Twijfelen

Preparing for a recruitment event at the beach.

For the past 4 months I have been helping a friend expand his Personnel Placement company into the IT sector. The idea was to continue in his area of expertise (HR/Payroll/Contract Employees/Placement) and expand it into a more strategic role on the IT side. I set up my own company here in Holland, got all the tax information filed with the government, received permission to open a business bank account (probably the hardest of all these tasks), developed a web site, hired employees, brought clients on-board … the whole nine-yards. We’ve had a few successes – nothing earth shattering mind you, but we’ve been chugging along. But I have to admit that I’ve been bored senseless. There has been no strategic work, only assisting with HR requirements for IT personnel. A toad could do it.

Then two weeks ago I met with a new client, and somehow, almost miraculously, the ol’ “fire in the belly” was reignited. I met with the CEO and CIO and we talked about the company’s growth strategy and technology requirements. They took me into the heart of their operations, showing me all the systems under development. It caught me off guard how much I had missed it.

So now I’ve decided to test the waters in the Amsterdam market to see who might be interested in hiring someone like me. I put together an updated CV and took a quick look at the job postings on Monsterboard.nl. There are hundreds of positions….it’s a brutal market right now for employers. I found one particularly interesting one and sent them my CV.

Here comes the point of my story – I got a call from the British recruiter who is handling the position (and placed the advert in English). They said that the hiring company is very interested in my background, but that they require fluency in Dutch.

Godverdomme! Ik kan wel in het Nederlands in het park spreken, maar in een bedrijf? Met zakelijke taal? Daar ben ik niet zeker van.

Well, I lied and told her that I thought I could get by (she spoke no Dutch and was unable to test me) and I arranged a telephone interview with the company on Monday – in Dutch. Needless to say, it will be a stressful weekend. In some ways doing the interview over the phone will be easier because I can have a cheat sheet with definitions next to me, but in other ways the phone is always difficult, especially when the person doesn’t speak clearly and you can’t read body language.

But what the hell, right? You only live once and what is the worst that they can say? Your Dutch sucks? Well, I already knew that…

Wish me luck!

Dan