After the Summer I thought it was a good moment for me to look for a job abroad. Working abroad always appealed a lot to me.  I had no specific wishes in terms of the job itself. The most important for me was the experience itself. In my search I found out about Globaljobbing, and I send them my resume.

Some days later I received a phone call from Jeroen and he asked me if I could be interested for a position in Belfast. In the beginning it sounded a bit awkward to me as I didn’t really much know about Belfast. I did some research on the internet to find out more about the city. At some point, I decided that this could be a great challenge for me and I gave it a try. This was pretty much where I had been looking for. A jump into the deep. Don’t think too much, but just do it. Sometimes you have to take some risks in life and this job abroad seemed like the ideal opportunity to do something new and to gain international working experiences.

After I had made the decision to apply for this job in Belfast, I contacted Jeroen back again. Together we discussed the whole application process and he contacted the company in Belfast where I was going to work with.

The company I was going to work for is a company specialized in outsourcing. They work with several multinationals.

After discussing all the information and the job itself, I got in contact with the company. We conducted an interview in English, this was about the job and also questions about my personality. I already thought that the interview went quite well, so I had a good feeling.

After the first interview, I was asked to make some tests via the internet. These were mainly language assessments for my English and Dutch. I was also successful with these tests. After less than one week in the application process I received a phone call from the company and they gladly informed me that I was successful and they made me a job offer. I was asked to start 1 week later. Then all kinds of feelings came up. Some doubts and fear but in the same time relieve and happiness. My adventure was about to start. Working abroad became reality.

The company in Belfast offered me a relocation package. Because of this my fear to move to an unknown city was taken away. I could stay in a hotel for 1 week for free and they also paid my travel expenses. During the first week in my hotel, I was able to find myself some accommodation. After some days I found a nice house and now I live here together with a colleague.

The first day at my new job in Belfast was really excited. It felt as it was my first day in school. A taxi picked me up at the hotel. This saved me a lot of time as didn’t have to search for the company myself and have the risk of getting lost in my new surroundings.

The company provided a complete training in which I learned to work with different systems.  But since my new team was temporary understaffed, I was asked to start directly. Learning on the job as they say. It wasn’t really that difficult, and my colleagues helped me a lot during the first weeks.

I have been in Belfast for 6 months now, and I have to say that I don’t have any regrets what so ever. In the mean time I paid a visit to Belgium to see all my friends. And I learned so many new people here in Belfast. People from many different countries in Europe. It’s really interesting and meaningful to cooperate with all these people on a daily base.

During the weekends we also meet up to visit some pubs and having a pint. This is also very nice and pleasant as you get to learn more about your colleagues outside the company in a different way.

What I want to say in the end is that I really would recommend working abroad, or working in Belfast if you like some challenges. Working abroad is truly a unique experience and an opportunity that comes not on your path every day. You gain working experiences abroad, meet a lot new people with different backgrounds and you can taste new cultures.  In short: a fantastic opportunity which you should grab with both hands!