The Netherlands is the right place to be if you are looking for professional growth
in a very international, open and healthy environment.
I lived in France for five years, and I travelled a lot during my life for personal but also for professional reasons, and I can say that the Netherlands is one of the best countries in Europe to be! I totally recommended it! Of course, there are also things that I like less, like the fact that we pay a lot of taxes or the fact that Dutch people need to schedule everything, even to grab a coffee. Nevertheless, I am here since 2016 and I still think that the Netherlands is the right place to be if you are looking for professional growth in a very international, open and healthy environment.
In my opinion, these are the main benefits of working in the Netherlands:
- Personal life and work balance
- Better wages than other countries in Europe
- Room for professional growth
- Social and tax benefit for expats (30% ruling)
- Big international community
- Healthy life environment
- Dutch society is more direct, hence it’s easy to work with, than other cultures
- Possibility of working from home if you wish
What about the advantages of living in the Netherlands?
- Do more solo things. I was used to only do things with friends, but now I have realized that I can do many things on my own. Like going to the cinema alone, etc.
- Dare to speak the local language
- Work-life balance
- Everything is easy to do here
- Very good connectivity with other countries/cities
- I became more social, as I did not have any friends at the beginning I used to go out to bars and meet people
Here’s what I like the least…
- Crazy weather
- People are a bit of a challenge, to make friends and get along in the society it’s tricky if you don’t speak the local language
- Loneliness can be hard during the winter
- Not much social events in the city and people are always busy. I’m bit bored of making new friends every six months, as expats come and go often.
- Doctors or the health system in general. This topic has become a burden to all expats, as general practitioners do not care much about it. Let’s say that they have another way to deal with the health issues
- I miss my family back home
- You need to schedule everything, even to grab a coffee, sometimes non-official stuff is fun to do
- Taxes, we have to pay a lot of taxes here