Challenges Applying Abroad for Dual EU US Citizen

Last activity 24 October 2018 by Johnkuhn

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JohnkuhnMember21 October 2018 18:56:56

Hallo Allemaal,

What a great resource this forum is. I am happy to have found you all and hoping for some advice.

I am currently employed and live in Seattle, WA, USA and have been passively applying for jobs at multinationals in the Netherlands in my line of work for about a year. I hold an EU passport and am extremely interested in relocating in or around Amsterdam. I have put lots of work into my resume (for local use), but also continually go back to ensure I have a customized version to serve as a solid CV when applying for jobs in the Netherlands/Europe.

I have yet to have even one company show interest or decline me personally. When navigating through the application portals that most larger companies use (e.g. Taleo, Workday, etc.), you are simply asked to provide your primary contact/residency information with no way to give additional detail. I, of course, live in the States, and am starting to get concerned that this is step is what is sinking my prospects. Are companies inferring that I am not an EU national and don’t want to get involved in a messy process?

Am I overthinking this? How have other EU nationals living outside the EU ensured that prospective companies know they are employable in the EU?

John

CynicUK / Netherlands Expert21 October 2018 19:31:29

7653

Hi John and welcome to the Forum.

It's not the fact that you are an American; they treat all in the same way; basically, unless you have a very special/unique skill-set, you'll find it very difficult to attract any attention to yourself from the US; the moment the recruiting agents realise that you can't start work tomorrow and don't speak Dutch, they rapidly lose interest in you.

If you have that special skill, you'll be amazed at how quickly they will get you to Holland.

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team

JohnkuhnMember24 October 2018 14:15:02

Thanks Cynic,

As much as I wish I could just got for it, I think the smartest thing is to seek out an MNC in Seattle that has an office in NL. Although I think I’m good at what I do, it’s very easy to convince yourself that there are countless people with your same qualifications in Amsterdam locally. One step at a time, I suppose.

CynicUK / Netherlands Expert24 October 2018 15:22:03

7653

What do you do?

JohnkuhnMember24 October 2018 16:52:21

In short: Change management. I am a Program Manager of a few tracks of work within a business unit of the retail company I work for: Loyalty, Gift Card, Store Process Optimization.

My work is oriented more on the humanities/soft-sciences side. My impression is that core technical skills and careers in STEM seem to be the vehicle to get folks moved.

CynicUK / Netherlands Expert24 October 2018 17:15:23

7653

An internal transfer would certainly be the easiest route. I wish you the best of luck in your journey.

JohnkuhnMember24 October 2018 17:23:37

You as well.

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