That is a question many international students ask themselves as they prepare for life after TU Delft. Martin Stehouwer, an Intellectual Property manager at Philips Semiconductors in Nijmegen, discusses the expectations and attitudes that predominate in Dutch industry when it comes to employing international student graduates.
As a top manager at Philips Semiconductors and alumnus of TU Delft, Martin Stehouwer knows exactly what Dutch companies are looking for in the university graduates who are looking for good engineering jobs in the Netherlands. Stehouwer began his professional career as a Philips design engineer in 1995, before moving on to project leadership, project management, and currently intellectual property management. Stehouwer is an accomplished techno-manager and has served Philips in multiple locations, including as far east as Taiwan and Tokyo.
What has made many native Dutch students sidestep engineering in recent years?
“I think much of it has to do with the image associated with engineering. Many students seem to see it as a profession that demands lots of hard work, and that engineering is much more difficult than other disciplines, like business administration. It’s purely a matter of perception, but it’s created a very threatening problem for Dutch industry. Because we’re now facing an acute shortage of good local engineers, we’re forced to scout for engineers in other countries.”
What are your thoughts on the engineers that do come from local Dutch universities?
“I see that the standard has been dropping steadily. There’s a world of a difference between being theoretically good, and translating theory learnt from textbooks into practical applications. It’s this ability that I see deteriorating the most of late. Students would do well to engage themselves in as much hands-on design work as possible. This was the objective of the post-master’s or TWAIO program.”
Isn’t that also where industry comes in: to practically train students?
“To a certain extent, but the cost to a company is unbearable if we have to do quite a lot. We even discount new recruits with less than 6 months of experience in our project budgeting, and any longer than that would be too much of a load for a company to bear.”
But would industry prefer generalists or specialists?
“While we need people with a hands-on approach, we indeed prefer semi-generalists to hardcore specialists. Most projects are driven by customer requirements, and there’s no telling what shape that’ll take after a few months. Employees must adapt to slightly different fields, and still deliver.”
Outside of technical aspects, do you believe that a prospective foreign colleague should take the time and effort to imbibe Dutch culture and language?
“Yes. Many companies make the effort to meet the needs of immigrant engineers, and the ‘kennismigrant’ [knowledge migrant] should meet the company’s efforts halfway. It’s important that there is no culture clash in the workplace. Immigrants should understand our way of working, and our way of life.”
But does a job applicant fluent in Dutch have an overbearing advantage over someone who doesn’t speak Dutch?
“No, not really. But we really like people to be very comfortable with English, as most teams are quite international, and you might have to talk to people in Bangalore, Hamburg, Shanghai, the US, etc. However, besides that, the technical skills come first.”
How long would you expect an immigrant employee to stay in a company before looking for prospects elsewhere?
“We definitely need to recover the investment we make in our new employees . including work permit and relocation costs. I’d expect a new recruit to serve for something like 4 or 5 years.”
Do you feel that, in some sense, international students or employees should be grateful for the opportunity to having a better a life here, and really have no right to complain if they find conditions here not so conducive?
“Not at all! Given our present circumstances, we’re the ones who are appreciative of those who make the effort of moving here to work. We even have to send scout teams abroad to canvas for applicants. Furthermore, we’re aware that most ‘knowledge migrants’ are here mainly for the experience, and not because they were suffering back home.”
Finally, what advice would you give to an international student aiming to start a career in Dutch industry?
“In addition to acquiring a solid technical base and excellent communication skills, acquiring a sense of comfort with the Dutch work culture is very important. Students must learn to work in international teams, and in this, universities can play a major role in fostering teamwork by providing students with opportunities to work together on projects. Having a case-study approach is the key to being competent in the workplace. Finally, develop an inquisitive attitude. Never work blindly without a complete understanding of what you’re doing: it’s not stupid if you don’t understand, but it’s indeed very stupid not to clarify!”
As a top manager at Philips Semiconductors and alumnus of TU Delft, Martin Stehouwer knows exactly what Dutch companies are looking for in the university graduates who are looking for good engineering jobs in the Netherlands. Stehouwer began his professional career as a Philips design engineer in 1995, before moving on to project leadership, project management, and currently intellectual property management. Stehouwer is an accomplished techno-manager and has served Philips in multiple locations, including as far east as Taiwan and Tokyo.
What has made many native Dutch students sidestep engineering in recent years?
“I think much of it has to do with the image associated with engineering. Many students seem to see it as a profession that demands lots of hard work, and that engineering is much more difficult than other disciplines, like business administration. It’s purely a matter of perception, but it’s created a very threatening problem for Dutch industry. Because we’re now facing an acute shortage of good local engineers, we’re forced to scout for engineers in other countries.”
What are your thoughts on the engineers that do come from local Dutch universities?
“I see that the standard has been dropping steadily. There’s a world of a difference between being theoretically good, and translating theory learnt from textbooks into practical applications. It’s this ability that I see deteriorating the most of late. Students would do well to engage themselves in as much hands-on design work as possible. This was the objective of the post-master’s or TWAIO program.”
Isn’t that also where industry comes in: to practically train students?
“To a certain extent, but the cost to a company is unbearable if we have to do quite a lot. We even discount new recruits with less than 6 months of experience in our project budgeting, and any longer than that would be too much of a load for a company to bear.”
But would industry prefer generalists or specialists?
“While we need people with a hands-on approach, we indeed prefer semi-generalists to hardcore specialists. Most projects are driven by customer requirements, and there’s no telling what shape that’ll take after a few months. Employees must adapt to slightly different fields, and still deliver.”
Outside of technical aspects, do you believe that a prospective foreign colleague should take the time and effort to imbibe Dutch culture and language?
“Yes. Many companies make the effort to meet the needs of immigrant engineers, and the ‘kennismigrant’ [knowledge migrant] should meet the company’s efforts halfway. It’s important that there is no culture clash in the workplace. Immigrants should understand our way of working, and our way of life.”
But does a job applicant fluent in Dutch have an overbearing advantage over someone who doesn’t speak Dutch?
“No, not really. But we really like people to be very comfortable with English, as most teams are quite international, and you might have to talk to people in Bangalore, Hamburg, Shanghai, the US, etc. However, besides that, the technical skills come first.”
How long would you expect an immigrant employee to stay in a company before looking for prospects elsewhere?
“We definitely need to recover the investment we make in our new employees . including work permit and relocation costs. I’d expect a new recruit to serve for something like 4 or 5 years.”
Do you feel that, in some sense, international students or employees should be grateful for the opportunity to having a better a life here, and really have no right to complain if they find conditions here not so conducive?
“Not at all! Given our present circumstances, we’re the ones who are appreciative of those who make the effort of moving here to work. We even have to send scout teams abroad to canvas for applicants. Furthermore, we’re aware that most ‘knowledge migrants’ are here mainly for the experience, and not because they were suffering back home.”
Finally, what advice would you give to an international student aiming to start a career in Dutch industry?
“In addition to acquiring a solid technical base and excellent communication skills, acquiring a sense of comfort with the Dutch work culture is very important. Students must learn to work in international teams, and in this, universities can play a major role in fostering teamwork by providing students with opportunities to work together on projects. Having a case-study approach is the key to being competent in the workplace. Finally, develop an inquisitive attitude. Never work blindly without a complete understanding of what you’re doing: it’s not stupid if you don’t understand, but it’s indeed very stupid not to clarify!”
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