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How do I find a job or internship in the Netherlands?

Are you looking for an internship or job and wondering where to start?

How do I find a job or internship in the Netherlands?

Some practical tips

  1. LinkedIn is a great place to start. Follow interesting companies, join groups, look through the vacancies, and connect with recruiters and alumni!
  2. Grab a cup of coffee with an alumnus to ask questions, receive useful advice, and learn from their experiences. Tilburg University Alumni Mentor Program  offers you this great opportunity!
  3. Visit career events organized by Student Career Services, your study association, or interesting companies. The Career Portal offers a nice overview of events where you can start orientating and build your network.
  4. Check out the Tilburg University LinkedIn page and connect with alumni who have an interesting profile to ask for tips & advice.
  5. Use the connections in your personal network for help. Ask if they have a suitable job or internships available or know other people who could help you.
  6. Look up vacancies and company profiles on the Tilburg University Career Portal, LinkedIn or commercial jobboards. Check our vacancies page for an overview of useful websites to find an internship.

Finding a job via LinkedIn

Be found:

Draw up a list with keywords (search terms) on which you want to be found

  • Which search terms do you use in looking for vacancies, contacts and organisations? 
  • Check out the keywords used in vacancies, on your professional colleagues’ profiles, on the personal profile of your potential employer or the company page, your future colleagues, intermediaries and/or the recruiter (external or corporate).
  • Use synonyms.

Make sure you incorporate relevant industry keywords throughout your profile. This can improve the chances of your profile appearing in search results.

Tip: Are you struggling to find relevant keywords? Use ChatGPT to generate keywords! 

In order to be better found by potential employers, we recommend adding an extra (fictitious) last work experience with keywords that characterize you and/or your future job. Recruiters often search via keywords in the work experience section.

  • Put your preferred function(s) in the title.
  • Fill out the heading ‘company name’. You might simply put ‘at your organization’  here so this field is filled. You can add some keywords that represent the kind of organization or department you prefer.
  • The end date must always be ‘present' (also if you currently have a job). 
  • Highlight your availability
  • In the description section, put the keywords that apply to you and/or your (new) ambition. 

An example:

Finding a job

Find a job/ internship:

In the top bar of your LinkedIn page you find the button ‘jobs’. Use this button to create job notifications.

Follow the following steps:

  1. Fill in the job title, use Boolean search to bring up various job titles for the same function in one selection. (See explanation Boolean search below).
  2. Fill in the region/city.
  3. Then go to ‘all filters’. Here you can enhance the quality of the vacancies you get.
  4. Select on degree of experience, job titles, location, etc. Please make sure you type slowly, then LinkedIn will give you suggestions (possibilities) along the way.
  5. Then click the button ‘job alert is off’ and put it on ‘on’.
  6. Choose whether you want daily or weekly mail notifications or whether you want a notification per vacancy. Now your search request is ready. 

Note: There is a maximum of 10 search alerts. 

Tip: Use ChatGPT to come up with synonyms for job titles!

Boolean search 

Boolean search is a powerful search technique that allows you to perform more precise and targeted searches by using logical operators to combine keywords and phrases. It helps to use LinkedIn more effectively to find profiles and job listings that match your specific criteria. Boolean search on LinkedIn utilizes logical operators to perform precise and targeted searches.

You can also combine the operators! For example, "(entry level OR junior) AND (marketing OR digital marketing OR social media) AND (job OR position OR vacancy)". 

With this knowledge, you can effectively use LinkedIn to find profiles and job listings that match your specific criteria!

Boolean Search

Navigate through the model to take your next career step

Take a next step!

The path to a to a (new) career is different for everyone. What phase are you in? What steps do you still need to take? Click on the buttons above for advice from the Tilburg University career advisors!

Need help?

Please ask Student Career Services for advice.