My personal story
When I moved to the Netherlands 13.5 years ago, like many expats, I saw it as a fresh start. I wasn’t under financial pressure to find work immediately, so I decided to take my time—to explore the job market, vacancies, and opportunities, but also to understand my own needs and wishes.
Before that, I had spent 15 years feeling lost in my career, carrying an ongoing, quite painful sense of meaninglessness. So I thought, this is my chance! I’ll make the most of it.
💡 How wrong I was.
While I was learning Dutch (which, by the way, was an extremely smart move), I slowly but steadily tried everything to find a job that suited me.
🔹 I enrolled in an interior design program and looked for an internship.
🔹 I applied for jobs in fields where I had experience.
🔹 I searched for roles that required Ukrainian language skills.
📉 Nothing worked.
It was the financial crisis. Unemployment was at its highest, even Dutch people struggled to find jobs. It seemed impossible to land a good position without fluent Dutch.
I was desperate. I felt miserable.
I adapted my CV again and again.
I applied to 50+ jobs every week.
I even changed my name to avoid possible biases.
And guess what? Still nothing.
Until…
A Bulgarian friend I met while learning Dutch told me about an opportunity. A friend of a friend was looking for people in a business events company. Did I know anything about business events? Nope.
But…
✅ I spoke fluent English.
✅ I was friendly and eager to work.
✅ She introduced me.
And just like that, I got my first job in the Netherlands. What was meant to be temporary work turned into 6.5 years of an incredible journey. I learned so much about Dutch culture and fell in love with the Netherlands. I worked with people from 100+ different cultures and saw how business really happens here.
Then, everything changed again.
A Dutch colleague joined our team. She knew everyone in the industry.
She observed me for a while, then one day, she took my hand, looked into my eyes, and said:
“I will help you. I like you. You learn Dutch, you’re kind, you work well, and you’re never sick. I’ll introduce you to my network. It benefits me too, because I can recommend good people.”
And she did.
Within weeks, I had several interviews with the biggest players in the market. She kept introducing me to more and more people until my agenda was so full that I had to start turning down projects.
🎉 That’s when I knew—I made it!
I had a great job. Nice colleagues. A stable income. And for the first time in my life, I even felt some sense of fulfillment.
But let’s be honest. It wasn’t just me who “made it.”
It was her—my hardworking, well-connected, amazing Dutch colleague who became my advocate and opened the doors to the Dutch job market for me.
👉 Do you see where I’m going with this?
I can’t stop highlighting how important networking is if you want to find a job in the Netherlands. 7-8 out of 10 jobs are filled via networking—and most of them are never even posted online.
Dear expats, this is your reality:
When you move to a new country, you leave everything behind—including your professional network.
You have to build it from scratch while also facing the pressure of finding work ASAP. It’s not easy. But it is possible to build a network that serves your needs—and the new society you’ve just become a part of.
🔹 What’s your experience with networking in the Netherlands?
🔹 Do you find it easy to connect with new people?
🔹 Or does networking feel draining to you?
I’ll be sharing more tips soon on how to grow your network strategically—without spending years building connections the “organic” way.
