Increasingly, international UT students are considering to stay and start their career in the Netherlands. Building your career in the Netherlands is not always as easy as it seems though. It requires building your cross-cultural muscle to get a feel for Dutch culture, knowing more about Dutch organizational cultures and businesses, as well as sufficient Dutch language skills. This minor therefore offers you a kickstart into Dutch work life, closely supported by the UT and businesses in the Twente region. Altogether this minor aims to enhance your opportunities to find a job and build your career in a Dutch company, by learning to:
- speak Dutch at a A2 level to be able to communicate on the work floor;
- understand and adjust to Dutch culture and labour market; as well as
- acquire skills to ‘read’ and handle Dutch organizational cultures well and build connections by doing a consultancy assignment in a Dutch company.
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The minor consists of three interrelated 5-EC courses:
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Dutch Language (5 EC): In this course, you will acquaint yourself with the Dutch language and build up your knowledge to the level of a basic language user (A2). You will learn Dutch to the level in which you can communicate with your Dutch colleagues (among others) in everyday situations, using frequent and basic expressions. For example, you will learn how to introduce yourself, buy and return products at a store or online, talk about your home and neighbourhood, give and ask directions, or talk about health and safety. Additionally, you will learn how to make basic small talk about how you are doing or the news, to speak about personal relationships, talk about your current or previous education and your qualities, read job listings and apply for a job (writing a CV, filling out job application forms and doing an interview), all of which will be useful if you want to work at a Dutch company.
- In the second part of the minor the student will be learning cultural theory and models, and the basics of Dutch culture will be taught. Next the analytical tool of Critical Incident Technique, interview techniques and analysis of interview data are being treated. After this the student will do his own research on the differences between his own culture and Dutch culture in the workplace. At the same time the student will make a SWOT analysis of his own qualities and the Dutch labour market. The two assignments during this part are challenging the student to reflect on cultural differences and on his own strengths/weaknesses in relation to the Dutch labour market, hopefully leading to the optimal study choice for the Master phase.
- Organisational Cultures and Consultancy in the Netherlands (5 EC): When working within an organisation it is key to both sense and understand the organisational ways of working, which might differ substantially among different types of firms. At the same time, cross-cultural differences on the work floor can lead to frictions. Organisational cultures can be hard to grasp, but the right knowledge and skills will help. Management consultancy is a field of business which is geared towards analysing an organisation’s current situation (including organisational culture) and advising them on how to improve, as well as a popular sector for both business and technical students to start their career. Hence, in this course you will learn what it means to work in a variety of small, medium-sized or large organisations in the Netherlands while at the same time developing your consulting skills such as analysing, observing, asking questions, and providing constructive feedback and advise. This course brings theoretical depth and integrates (regional) company field visits, role play, and video analyses of regular work team meetings to make (various!) Dutch organisational cultures more tangible as well as how cross-cultural differences can be dealt with in the workplace. Students will be challenged to explore and experience the theory first-hand, thereby also offering advise to regional businesses on how to keep talent in Twente as part of their final challenge-based learning project.
Additional information: Registering by mail to: a.h.enklaar@utwente.nl
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Students who already are at level A2 or higher will be asked to join a 30-minute language assessment with a certified NT2 (Dutch as a second language) teacher employed by the UT Language Centre. If the A2 level or higher is agreed upon during the assessment, students will be exempt from taking the Dutch language course during the minor. However, to encourage the students’ development in the Dutch language, they will be given the opportunity to attend a Dutch course at the UTLC at a higher level free of charge while the minor is running (i.e. a course starting in September 2023).
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