Cultural advice for working in the Netherlands

Working in the Netherlands isn't the same as working in the UK, and you'll need to get used to the differences so that you don't get offended. In the Netherlands, you should expect people to be rather direct in their speech. Someone who isn't used to this might misunderstand and think that people there are very rude, but this really isn't the case. They are simply used to saying what they mean and asking direct questions so that they can get answers. If you aren't ready for that or don't know that it's going to happen it can come as quite a shock. This is especially true when you're interviewing for a job and the interviewer asks you a question that you consider to be inappropriate or too personal. The best thing to do is to honestly and simply answer the question. Elaboration is not necessary unless the interviewer asks for it. Not everyone is comfortable answering questions in this way, but it's hard to get hired in the Netherlands if you aren't willing to be subjected to this. It's just part of the culture there, and isn't meant to be rude or nosy.

Once you're hired, you can expect the working culture to be different there than where you come from, as well. It's not a very laid back working environment, and the directness that you found in your interview will continue over to the working hours, as well. It's not high pressure, but people do like to get things done over there, and then they go and enjoy themselves with the same kind of passion that they put into their work. Once you get acclimated to this it isn't a problem, but most people do say that it takes just a bit of getting used to right at first, since people in the UK and many others areas aren't accustomed to being so very direct with one another. Some things are just not talked about and delicate matters are usually skirted around instead of being tackled head on. It's not always as effective as the way things are done in the Netherlands, though, and if you want to work there and succeed it's important to embrace the culture as much as possible.

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This article was written by Tom Sangers on behalf of Martin Ward Anderson.nl who offer international recruitment for accountancy jobs