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#Work

Posts tagged Work from the Learn Dutch For Expats team.

A young expat intern with her phone in a southern Dutch street, settling into Maastricht.
Cities & regions

Can You Intern in Maastricht Speaking Only English?

Maastricht is the Netherlands' most international city, and its university runs in English. So can an intern survive on English alone? Here is the honest answer.

Lawrence Arya··4 min
A calm desk with a laptop and coffee, the setting for a Flanders job search that runs on Dutch.
Work & business

Do Flanders Jobs Need Native Dutch? The SME Reality

In Flanders, Dutch is the single biggest barrier to a job, and smaller companies rarely run in English. Here is the honest reality, and the level that opens doors.

Lawrence Arya··5 min
A calm desk with a laptop and documents, the setting for requesting a Dutch VOG certificate.
Government & admin

How to Request Your VOG (Certificate of Good Conduct)

A new Dutch job often needs a VOG, the certificate of good conduct. Here is what it is, how the online request via your employer works, the cost, and the timing.

Lawrence Arya··4 min
A calm desk with a laptop showing a resignation letter, the setting for quitting a Dutch job properly.
Work & business

I Quit: Sending a Formal Ontslag Letter in Dutch

Resigning from a Dutch job means a written notice and the right opzegtermijn. Here is how to quit properly, the notice rules, and a template ontslag letter.

Lawrence Arya··4 min
A calm desk with a laptop and coffee, the setting for registering a freelance business at the KVK.
Work & business

KVK and ZZP: The Dutch Vocab for Going Freelance

Going freelance in the Netherlands means the KVK, a BTW number, and ZZP life. Here is the Dutch vocabulary to register and run your own Netherlands hustle.

Lawrence Arya··4 min
A calm desk with a laptop and coffee, the setting for following a Dutch works council.
Work & business

What Is the OR? Your Dutch Works Council, Explained

Your Dutch employer keeps mentioning the OR. It's the ondernemingsraad, the works council, with real power over company decisions. Here is what it is and does.

Lawrence Arya··4 min
A calm desk with a laptop and coffee, the setting for preparing for a Dutch job assessment and role-play.
Phrases & daily life

Cracking Dutch Assessment Centers: The Role-Play

Dutch employers love the assessment: capacity tests, a personality questionnaire, and a role-play simulation. Here is what to expect and the Dutch that gets you through.

Lawrence Arya··5 min
A calm desk with a laptop and coffee, the setting for building a tech career in the Netherlands with Dutch.
Work & business

Does Dutch Help You Get Promoted in Dutch Tech?

You can land a Dutch tech job in English, but the promotion is another story. Here is how Dutch affects your career ceiling, and the level that actually moves the needle.

Lawrence Arya··5 min
A young expat engineer on a tram passing Dutch buildings, settling into high-tech life in Eindhoven.
Cities & regions

Engineering Dutch: High-Tech Survival in Eindhoven

Eindhoven's Brainport runs on English at work, so why learn Dutch? Because life outside ASML does not. Here is the Dutch that makes an engineer's Eindhoven feel like home.

Lawrence Arya··5 min
A calm desk with a laptop and coffee, the setting for navigating a flat Dutch workplace.
Work & business

How Flat Is Dutch Workplace Hierarchy, Really?

In a Dutch office you call the CEO by first name and openly disagree with your boss. Here is how flat the hierarchy really is, and the Dutch that fits it.

Lawrence Arya··5 min
A calm desk with a laptop and coffee, the setting for preparing an ONA inburgering portfolio in Dutch.
Phrases & daily life

Mastering ONA: Defending Your Inburgering Portfolio

The ONA exit interview asks you to defend eight result cards about working in the Netherlands, in Dutch. Here is the vocabulary that gets you through the eindgesprek.

Lawrence Arya··5 min
A young expat woman on her phone by an Amsterdam window, calling in sick to arrange the bedrijfsarts.
Phrases & daily life

Phoning the Arboarts: Dutch Sick Leave for Expats

Dutch sick leave runs through the bedrijfsarts, not your GP, and a strict legal timeline. Here is what expats must know, and the phrases to protect your rights.

Lawrence Arya··5 min
A calm desk with a laptop and coffee, the setup for filing a Dutch BTW tax return.
Work & business

Doing Your Dutch BTW Tax Return Without Crying

The quarterly BTW return induces the most freelancer dread. It needn't. Here is the rhythm, the 21%/9% rates, the KOR scheme, and the habit that prevents panic.

Lawrence Arya··4 min
A young expat student in a bright hallway with a bike, on the way to an all-Dutch group project meeting.
Students, family & social

How to Be Useful in an All-Dutch Group Assignment

Your course is in English but the group chat is in Dutch. Here is how to be genuinely useful in an all-Dutch group assignment, part language, part strategy.

Lawrence Arya··4 min
A young expat at home with coffee and her phone, drafting a Dutch call-in-sick message.
Work & business

Calling in Sick in Dutch: The Ziekmelden Email

Sick and need to tell your Dutch boss? Here is how ziekmelden works, what you must (and must not) say, and ready-to-use Dutch messages.

Lawrence Arya··5 min
A calm desk with a laptop and coffee, the setup for an international engineer studying in Delft.
Cities & regions

Living in Delft Without Dutch as an Engineer?

TU Delft runs in English and the city is small and welcoming, so you can live here without Dutch. Here is the honest picture of what English-only quietly costs.

Lawrence Arya··4 min
A calm desk with a laptop and coffee, the setup for leading a hybrid Dutch team meeting.
Work & business

Management Dutch: Guiding the Hybrid Zoom Room

Leading a hybrid meeting in Dutch is its own skill. Here is the Dutch meeting culture (polderen), the phrases that run the room, and how to include the remote half.

Lawrence Arya··4 min
A calm desk with a laptop and coffee, the setup for a professional cold call to a Dutch client.
Work & business

Should You Cold-Call Dutch Clients in English?

Reaching Dutch clients by phone? Here are the cold-calling rules, whether to use English or Dutch, and a script that gets past the gatekeeper.

Lawrence Arya··4 min
A laptop and phone on a desk, set up for a Dutch tech team's standup and Slack.
Work & business

Sprint, Scrum, Standup: Dutch for Dev Teams

Dutch tech runs in English, until the standup slips into Dutch. Here are the words and phrases that keep international developers in the loop on a Dutch team.

Lawrence Arya··4 min
A calm desk with a laptop and coffee, the setup for registering a business at the KvK.
Work & business

Step-by-Step Expat Guide to Registering at the KvK

Going freelance in the Netherlands starts at the KvK. Here is the step-by-step guide to registering an eenmanszaak, what you need, and how VAT follows automatically.

Lawrence Arya··4 min
A laptop on a desk showing a chat window, drafting natural Dutch for work Slack.
Work & business

Stop Sounding Like Google Translate in Work Slack

Pasting translated Dutch into work Slack reads as stiff and robotic. Here is how to write short, natural messages your colleagues actually sound like.

Lawrence Arya··5 min