The Dutch Job Search Mistake Most Expats Make. Thryve Career Studio

If you have been applying and not hearing back, you are probably not alone. It is one of the most common experiences expats describe when they first start their job search in the Netherlands. And most of the time, the CV is not the real problem.

The Netherlands is a different kind of market

Most expats arrive with a job search approach that worked somewhere else. Send applications, wait for responses, repeat. It is a reasonable strategy in many markets. In the Netherlands, it tends to produce a lot of silence.

This market has its own rhythm. Its own unwritten rules around how hiring actually happens, how decisions get made and what signals interest versus what signals a lack of preparation. Those rules are learnable, but they are rarely obvious from the outside.

The expats who find their footing here fastest are usually not the most qualified. They are the ones who took the time to understand how this market actually works before throwing applications at it.

What tends to go wrong

It is rarely one thing. It is usually a combination of a CV that was not adapted for this market, a search that is too broad, a LinkedIn profile that does not support the story being told and an approach that relies too heavily on job boards while overlooking how many roles here are filled through other channels entirely.

None of it is a reflection of your ability or your potential. It is mostly a question of market fit, and market fit is something you can work on.

Where to start

Before changing your CV or updating your LinkedIn, it helps to step back and look at the full picture. What does the Dutch market actually look like in your sector? Who are the employers worth targeting? What does a strong application look like here, specifically?

Getting that context first changes everything that comes after it.

✦ Want to understand this market properly?

Start with the full picture before your next application.

The NL Career Orientation Handbook covers how this market works, who is hiring and what a strong approach looks like here.

See where to start →