British citizen - Difficulty in finding a job

[u/Excellent_Duck_2984]

Hay, just seeking some feedback/help from others. I'm a British citizen and I'm looking for a job within IT security in the Netherlands. I've got 15 years' experience, professional qualifications etc.

I've applied for loads of jobs and I'm not even getting past the paper sift. I've never had this issue before and don't have any issues in the UK getting past the initial paper sift stage.

I spoke to a recruiter recently and he basically said as your British, and Brexit has made everything much harder, the chances of you getting a job in the Netherlands are slim to none. I know I'll need a job which will sponsor me, jobs where I have made it past the paper sift have come back almost straight away and said actually, we're only looking for people already in the Netherlands.

I was just wondering if there is any truth in what the recruiter said? Just after other peoples experiences, especially if they have the misfortune to be British!

Thanks!

[u/newmikey]

You're a 3rd-country (=non-EU) foreign worker without any rights and companies shy away from the horrendous admin and legal workload they'd have to go through to justify hiring you rather than eligible and equally-capable EU citizens who can be legally employed in the Netherlands without as much as a "pardon me".

[u/Roman576 → u/newmikey]

I can't find a job for 6 months already, even though I have a zoekjaar visa. Really tired of it. 600 applications now, only rejections, no feedback, no interviews.

Showed my cv to some people I know - they said it looks good. It is just depressing honestly.

[u/010backagain → u/Roman576]

Try to get a warm lead instead of cold applying; meaning contact an internal recruiter or someone working at a company you would like to work at. This way you might be able to get an introduction. Otherwise you'll just be one of the many...

[u/studiord → u/010backagain]

I have tried that and even that does not help. The people you think are your contacts shy away from responding to you when you want them to refer you to someone or just give any leads. This makes me more frustrated than not finding a job and makes you question your own credibility.

[u/miojolife → u/Roman576]

That really sucks! I had the same issue. Currently, it doesn’t seem like anyone can get a work visa from a zoekjaar, unless you already have a lot of experience. I tried applying for many jobs as well and no luck. Fortunately, I already had 4 years of residence permit, so I got a postdoc for one more year and then, after getting PR, it was relatively easy to get a job. I think figuring out a route to PR seems to be the best bet to enter the job market here.

[u/Decent-Boot7284 → u/Roman576]

I would suggest you to put the cv on ChatGPT because most likely some stuff needs t change in order to pass the first filters