with the Dutch economy stronger and a shortage of engineers on the Dutch labor market, you now have a much better chance of finding a job here. The Netherlands needs engineers in many sectors, especially in offshore and petroleum engineering, mechanical and civil engineering, and software and chemical engineering. However, it should be noted that there aren’t shortages in every sector: even Dutch graduates in management and architecture often struggle find suitable jobs in their chosen fields.
Whether the Netherlands provides good opportunities for foreign student graduates can also depend on the situation in your home country. For example, the telecommunications sector is rapidly developing in China, and therefore companies like China’s Huawei Technologies now have many well-paid vacancies for engineers. Conversely, foreign students studying microelectronics are in great demand in the Netherlands, especially by Philips, which has signed many foreign microelectronics graduates to contracts in recent years.
Clearly, future career opportunities depend on the type of the industry your in. On October 20, TU Delft organized a one-day offshore engineering symposium, which attracted leadig companies, like Shell, BP and Fugro N.V. Although the symposium’s focus was the offshore industry, the Dutch business leaders present, like Rein Willems (CEO, Shell Netherlands), spoke positively of the contributions their companies now expect from foreign students educated at Dutch universities.
Mr. G.J. Kramer (former CEO, Fugro) strongly advised students to finish their MSc. education before starting at a company.
Dutch companies also particularly value graduates who have some previous working experience, and Mr. Paul Hamm (Heerema) even stated that his company “will not consider hiring someone who has no internship experience.”
PhD positions
Many foreign MSc graduates have since gone on to start PhD projects in the Netherlands. PhD studies are highly valued in the Netherlands: PhD candidates here earn a good salary, while their PhD colleagues in England, China, Japan and many other countries must find scholarships or pay the tuition fees themselves.
The Dutch government also supports PhD research by refunding expenses incurred in attending (international) conferences. Moreover, Dutch PhD projects usually last for at least four years, while in many other countries the research needs to be completed in three years.
To obtain a PhD position in the Netherlands, you need to achieve high grades (usually an average grade of eight) in your undergraduate studies. Moreover, it’s usually not possible to continue your MSc project into a PhD project; therefore, you must be flexible when looking for PhD positions and be willing to accept a project focus that is perhaps quite different from your MSc studies.
For both academic careers and careers in industry, you should also acquire a firm grasp of the Dutch language, as this will not only benefit your social life, but, more importantly, increase your opportunities for future promotions within a predominately Dutch organization.
Job information
Job information is everywhere at TU Delft, although some of it is more geared toward Dutch students. The TU’s ‘Company Day (Bedrijvendag) is a good occasion for foreign and Dutch TU students to meet prospective employers, gather contact information and network.
The various faculties also offer specifically focused job information. Civil Engineering for example offers a book entitled, ‘Civiel Profiel 2006‘, which includes information and contact details for many engineering companies. Since non-Dutch speaking foreign students need to work in an English-language environment, large companies provide better opportunities. An open application letter and accompanying CV almost always results in an invitation for interview.
Some companies also give substantial bonuses to employees who successfully recruit a new employee; therefore, if your first contact with a company is through one of their employees, you can often bypass some of the personnel department procedures. In addition, the Dutch job searching website ‘Nationalevacaturebank’ has more local vacancies than the English-language ‘Monster Board’.
If your starting salary at a Dutch company will be 33,000 euros or more per year, you are classified as a ‘knowledge immigrant’ and can begin working without delay. Nowadays, given the labor market shortages, many more Dutch companies are willing to pay this salary for a talented starting engineer.
Job agencies or ‘uitzendbureaus‘ that send people for short periods to different companies are very active in recruiting new employees. In this case, the employer pays the job agency, and the job agency then pays the salary of the employee. However, because the job agencies take their commissions from your salary, the salary you ultimately receive may not be sufficient to qualify you as a 33,000 euro per year knowledge immigrant.
Wherever you decide to start your career, it does not need to be your final destination. There are now many more job opportunities for foreign university graduates in the Netherlands, and you’ll probably be pleasantly surprised to discover that your knowledge and skills are now highly prized here in the Lowlands.
Wenjing Xia (Civil Engineering) graduated from TU Delft in June 2006. After three months of job searching, she recently signed a contract with a Dutch company.
Photo: Sam Rentmeester/FMAX)
Are you tired of struggling with the difficult Dutch language and ready to return home? Or are you now used to the inclement Dutch weather and eager to start your professional career here? As recently as a couple years ago, it was very difficult if not impossible for most foreign students to find professional positions in the Netherlands, because the economy was stagnant and many Dutch companies had consequently postponed their future investments.
Nowadays, however, with the Dutch economy stronger and a shortage of engineers on the Dutch labor market, you now have a much better chance of finding a job here. The Netherlands needs engineers in many sectors, especially in offshore and petroleum engineering, mechanical and civil engineering, and software and chemical engineering. However, it should be noted that there aren’t shortages in every sector: even Dutch graduates in management and architecture often struggle find suitable jobs in their chosen fields.
Whether the Netherlands provides good opportunities for foreign student graduates can also depend on the situation in your home country. For example, the telecommunications sector is rapidly developing in China, and therefore companies like China’s Huawei Technologies now have many well-paid vacancies for engineers. Conversely, foreign students studying microelectronics are in great demand in the Netherlands, especially by Philips, which has signed many foreign microelectronics graduates to contracts in recent years.
Clearly, future career opportunities depend on the type of the industry your in. On October 20, TU Delft organized a one-day offshore engineering symposium, which attracted leadig companies, like Shell, BP and Fugro N.V. Although the symposium’s focus was the offshore industry, the Dutch business leaders present, like Rein Willems (CEO, Shell Netherlands), spoke positively of the contributions their companies now expect from foreign students educated at Dutch universities.
Mr. G.J. Kramer (former CEO, Fugro) strongly advised students to finish their MSc. education before starting at a company.
Dutch companies also particularly value graduates who have some previous working experience, and Mr. Paul Hamm (Heerema) even stated that his company “will not consider hiring someone who has no internship experience.”
PhD positions
Many foreign MSc graduates have since gone on to start PhD projects in the Netherlands. PhD studies are highly valued in the Netherlands: PhD candidates here earn a good salary, while their PhD colleagues in England, China, Japan and many other countries must find scholarships or pay the tuition fees themselves.
The Dutch government also supports PhD research by refunding expenses incurred in attending (international) conferences. Moreover, Dutch PhD projects usually last for at least four years, while in many other countries the research needs to be completed in three years.
To obtain a PhD position in the Netherlands, you need to achieve high grades (usually an average grade of eight) in your undergraduate studies. Moreover, it’s usually not possible to continue your MSc project into a PhD project; therefore, you must be flexible when looking for PhD positions and be willing to accept a project focus that is perhaps quite different from your MSc studies.
For both academic careers and careers in industry, you should also acquire a firm grasp of the Dutch language, as this will not only benefit your social life, but, more importantly, increase your opportunities for future promotions within a predominately Dutch organization.
Job information
Job information is everywhere at TU Delft, although some of it is more geared toward Dutch students. The TU’s ‘Company Day (Bedrijvendag) is a good occasion for foreign and Dutch TU students to meet prospective employers, gather contact information and network.
The various faculties also offer specifically focused job information. Civil Engineering for example offers a book entitled, ‘Civiel Profiel 2006‘, which includes information and contact details for many engineering companies. Since non-Dutch speaking foreign students need to work in an English-language environment, large companies provide better opportunities. An open application letter and accompanying CV almost always results in an invitation for interview.
Some companies also give substantial bonuses to employees who successfully recruit a new employee; therefore, if your first contact with a company is through one of their employees, you can often bypass some of the personnel department procedures. In addition, the Dutch job searching website ‘Nationalevacaturebank’ has more local vacancies than the English-language ‘Monster Board’.
If your starting salary at a Dutch company will be 33,000 euros or more per year, you are classified as a ‘knowledge immigrant’ and can begin working without delay. Nowadays, given the labor market shortages, many more Dutch companies are willing to pay this salary for a talented starting engineer.
Job agencies or ‘uitzendbureaus‘ that send people for short periods to different companies are very active in recruiting new employees. In this case, the employer pays the job agency, and the job agency then pays the salary of the employee. However, because the job agencies take their commissions from your salary, the salary you ultimately receive may not be sufficient to qualify you as a 33,000 euro per year knowledge immigrant.
Wherever you decide to start your career, it does not need to be your final destination. There are now many more job opportunities for foreign university graduates in the Netherlands, and you’ll probably be pleasantly surprised to discover that your knowledge and skills are now highly prized here in the Lowlands.
Wenjing Xia (Civil Engineering) graduated from TU Delft in June 2006. After three months of job searching, she recently signed a contract with a Dutch company.
Photo: Sam Rentmeester/FMAX)
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