just an observation: car commercials

i'll keep this short and sweet.

in the US, car commercials are marketed towards women; as consumer insights have proven that women are the 'decision makers' in the average US household. que the 30 second spot of women coming out of grocery stores, leaving the office, or picking up the kids; looking empowered, energized, and (most importantly) complimented by their largest accessory, their shiny automobile.

if you cross the atlantic and happen to be watching the National Geographic channel in Holland at 1am you will get back-to-back car commercials (3 in a row!), but the vision of the empowered woman is different. this woman doesn't care about the groceries, her office dress code is much more liberal, and kids? who needs kids. car commercials in The Netherlands are all about sex. and who needs 30 seconds to describe how much sex you'll get from this car? these were more like 10 seconds, quick and to the point. tho sadly, don't ask me the brand names (and i'm usually really good with that!), by the time we got to the 3rd commercial in a row (all with the same look/feel), i was just hoping there wouldn't be a 4th of these high production/low concept ad's.

that's all :)

a shmorgus board of company job sites

52 current links to international companies in the Netherlands for the fields of fashion, technology, FCMG, hospitality, retail, advertising, and finance. most of these companies require fluent English, rather than fluent Dutch.

Adidas
AKQA
ABN Amro
Accor
AKZO NOBEL
Alliance Boots
American Express
Amsterdam Worldwide
Avery Dennison
Belkin
Canon Europa
Cisco
Diageo
DSM
Foot Locker
Forrester Research
Golden Tulip Hotels
Google (most require Dutch language skills)
Greenpeace
Heineken
ING
Intercontinental Hotels
Joost
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
Kyocera Mita Europe
K-Swiss
Marriott International
MediaCatalyst
Mitsubishi Motors Europe
Mattel
Marktplaats/Ebay Classifieds Group
MEXX
NetApp
Nike
Novo Nordisk
Philips
Reed-Elsevier
Sara Lee
Sid Lee
Sony
Stream
Taxi
TomTom
Tommy Hilfiger
Tribal DDB
Unilever
UPC Europe/Liberty Global
WebEx
Weiden+Kennedy

many of these companies also hire through assigned recruitment agencies. there are *many* recruitment agencies in The Netherlands, and i've found several of them to be underwhelming. so far the ones i'd tag as my favorites and the most professional are:

Adam's Multilingual Recruitment
New People
O'Connell

Good Luck!

timing is many things

this young blog took a two week break as i hosted several friends who came to visit from the homeland. what fun. what sleep deprivation. luckily, even though i wasn't doing much by way of accomplishing the still pending goals, there was still forward progression; much due to work and mailings i did in november and december, that is just now being seen by the formerly vacationing recipient. we're officially two weeks into the new year and it seems people are back at work again; working, responding to emails, etc. definitely more time-out than i'm used to for the holidays, but i'm not complaining.

recently i've been getting more and more attention for my materials and i'm becoming particularly fond of two recruitment firms; New People and O'Connell. both are organized (more so than many of the others), they have big clients, and they were honest about needing explanations regarding my past experience having been with american roles and american companies, that are not immediately understood here in holland. i'm a big fan of honesty in these matters, as finding the proper role/company is very important to me and i'm never fond of false hope.

i recommend checking out both New People and O'Connell if you are in the field of Sales/Marketing, which is their specialty.

Cheers!

oh those things...an introduction to the basics

as an expat in holland, the three most challenging things i've found are finding housing, employment, and learning the language. i find the other cultural differences, navigating everyday life, and basic shopping more enjoyable; rather than points of contention. also, i don't have children; so my basics are very much about me, me, me, me...and my partner :)

in my last post i mentioned how i initially tackled the language. the basics are quirky, but with proper attention i should be conversation ready in about six months. having said that, i know that mastering Dutch is a challenge i will be facing for many years to come. i'm very glad i got started as soon as possible. i didn't mention in my last post, but there was a guy in my beginners class who had been living here for 14 years and was just now taking a basic class (?!). tsk tsk.

i consider language one of the three basics. my other basic necessities are housing and employment. i'm sure i'm not alone here. at first i was tackling all of these in one day. a bit of housing search here, a job board there, rewriting/reviewing language class notes...i was so on edge that the smallest disappointment became a breaking point.

housing in Amsterdam is a funny thing. it's limited. the city council wants to keep it that way, which i like, to be honest. the fact that squatting was only outlawed (sort of) around june 2010 makes for an interesting variety of interiors throughout holland. most vacancies (te huur) seem to be rented quite quickly, even if they are substandard. the phrasing 'furnished' can mean anything from a heel gezellig home to a place filled with things that were definitely discarded by the neighbors.

the process of becoming employed has allowed for many learnings. my wonderful american resume that still attracts offers in san francisco was treated like a digital leper. initially my online applications would be swiftly returned and rejected, i doubt people ever read past the first line. they didn't know how to read it. a dutch cv looks nothing like an american resume. it took me awhile to accept that i'd have to rewrite my american resume, but once i did it there was an amazing weight lifted off my shoulders. i sent the new (expanded) dutch cv out as an re: to all those rejection emails and have had wonderful feedback. really really great. very happy.

beyond becoming employed, dutch work contracts are much different than those in america...and by different, i mean better. vacation days start at five weeks, and there is much more job security. the overall feeling is that the company is investing in you, and you in them. it's a good feeling.

in future posts i will get deeper into the details of these subjects, and will solicit other expats to share their stories.

all in. step one, the Dutch language...

i'm writing this one week away from my three month Dutchiversary. very exciting. the information i've gathered along the way, up to the three month mark, will be much more useful in retrospect. if i had written this 'live' it would have been more emotionally charged and perhaps discouraging.

the first two months were very rough. i made some challenging choices, have no regrets, but it did take me a few breakdowns to realize that tackling a new country, culture, and language should be broken down. don't try and do it all at once.

in late october, five days after i arrived in holland, i began my Dutch language course at the Direct Dutch Institute in Den Haag (www.directdutch.com). I chose to go with a beginners intensive course because i prefer the structure of a simulated work week. classes are from 9:30-17:00 monday thru friday. i was very much impressed that in two days i was formulating sentences in a foreign language. we were given massive amounts of information, too much to fully absorb in two weeks, but plenty to keep you busy and to help one navigate through the streets, public transport, grocery store, etc. they also offer these intensive courses for the intermediate and (i believe) advanced. the alternative night class meets for three months once a week for a few hours, and then privately you manage about 5-6 hours of homework (huiswerk) per week. the night classes seem like the obvious choice for people balancing work and school, though i've heard that people will often use some vacation time to commit to the intensive course.

i was lucky enough to have some amazing women in my language class and we have been able to continue studies together, review material, etc. not to mention we can share our expat experiences, tour the land, check out museums, etc....at least until we join the workforce ;)

accidental expat

hi.

i really do love my home country, america. well, parts of it; but this is not a place for politics. i'm starting this blog because i've suddenly found myself in the role of expat and i'm finding the immersion process more challenging than i originally imagined.

for a former san franciscan, holland is not the most foreign place in the world; but below the surface there are enough differences that i think a guide is very helpful. i've read several (out of date) blogs from other women who went through this process, so i'm just trying to share some up to date information :)

i hope it helps and i'd love to hear about others experiences, too. i'd imagine a few other of my friends (also recent expat females from other parts of the world) will be contributing, too. we want to share as much helpful information as possible.

i hope that other expats who find this blog, will also find holland to be absolutely wonderful and worth all of the 'transition time' woes.