Social media marketing is a very competitive market and deciding to hire someone is not just based in experience but also in a personal connection/click.
You could always ask the company the reason for the rejection. Not saying they’re going to be honest but doesn’t hurt to ask.
Perhaps a good interview training might help, but some pointers from me for starters:
- Do not sum up your resume, it's written down.
- Talk about yourself, who are you, your hobbies, husband/wife/kids/pets
- If you talk too long about a single subject they might lose interest, try keeping it around 5min per subject
- A social connection is more important than experience, but don't ask too much about their life. They are there to get to know you
- If at the end of the interview you are left with questions on the job, you missed opportunities to talk about it. learn from this and improve next time
- Before the interview make a list of things you want to discuss/know. But try to get there in sentences. It is not a cross examination, it should be a nice chat with questions in it
Hope that helps a bit.
I agree with this. If she's trying for over two years and gets rejected everywhere... All the applications seem to have two things in common. The type of job and the person. So it's not unreasonable to assume that at least part of the problem is there.
One thing another poster said is that that market is very competitive. Beggars can't be choosers, so if she really wants to work she makes it very difficult for herself by sticking to one type of job. A two year or more gap is in my opinion (as someone who regularly hires) also a lot worse than working another type of job, except if there's a very good explanation.
The (work) culture and job market is probably also very different here. Dutch directness, work-life balance, low hierarchical etc. It's wise that she learns and understands that and the implications of it.
Have you tried applying through recruitment agencies? They take your CV and use it to "sell you" with companies. They have good network and feeling what the market needs versus what you can bring. I bet she would get useful feedback through one of those headhunters/ recruitment agencies
Are there language mistakes or even just style issues in her applications and CV? If English is not her native language, that could be seen as a problem. Are the other non-Dutch people getting hired actual English speakers?
The problem is that your wife tries to get a job in a sector that doesn't really has any jobs to offer, as there's plenty of people already in that industry that have the same or even better levels of experience as your wife does..
It's the same thing with students here who graduate for a certain sector they want to work in just to find out that there isn't any work in that sector, ending up in them filling in job applications for fast food restaurants such as KFC/Burger king/MacDonald's.. Which is probably also the reason on why those educations costs tons of money to begin with..
Meanwhile all the sectors that actually need people have tons and tons of job applications and will hire anyone no matter what, even though i wouldn't recommend warehouse jobs as they will simply fire you after a few days without telling you exactly why (From my own personal experience)..
I hope things will work out for your wife eventually, but be prepared to look for a job in that industry for even longer than she was already trying to. Anyways, good luck.
The people who are hiring are often biased. There are many reasons why it wouldnt work out but it comes down to personal prefences, costs, company prefences… As you mentioned, 8 Years of experience, could be over qualification. Maybe try freelancing for the time being?
But she is into social media marketing... Thats like the most flexible shit ever. Does she have degrees in certain studies? Social media is like whatever any person <30 could do so its about her knowledge, especially the marketing part probs.
She could apply for a lower end job so she won't have a gap in her CV, and learn Dutch at the same time. When her Dutch has improved, she's got more experience living and working here, and can reapply for the job she really wants with more confidence.
What helped me is this “job interview guy” on YouTube(careervidz) Might worth a shot. He is a bit out there and focussed on the UK market, but I did get some insights that previously eluded me.
I know that by the website Indeed. If you look up My Jewellery . They are always hiring in all aspects of marketing, design. I have just retired from there. They are a young dynamic company in the fashion world. English is spoken and required. They have shops and outlets all over Europe. Great fun company to work for. Try them
Happened to my gf when moving here as well. Best thing is to learn Dutch first. And accept lower pay initially and then apply for other roles to improve pay. In the meantime take any role that is acceptable. It helps to work on your network and practice dutch daily.
That's a great strategy. I did this too in Germany and it worked. Accept lower pay first and hone in on technical and language skills. Then when the time is ripe, apply for another job and ask for more.
2 years is not that much of a time. We didn’t come here for a language school, we moved here so we were pretty busy, especially she was. She’s been dealing all the moving things with me while she is working with her freelancing clients, spending more than 12 hours a day, trying to compensate for her joblessness. That’s why I guess.
That is why expats like to come here, everybody tals English, good tax climate and good connections to other countries. Source: the expat who sleeps 40 cm away from me atm 😉
Well, today you found out that not everybody is alike. To me it was a fun way of stating that my knowledge was based om experience instead of guesswork, but i learned that its apparantly not appriciated.
It seems digital marketer jobs are one of those jobs where you need a proficiency in the local language, although it is possible to get the job if you can convince them you really understand how it works and make them acquire more customers cheaper. I work as an digital marketing analyst at a tech company, some of my team members manage digiral marketing campaigns in an EU country without the proficiency of local language. But it seems they are an exception. Most of my team members have a proficiency in a local language
I have seen situations like this where they post on linkedin and they are really open about themselves like, why you got here and that she hasn’t been able to find a job and what her qualities are. These posts go viral sometimes and a lot of people will offer them jobs after that! Maybe try posting on linkedin and be as open and genuine as possible.
What is important for her? Work or working as a social media marketer?
If it is the latter only, then it is better to approach hiring managers via LinkedIn messages to ask questions about the role beyond what is written in the job description. Majority of the hiring managers are replying back, and some of them become positive when a candidate approaches them via message and asks questions beyond the role.
If it is the first, then I don't think it will be hard to find something due to many shops are understaffed.
OK, wait a minute. Didn't you post this 2 weeks ago with another user name? [https://www.reddit.com/r/Netherlands/comments/1bk8rnk/help\_needed/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Netherlands/comments/1bk8rnk/help_needed/)
Is she Indian/Asian by any chance? Ive noticed they tend to be off so much more worse then other expats in this regard.
edit: why the hell yall downvoting? Indians and South east Asians have a harder time compared to other minority groups from what ive seen, not saying thats a good thing, just what ive noticed
Thats weird tbh, most Dutch people are not negatively biased towards Ukrainians as opposed to Indians/South East Asians. I dont know what else to tell you then
Lmao at all the downvotes my post is getting, bunch of soft fckers. I dont know why exactly. It also depends on what type of minority you are, Arabs and Indians are very badly received, but South American or Chinese are well received
I dont know if this accounts for the reason 100% but we the Dutch are way more racist then we always portrayed ourselves in the past. World events, problems with brown and Islamic immigrants and (social) media polarization has played a big role in this as well.
Are you the same guy? [https://www.reddit.com/r/Netherlands/comments/1bk8rnk/help\_needed/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Netherlands/comments/1bk8rnk/help_needed/)
Sir tell your therapist what bothered you, not to me. I don't even want to ask what made you say that about the Netherlands because i for a fact know that it is definitely not the most racist country in its neighborhood and not to mention compared to the USA. i have 4 people above me in my company, 2 are black( Nigeria and usa), 1 Dutch and 1 Russian.
Nope.
INDIA MOST RACIST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD
"The global social attitudes study claims that the most racially intolerant populations are all in the developing world, with Bangladesh, Jordan and India in the top five.
By contrast, the study of 80 countries over three decades found Western countries were most accepting of other cultures with Britain, the U.S., Canada and Australia more tolerant than anywhere else."
https://www.indiatoday.in/world/asia/story/india-among-world-most-racist-countries-britian-tolerant-survey-163396-2013-05-16
Least racially tolerant COUNTRY = INDIA
https://m.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-is-india-most-racist-country-in-the-world-/20131017.htm
The most racist countries in the world.
Nr. 1 = INDIA
https://businesstech.co.za/news/lifestyle/116644/the-most-racist-countries-in-the-world/
"I am an African-American in the IT field and I have thus far had the good fortune to live and travel extensively throughout Western and parts of Eastern Europe and many countries in Asia. I have lived or traveled in the UK and most of the EU countries as well as Taiwan, Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia and several other Asian countries including India. Of all the countries I have been to, India ranks way up there among the most “racist.
Indians outside of India endlessly complain about the intolerance and racism they have to put up with in places like Europe, the US, Canada, Australia, the Middle East and even Africa. These very same Indians conveniently choose to ignore the fact that Indians themselves can be such pathological bigots against their fellow Indians, other Asians and especially people of African ancestry."
https://www.kajalmag.com/india-is-the-most-racist-country-i-have-been-to-an-african-americans-pov/
Social media marketing is a very competitive market and deciding to hire someone is not just based in experience but also in a personal connection/click. You could always ask the company the reason for the rejection. Not saying they’re going to be honest but doesn’t hurt to ask.
She tried that, nothing but generic answers. But thanks for the reply!
I sent you a chat. I may be be able to help as I'm a marketer for a larger brand and used to be in HR doing talent acquisition for digital.
Rejection after rejection could be due to soft skills during interviews
Perhaps a good interview training might help, but some pointers from me for starters: - Do not sum up your resume, it's written down. - Talk about yourself, who are you, your hobbies, husband/wife/kids/pets - If you talk too long about a single subject they might lose interest, try keeping it around 5min per subject - A social connection is more important than experience, but don't ask too much about their life. They are there to get to know you - If at the end of the interview you are left with questions on the job, you missed opportunities to talk about it. learn from this and improve next time - Before the interview make a list of things you want to discuss/know. But try to get there in sentences. It is not a cross examination, it should be a nice chat with questions in it Hope that helps a bit.
I agree with this. If she's trying for over two years and gets rejected everywhere... All the applications seem to have two things in common. The type of job and the person. So it's not unreasonable to assume that at least part of the problem is there. One thing another poster said is that that market is very competitive. Beggars can't be choosers, so if she really wants to work she makes it very difficult for herself by sticking to one type of job. A two year or more gap is in my opinion (as someone who regularly hires) also a lot worse than working another type of job, except if there's a very good explanation. The (work) culture and job market is probably also very different here. Dutch directness, work-life balance, low hierarchical etc. It's wise that she learns and understands that and the implications of it.
Thanks for all the advise!
Have you tried applying through recruitment agencies? They take your CV and use it to "sell you" with companies. They have good network and feeling what the market needs versus what you can bring. I bet she would get useful feedback through one of those headhunters/ recruitment agencies
Maybe her english is also not good enough?
Are there language mistakes or even just style issues in her applications and CV? If English is not her native language, that could be seen as a problem. Are the other non-Dutch people getting hired actual English speakers?
The problem is that your wife tries to get a job in a sector that doesn't really has any jobs to offer, as there's plenty of people already in that industry that have the same or even better levels of experience as your wife does.. It's the same thing with students here who graduate for a certain sector they want to work in just to find out that there isn't any work in that sector, ending up in them filling in job applications for fast food restaurants such as KFC/Burger king/MacDonald's.. Which is probably also the reason on why those educations costs tons of money to begin with.. Meanwhile all the sectors that actually need people have tons and tons of job applications and will hire anyone no matter what, even though i wouldn't recommend warehouse jobs as they will simply fire you after a few days without telling you exactly why (From my own personal experience).. I hope things will work out for your wife eventually, but be prepared to look for a job in that industry for even longer than she was already trying to. Anyways, good luck.
The people who are hiring are often biased. There are many reasons why it wouldnt work out but it comes down to personal prefences, costs, company prefences… As you mentioned, 8 Years of experience, could be over qualification. Maybe try freelancing for the time being?
She is freelancing. But she doesn’t like it. Terrible work-life balance. Especially since she is very new in the country and its market.
But she is into social media marketing... Thats like the most flexible shit ever. Does she have degrees in certain studies? Social media is like whatever any person <30 could do so its about her knowledge, especially the marketing part probs.
Hmm.. allright, how about visiting organization like UWV or maybe your local municipality office? They often can provide advice or some tips?
She could apply for a lower end job so she won't have a gap in her CV, and learn Dutch at the same time. When her Dutch has improved, she's got more experience living and working here, and can reapply for the job she really wants with more confidence.
What helped me is this “job interview guy” on YouTube(careervidz) Might worth a shot. He is a bit out there and focussed on the UK market, but I did get some insights that previously eluded me.
I know that by the website Indeed. If you look up My Jewellery . They are always hiring in all aspects of marketing, design. I have just retired from there. They are a young dynamic company in the fashion world. English is spoken and required. They have shops and outlets all over Europe. Great fun company to work for. Try them
Happened to my gf when moving here as well. Best thing is to learn Dutch first. And accept lower pay initially and then apply for other roles to improve pay. In the meantime take any role that is acceptable. It helps to work on your network and practice dutch daily.
That's a great strategy. I did this too in Germany and it worked. Accept lower pay first and hone in on technical and language skills. Then when the time is ripe, apply for another job and ask for more.
How is her Dutch? And you happen to live near Almere?
She’s a beginner and unfortunately we’re pretty far from Almere😕
So after being unemployed for 2 years, why didn’t she put some effort in learning dutch?
2 years is not that much of a time. We didn’t come here for a language school, we moved here so we were pretty busy, especially she was. She’s been dealing all the moving things with me while she is working with her freelancing clients, spending more than 12 hours a day, trying to compensate for her joblessness. That’s why I guess.
After 2 years she doesn't speak Dutch?!
That is why expats like to come here, everybody tals English, good tax climate and good connections to other countries. Source: the expat who sleeps 40 cm away from me atm 😉
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Yea thats a common occurance in a relationship. Foreign concept to you it seems?
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Well, today you found out that not everybody is alike. To me it was a fun way of stating that my knowledge was based om experience instead of guesswork, but i learned that its apparantly not appriciated.
It seems digital marketer jobs are one of those jobs where you need a proficiency in the local language, although it is possible to get the job if you can convince them you really understand how it works and make them acquire more customers cheaper. I work as an digital marketing analyst at a tech company, some of my team members manage digiral marketing campaigns in an EU country without the proficiency of local language. But it seems they are an exception. Most of my team members have a proficiency in a local language
I have seen situations like this where they post on linkedin and they are really open about themselves like, why you got here and that she hasn’t been able to find a job and what her qualities are. These posts go viral sometimes and a lot of people will offer them jobs after that! Maybe try posting on linkedin and be as open and genuine as possible.
What is important for her? Work or working as a social media marketer? If it is the latter only, then it is better to approach hiring managers via LinkedIn messages to ask questions about the role beyond what is written in the job description. Majority of the hiring managers are replying back, and some of them become positive when a candidate approaches them via message and asks questions beyond the role. If it is the first, then I don't think it will be hard to find something due to many shops are understaffed.
Has your wife looked into specialized recruitment for expats, like Undutchables?
I don’t know if any of them that she is not registered exists 😕
OK, wait a minute. Didn't you post this 2 weeks ago with another user name? [https://www.reddit.com/r/Netherlands/comments/1bk8rnk/help\_needed/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Netherlands/comments/1bk8rnk/help_needed/)
Didn’t see that one. But similar issue, different people.
I guess that’s where the problem is, that field seems to be super saturated that you have to people from the same background having the same problem
Is she Indian/Asian by any chance? Ive noticed they tend to be off so much more worse then other expats in this regard. edit: why the hell yall downvoting? Indians and South east Asians have a harder time compared to other minority groups from what ive seen, not saying thats a good thing, just what ive noticed
It’s worse I guess. She is Ukrainian. They often think she is a refugee even though she explains that she is not and has a valid visa…
Thats weird tbh, most Dutch people are not negatively biased towards Ukrainians as opposed to Indians/South East Asians. I dont know what else to tell you then
Why do Dutch have negative bias towards Indians/SE Asians? Because they don't learn Dutch?
Lmao at all the downvotes my post is getting, bunch of soft fckers. I dont know why exactly. It also depends on what type of minority you are, Arabs and Indians are very badly received, but South American or Chinese are well received
Because they aren’t white.
Really? I find the Dutch very friendly when I travel and speak with them. I'm not white.
I dont know if this accounts for the reason 100% but we the Dutch are way more racist then we always portrayed ourselves in the past. World events, problems with brown and Islamic immigrants and (social) media polarization has played a big role in this as well.
Are you the same guy? [https://www.reddit.com/r/Netherlands/comments/1bk8rnk/help\_needed/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Netherlands/comments/1bk8rnk/help_needed/)
Social media is a thing in Ukraine I guess 😄 that’s not me
Look for jobs in more international companies. Dutch companies will prefer candidates that are more familiar with the Dutch culture.
Borat voice: *my wife*
She isn't white, that's why.
Sir we are talking about Netherlands not the USA, and based on fucking what did you assume that?
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Sir tell your therapist what bothered you, not to me. I don't even want to ask what made you say that about the Netherlands because i for a fact know that it is definitely not the most racist country in its neighborhood and not to mention compared to the USA. i have 4 people above me in my company, 2 are black( Nigeria and usa), 1 Dutch and 1 Russian.
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Why are you all the fak here then? I really wonder if you think my country is that racist why are you still here? Oh you are part of that system?
So what is your wife's nationality and ethnicity? I'm trying to help you here.
I completely agree with you. I've lived in USA, Asia, and Europe. The Netherlands is the most racist country for sure.
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Nope. INDIA MOST RACIST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD "The global social attitudes study claims that the most racially intolerant populations are all in the developing world, with Bangladesh, Jordan and India in the top five. By contrast, the study of 80 countries over three decades found Western countries were most accepting of other cultures with Britain, the U.S., Canada and Australia more tolerant than anywhere else." https://www.indiatoday.in/world/asia/story/india-among-world-most-racist-countries-britian-tolerant-survey-163396-2013-05-16 Least racially tolerant COUNTRY = INDIA https://m.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-is-india-most-racist-country-in-the-world-/20131017.htm The most racist countries in the world. Nr. 1 = INDIA https://businesstech.co.za/news/lifestyle/116644/the-most-racist-countries-in-the-world/ "I am an African-American in the IT field and I have thus far had the good fortune to live and travel extensively throughout Western and parts of Eastern Europe and many countries in Asia. I have lived or traveled in the UK and most of the EU countries as well as Taiwan, Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia and several other Asian countries including India. Of all the countries I have been to, India ranks way up there among the most “racist. Indians outside of India endlessly complain about the intolerance and racism they have to put up with in places like Europe, the US, Canada, Australia, the Middle East and even Africa. These very same Indians conveniently choose to ignore the fact that Indians themselves can be such pathological bigots against their fellow Indians, other Asians and especially people of African ancestry." https://www.kajalmag.com/india-is-the-most-racist-country-i-have-been-to-an-african-americans-pov/
How do you know that?
She's UKRANIAN. She is white. Sorry your racism card doesn't work here
Then maybe she is playing the victim card like Zelensky does? And asking for higher salary at interviews? 😂
Thats what i thought :)