More than 16 yeas ago me my friend Judith started this venture in an Amstelveen attic. She had worked in London as a recruiter and had observed how multilingual job agencies were very common there. When she returned to The Netherlands she started to work with a company that used to be one of her clients. This company focused on working with multilingual professionals but had trouble finding them and there was not an agency at that time doing this kind of business in The Netherlands. So we decided to give it and go and start our own multilingual agency. It was quite easy to start and we took a nice start up course at the KvK that helped a lot.
How do you see the purpose of the company has changed or evolved during this 16 years?
When we started Undutchables the highest demand of multilingual speakers came from customer service jobs. Candidates expected for these jobs, more than possessing certain skills, where required to be proficient in 2 or 3, even 4 languages. The focus was on the languages spoken not on other competences. Since 10 years ago we have been observing a shift in this tendency. While speaking at the minimum English and some times another language is, of course, still a requirement, what the companies want to find above all is a person with the right skills and whose personality matches the vision of the company. So nowadays at Undutchables our emphasis is to find the right people for the right employer. For example sometimes we meet a candidate that we think is perfect material for certain company but the skills or experience on the CV may not be 100% exactly what the company demanded. We still send them through. We explain that according to our perception this is someone that the company should interview because he or she could be a potential asset for them.
How is contact with candidates maintained?
We send a mailing every 6 weeks to our candidates to find out about their current situation and to let them know that we are still looking for a position that suits them. Of course our desire is to find a job for everyone but unfortunately that is a goal impossible to fully achieve! We also offer different kinds of workshops like CV writing and socializing drinks, the latter to give candidates the possibility to meet other people, expand their network and give them a taste of the Dutch working culture.
Which industries and functional areas have a greater demand for international professionals?
IT, sales and finance jobs have the biggest demand, specially finance. There is a shortage in finance professionals in Holland. On the other hand, nowadays is also possible to see an increase in the request of non Dutch professionals to fill in high level executive positions because of the enrichment of the company culture and because certain world wide experience within the company is wanted.
What is the balance between permanent and temporary contracts offered to international workers?
Around 90% of the jobs start as temporary contracts that eventually end up as permanent contracts with the company. In our case, 80 % of the temporary contracts are done through Undutchables but afterwards getting a contract directly with the company. The other 20% gets contracts from the beginning coming straight from the company. It basically depends in the company culture.
How would you advise expats looking for work or for a career change in The Netherlands to best go about their search?
Inform yourself using the internet about living in The Netherlands, working permits, and other practicalities. And give special importance to learn about cultural differences. I lived in Germany and Belgium and even though they are so close to The Netherlands they are totally different cultures especially in relation to the working culture. This will help you when adjusting your CV, attending an interview, etc. So inform yourself but don’t loose your personality, you should be yourself at all times and HR managers will appreciate that!
What challenges did you encounter over the past 16 years of owning a recruitment agency in Holland and how did you deal with those challenges?
The last couple of years we have seen an increasing number of negative beliefs and comments about foreigners living in The Netherlands resonating mainly in the media and politics. We are very struck by these negative positions because that does not relate to what we have experienced while working with foreigners. In fact, the people Undutchables works with are very motivated and brave about their decision of coming here and wanting to start a new life, which is not easy. This is a very different picture to what you see in the media. I personally find expats to be a great a value for Holland and the cultural diversity that they bring is even more positive. This why we started the Expat awards, aiming to share a positive view by making visible constructive actions undertaken by foreigners living in Holland. We had the need to say it out loud!
