HOW TO GET A JOB IN THE NETHERLANDS – Taking ownership
GETTING A JOB THAT SUITS YOU in the Netherlands requires more than just writing a letter and presenting your CV.
Manon Rouwette explains one of the requirements: TAKING OWNERSHIP…
HOW DO I GET A JOB IN THE NETHERLANDS?
A couple of years ago, my love and I sat in a restaurant.
Immediately after we got seated, the waitress brought us the menu. And while we were puzzling about what to choose for dinner, I could not help overhearing the conversation of the couple next to us.
The couple was complaining about the waitress.
“Obviously, she has not seen us, it looks as she is ignoring us”.
Silently I watched the couple and the waiters. The waiters were very busy. The couple indeed had not received a menu yet while we immediately received ours.
In the beginning I felt a bit sorry for the couple that they did not get a menu and I even felt a bit guilty that we already had received the menu.
In the meantime, we had decided what to eat and we wanted to order, but the couple next to us, still had not receive a menu yet.
They kept on complaining about it: “It is terrible! We still have not got a menu! What is happening here?”
The lady turned to me and said: “ You came in much later and you already have your menu”.
She was right.
“They just do not want to see us!”, the woman kept complaining, expressing her frustration to me but without taking any further action.
My pity slowly turned into a slight feeling of irritation.
Why did not they just stand up and walk to one of the waiters and ask for a menu, instead of just continuing complaining?
Suddenly I got an idea.
I got up on my feet and walked to the waitress. With a very kind smile towards the couple, I said to the waitress, that we would like to order, and I asked her whether it would be possible to -please(!)- bring a menu to the couple.
“They say that they haven’t received a menu yet and they are complaining about it for a while now”, I kindly said, without any judgement about the waitress’ speed of actions.
“We are sitting next to them and are a bit fed up with those complaints.” I told her -in our Dutch directness, but with a very kind smile- 😊.
The waitress immediately said: ‘”Oh, I am sorry, yes, I will bring them the menu of course”, she apologised.
When I returned to my chair the lady next to me said: “Oh, I saw you talking with the waitress. You talked about us, did not you?”
“Yes, I said, -with again that very kind, well meant, smile- “I felt so sorry for you that you still had not received a menu, that I went for asking one for you, so now you can finally order something to eat.”
“Oh”, she said quietly, she apparently did not know what to say anymore, and the waitress brought them the menu.
When the couple finally had received that menu, they did not know what to order.
It took them some time watching the menu and finally they just -only- ordered a coup of soup.
Why do I tell this story?
How to cope with cultural differences, finding a job? Or with Dutch efficiency?
You probably know -and if you do not, you know now-, that “we, Dutch”, try to be very efficient, so to some of us, especially when we are hungry, it can never be too early to bring the menu…
whereas in some cultures -and I like this as well, by the way- going out for dinner is a relaxing, time-consuming experience.
However, it is not this cultural difference I wanted to point out.
WHAT IS IMPORTANT WHEN YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A JOB IN THE NETHERLANDS?
No, it is something else:
there are people who keep complaining about what they miss, about not achieving what they want to achieve, without taking the right, appropriate actions.
HOW DO YOU TAKE THE APPROPRIATE ACTIONS TO GET A JOB IN THE NEHTERLANDS?
In life it is -in my humble opinion and experience- important that we take ownership about our own lives. Taking ownership means that we do not lay back and expect miracles to happen, or that other people will take care of your wishes, it means that we actively take control.
We only have limited influence on what we will meet on our path in life.
However, we do have influence on how to cope with it.
Expressing and sharing our frustration with people near us, can certainly help to a certain extent, of course, in dealing with small and heavy events that impact our lives.
Reaching out for help
Reaching out for help, definitely helps too. I really encourage people to do this. Many people find this very difficult…
What does not help is, complaining and continuing complaining without taking action, waiting at home for the right job to come along, for instance.
Do you recognise this?
Do you take proper action to get that job or to achieve your goal, your career?
I meet many internationals who search for a job that suits them, they really put a lot of effort in it.
However, they do not take the proper action and keep complaining that they are doing things that they do not like to do, that they miss doing what they actually want to do, but who do not take ownership of their own lives.
TAKING OWNERsHIP INCLUDES TAKING ACTION AND TAKING PROPER ACTION in the Dutch way
Taking ownership includes taking action and taking proper action.
And if you want to find a job in The Netherlands you should take proper action in the Dutch way.
I can help you with this: to find a job in the Netherlands that suits you and that is in the Dutch way.
It also includes something else, which I will refer to tomorrow.
Something that is very important but that many people forget.
If you want to know, wait for my next blog.
In the meantime: I can help you take the appropriate steps to get that job that suits you best. Check my programme:
Do you want more information about an individual one-to-one coaching, contact me through this button: