Canadutch
I’ve been working at my current company now for almost three months and I’m finally reaching the point where I feel I have a decent grasp on what we do, which makes for a welcome change. There is a lot to learn and for the first month I felt quite confused and came home every day feeling completely drained. I’m still confused about some things, but from what I gather, things change a lot due to government regulations changing etc, so everyone is lost to some degree. At least I’m not alone!
I must be doing alright though, because not only have they offered me another 6 month contract but they have even had me help out in training the new girl! Yeah, we have a new girl… it’s nice to not be the new kid anymore and have someone around who is more confused than me!
If someone had told me two months ago that I’d be training someone the same as one of my co-workers trained me, I would have laughed them out of town!
Now, it could very well be the blind leading the blind but I hope this means that I actually DO have a good understanding of what is going on and that they have faith in my abilities.
During my meeting with my manager we discussed a few concerns I had, including the fact that I was brought in to cover maternity leave. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen when the other girls returned, was that just going to be it for me? I was especially curious since they’d just hired someone else new.
My boss was pretty clear that they have long term plans for me, and that even if the girls do return from maternity leave there would still be enough work for me to stay as well. She also said that anything can change in 6 months as I’ve learned just from the last few months I’ve been there. A lot of people come and go because it’s a company that is run almost completely by expats. People leave to go back to their home countries or to move on with their spouse. High turnover…
She was right though because within two days of our conversation one of the girls on our team resigned. One of the two women off on maternity leave asked for another 6 weeks and the other found out she’s pregnant again!
So, it looks like this isn’t just a temporary situation and I am a full on working girl again.
Now I just need to do some research into how things work here in the Netherlands in regards to contracts. Xander is fairly certain that there is a limit of how many temporary contracts a company can give you before they have to make it a permanent situation. From what I have heard it’s two, which means that after this 6 months I could possibly get a permanent contract. I’m not entirely sure though, I’m sure there must be more to it.
Hi, ive been following your blog for quite some time now and are enteratined by almost everything you write.. Im a contractworker too and to answer your question; its actually 3 contracts. In my field of work you usually dont even make it to the 3rd contract coz a project just ends and sometimes there’s no new project at that particular company. But if you get the 3 contracts in a row they sometimes dont even give you the permanent one after the 3rd, they just kick you out:). After 3 months and one day you can work for that company again and the whole 3 contract thing starts all over…Don’t know if this is of any help but if there’s such a high turnover in the company you work for, i wouldnt worry too much about it:))
You are lucky :) The job sounds interesting and it is easier if you speak your mother language. Dutch seems difficult to me. Looks like Chinese to me.
Btw say hello to Sherman. He is so cute. Will there be any new photos of him? ;)
Great job with the job!
Just to let you know that it’s 3 completed contracts before they have to give you a permanent one. http://home.szw.nl/index.cfm?menu_item_id=13738&hoofdmenu_item_id=13825&rubriek_item=391912&rubriek_id=391817&set_id=2473&doctype_id=6&link_id=124498
I don’t know if that link will work but it is in Dutch but does tell you when you can get a permanent contract. Hope this helps.
Andrea
I work in a company that payrolls expat IT consultants that want to work throughout Europe. We also do things like sort out their work permits, housing, etc
Thankfully, the company is entirely in English so I get to speak my own language all day and meet other expats who are living here in NL. Most of the people I work with are British, Kiwis, Aussies and even a few Canadians! yay! :)
Cool, that is a real success. :) May I ask you what is your job and if you speak Dutch? Cos I would like to know how it is to start a new life in a foreign country. It must be hard to be there and not to know their language.
Wow, that sounds really promising! I hope you get a permanent position, I’m sure you really deserve it! And as long as you enjoy your job, that’s awesome.
i’ve heard some funky things with contract workers here, at the State Jobs. Apparently they can only work in some areas for a certain amount of time, then they have to get let go. But then most of the time they get another job and it ends up being the same one. it’s really weird, I know. I’m glad I’m not a contract worker, that’s for sure. Not here at least!