Employment in Leiden for an expat advice please?
 

Good Afternoon,
I hope someone can offer me some advice. My girlfriend and I are relocating to Leiden as she has been given a position locally at a leading employer. I myself will be looking for employment, though I am anxious as I can only speak English and a little French, though we both plan to learn Dutch. Sadly though, this will not be quickly and I am not going to become fluent enough for it to be of any significance, at least not for a long period of time.

I do not have any real formal qualifications, as most of my life I have worked at the same relatively small (by way of staff) company, taking on multiple roles as sales manager, IT technician and automotive diagnostic technician.
My old employer is the UK's leading supplier of an automotive product mainly through eBay sales via 4 shops but also through phone and showroom sales, so I am confident in my ability to not only manage an online shopping store but also in offering excellent customer service.
I also have good experience in IT support, ranging from the construction and configuration of networks and PCs to day-to-day use of applications such as Microsoft Office Suite and Photoshop.
In addition I have many years experience in automotive diagnostics and am trained in the use of Snap-On diagnostic equipment, as well as the tried and tested use of standard diagnostic equipment and fault finding procedures.
I am currently studying towards a degree in Natural Sciences with the Open University which I intend to continue, so I am very confident in my ability to grasp new ideas and concepts.
My plan is also to swap my UK driving license for a Dutch one, so that I am able to take on any work requiring the use of vehicles.

Considering my position, can anyone offer me any advice on my best course of action in finding employment? I thank you very much for your time.

Many Thanks, Dave

Re: Employment in Leiden for an expat advice please?
 

I don't suppose anyone could offer any advice please? I'm going to be here permanently from next week and so far have not had any luck. I would much appreciate it if anyone could point me in the right direction, virtually none of the employment agencies are interested unless you speak Dutch and the ones that are have no vacancies.
I would accept virtually anything at present as I have to pay the bills..

Re: Employment in Leiden for an expat advice please?
 

Someone on another forum kindly pointed out it would be helpful if I posted a copy of my CV, so this can be found here:

http://daverowlandson.co.uk/

Thank you for looking.

Re: Employment in Leiden for an expat advice please?
 

try arrowflex.nl or .co.uk a british company based in amsterdam :] or menatwork.eu , good luck

Re: Employment in Leiden for an expat advice please?
 

Have you tried all the large software houses? SAP, Cap Gemini etc
Try asking around if someone gets the Intermediare. There used to be a lot of IT vacancies in that.
If you are willing to do manual labour you could try an uitzendbureau. I put sun-roofs together for the first 2 months I lived here.
Hope that helps.