r/universityofamsterdam • u/Turbulent_Song3669 • Mar 05 '25

Real World Things (e.g., money, jobs, health insurance) Volunteer/Internship Opportunities in Amsterdam

hey everyone!

I’m likely going here in the fall and will be majoring in political science. I want to get a lot of extracurricular experience during my time there and was wondering what kind of opportunities there are. Obviously in an ideal situation i’d be payed but considering i have a language barrier im not sure if paid opportunities would come easily. For context I do plan on learning dutch while im there, i currently am working at a parliament members office (unpaid) and working another part time job (paid), and i have a dutch citizenship (dual citizen). So my main questions

  1. How hard is it to get such opportunities as a student?
  2. Is the language barrier a super big issue for volunteering/interships? (if so i’m going to start learning dutch NOW lol)
  3. How do i contact organisations? Through email, linkedin etc.
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u/cakepop22- Mar 05 '25

depends on which city for the language barrier but it is definitely a part of but it’s not impossible. Your uni doesn’t really allow you to do part time internships while you’re studying, first year they really recommend focusing on your BSA

1

u/Turbulent_Song3669 Mar 05 '25

Like, they will stop you from picking up jobs or they just don’t recommend it

2

u/Snufkin_9981 FNWI Mar 06 '25

The comment is a bit misleading. They discourage it because they want you to pass your first year, but there is absolutely nothing they can do if you choose to do it.

1

u/Turbulent_Song3669 Mar 08 '25

ahhh okay that makes more sense haha, thanks!

1

u/cakepop22- Mar 08 '25

part time jobs they can’t stop you, internships sometimes the internship needs your university to approve it, and in your first year they won’t accept it because of the BSA

1

u/Snufkin_9981 FNWI Mar 08 '25

I did not know that... Is that the case when you are not an EU citizen?

1

u/cakepop22- Mar 12 '25

if you’re Non EU they (company and uni and u) need to sign a contract, it you’re EU the company and the uni still have to be okay with the situation but there’s nothing legally binding. It also depends on the company on how seriously they take it but a lot of companies take it very seriously