What is your current job?
I help internationals find their footing in the Dutch job market. Much of what makes that hard is never written down, so my work is about making those unwritten expectations visible. Most of the people I work with are students and recent graduates who arrive with strong qualifications and very little sense of how the local market actually works. After my PhD at Radboudumc, I moved into this work on purpose. It grew out of years of mentoring international students at Radboud University, often informally, while I was still studying myself.
What surprised you the most about working life in the Netherlands?
Initially, almost everything. I'm originally from Brazil and had lived in the US before, so I thought starting over here would be straightforward. It was not. The Netherlands has its own cultural traits, social norms and ways of working, and I had to adjust to all of them alongside a new academic system.
The degree gets you in the door. After that, a lot depends on things nobody hands you in writing. You learn them slowly, usually while you are still working on the language and the culture too. Working alongside Dutch people helped. They tend to be direct, and when something confused me, they would often just say: "that is the Dutch way". It sounds blunt, but it helped. And strangely, through all of it, I felt at home here almost from the start.
Which skills you learned at Radboud University were the most helpful?
I got more than research training. I learned to think clearly, to ask questions out loud and to keep working when no one was going to tell me the next step. A PhD almost never goes exactly to plan, and neither did my career. Learning to keep moving when I could not see the next step, and to change direction when necessary, has mattered more than any technical skill.
I still think like a scientist in the work I do now. It means I am always looking for what sits underneath a situation, not just what is visible on the surface. That habit turned out to be useful far beyond the lab.
What tips do you have for students entering the job market?
Start earlier than you think you need to. Do not wait until your final year to work out how the Dutch job market actually works. Talk to alumni, go to events, and when you meet someone, ask what their work really involves day to day. A job title tells you very little on its own.
Being international can be hard, but it also means you have learned to adapt and move between cultures in ways many local students may never have had to. The work is learning to explain that experience in terms an employer can understand and use.
And let go of the idea that you need one perfect plan. Your first job in the Netherlands does not decide the rest of your life. It can be a way to learn more about the market, and about yourself.