68 connections mar2016

Connect International serves the international community in

the provinces of Groningen, Friesland and Drenthe.

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Supported by an international staff and Board of Directors, we provide quality relocation services and practical information to help familiarize international residents with all aspects of living, working or studying in the Northern Netherlands, as well as organizing events and activities to make connections.

Services: Join Us!You can register to become a Connect International member via our website. For a small yearly fee, you receive the Connections e-magazine newsletter delivered directly to your email inbox, you have access to the Connect International community through organized events, you can ask us any questions you may have and much more.

Visit: www.connect-int.org

● Immigration services● Home search & set-up● Career services● Social events, activities & clubs● Business events● Personal support & assistance● “Buddy” -system● Free access to books & guides● Knowledge database

Connecting Worlds

Welcome New Members!Connect International would like to welcome the following new members:Boshi Wang, Katrin Paeschke, Eleonora Ceriello, Vincent Franceschini, Andreia & Federico Lazarini, Eda & Onur Kilic, Gulcin & Caglar Gunal, Victoria & Aleksei Artamonov, Ante Norlund, Morten Bak Kristoffersen, Kay Oehler, Stephen Sheppard, Chris May and Nicki Lashley.

Connect International Office:Gedempte Zuiderdiep 98, GroningenPostbus 16, 9700 AA GroningenTelephone: 050 7440087Email: [email protected]: www.connect-int.org

Connections #68 | 2

EditorialEditor: Stephanie FermorAssistant Editor: Margaret MetsalaWriters: Stephanie Fermor, Alexandra van den Doel, Maria Kuznetsova and Matthew Heberling

Send all letters and submissions to:[email protected]

Editorial and advertising in Connections is based on material, written and verbal, provided by contributors and advertisers. No responsibility is taken for errors or omissions and opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher. All material in Connections is subject to copyright provisions. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission by the publisher.

Important Dates

Primary Education & Secondary Education SchoolsBasisonderwijs & Voortgezet onderwijs

North Netherlands 27 February 2016 - 6 March 2016 Week 9

Mid-Netherlands 20 February 2016 - 28 February 2016 Week 8

South Netherlands 20 February 2016 - 28 February 2016 Week 8

IMPORTANT DATESSpring School Vacation Times

Good Friday 25 March 2016

Other Dates

Easter Sunday 27 March 2016

Young family is looking for home to buy in Groningen, min 3 bedrooms, with garden, up to 7 km radius from university / downtown.

Connect Classifieds

Please contact Ellen [email protected] or 06-20528220. Thanks!

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What’s on March 2016

Dutch Conversation FunWednesday 2 March, 15:00 hrsIWCN office (Groningen)

Crafts Club: Button Necklace workshopThursday 3 March, 19:00 hrsAnn’s house (Haren)

Coffee & CatsFriday 4 March, 10:30 hrsKattencafé “OP Z’N KOP”

Movie Club: “Mr. Holmes”Monday 7 March, 13:30 hrsPathe Groningen

Writer’s CircleTuesday 8 March, 19:00 hrs


4 MarCoffee & Cats

The first Cat Cafe has opened in Groningen! It's a wonderful concept and a must-experience for all the cat-admirers out there!

19 MarOpenStad 050 Tour

OpenStad 050 is an opportunity for internationals to visit companies in the city of Groningen.

17 MarIncome Taxes

WorkshopWhether you own a company or you are working at one, once a year you have to fill out tax forms. But how does it work?

CONNECT EVENTSHighlighted Events this month

All Connect Events this month

Book Club: “Mrs. Dalloway” by Virginia WoolfWednesday 9 March, 20:00 hrsVicky’s house (Groningen)

International Coffee MorningFriday 11 March, 10:30 hrsHEMA’s restaurant (Groningen)

Meditation workshopTuesday 15 March, 19:00 hrsAdeline’s house (Winsum)


Income Taxes workshopThursday 17 March, 17:00 hrsIWCN office (Groningen)

Easy Dutch Café: morning edition Friday 18 March, 11:00 hrsIWCN office (Groningen)

Connections #68 | 4

What’s on March 2016

OTHER EVENTSEvents in Groningen, Friesland & Drenthe

Stranger Things(English Comedy Show)3 March, The Silo, GroningenPlus additional dates, check website.www.strangerthings.nl/shows/

Atrium Talent NightThursday 3 March, Sneekhttp://goo.gl/8JfSy7

International Film Festival Assen12 & 13 March, Assenwww.filmfestivalassen.nl

Boekenweek 2016 (Book Week)12 - 20 March. Variouse events through the whole of the Netherlands. www.boekenweek.nl

Whisky Festival Noord-Nederland18 - 20 March, Groningenwww.wfnn.nl/home-en

Beta Business Days Career event for University Students22 & 23 March, Martiniplaza, Groningenwww.betabusinessdays.nl

Bloemenjaarmarkt (Flower Market)25 March, Groningenwww.bloemenjaarmarkt.nl

Zeldzaam Mooie Markt (Handmade Market)28 March, Vismarkt, Groningenwww.zeldzaammooievents.com

Pub NightFriday 18 March, 18:00 hrsO’Malley’s Irish Pub (Groningen)

OpenStad 050 TourSaturday 19 March, 10:00 hrsIWCN office (Groningen)

International PotluckSaturday 19 March, 17:00 hrsAnn’s house (Haren)

Crafts Club: Beading workshopSunday 20 March, 14:00 hrsHet Concerthuis (Groningen)


Easy Dutch Café: evening editionWednesday 23 March, 19:00 hrs

International Coffee Morning LeeuwardenThursday 24 March, 10:00 hrsDouwe Egberts Cafe (Leeuwarden)


Cheese & Wine TastingWednesday 30 March, 18:30 hrsDe Kaaskop (Groningen)

Culinary Connect: ChocolateThursday 31 March, 13:00 hrsAdeline’s house (Winsum)

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Information Center

YOU’VE GOT MAILA Guide to the Dutch Postage System

Staying in touch with family and friends from back home has never been easier with services like Facebook, Skype and Email. But sometimes it is just nice to send a real birthday card or package of gifts and treats. But how and what can it cost to do that?The main postal service in the Netherlands is PostNL. You may have seen their orange post boxes dotted around the city, or you can visit one of their shops, usually located inside a News Agent (e.g. Primera) or supermarket (you can spot them by their logo displayed on a window or sign, or look them up online, www.postnl.nl/en/).

The postage cost depends on the size and weight of what you are sending and where you are sending it to.

Letterbox mail is used for sending anything that fits through the letterbox (max size of 38 x 26 x 3 cm). If you are sending

something within the Netherlands then you use ‘Nederland’ stamps, or if you are sending something anywhere else then you use ‘International’ stamps. Currently, a single ‘Nederland’ stamp costs €0,73 and a single ‘International’ stamp costs €1,25. The number of stamps needed to send something depends on the weight of the letter.

If that all seems too confusing (and if you don’t send mail often it can be) then you can take what you need to post to a PostNL shop and they will check and weigh it for you so you pay the correct postage.

If you are sending a parcel, there are a few options. You can send it with PostNL and they have several different rates depending on which country you are sending to and the weight of the parcel. It is easiest to use the online calculator to get the correct price (www.postnl.nl/en/). As a guide a 2kg parcel to the UK would cost €13, or to the USA €24,30. You can also send without track and trace for a cheaper price.

Letterbox Mail Prices0 – 20g NL = €0,73 INT = €1,25(e.g. a A5 birthday card or 1-3 A4 pages)

21g – 50g NL = €1,46 INT = €2,50

51g – 100g NL = €2,19 INT = €3,75

101g – 250g NL = €2,92 INT = €6,25

Connections #68 | 6

Information Center

shipping) you have to pay BTW and handling fees, and over €150 you pay custom fees on top of that.

Written by Stephanie Fermor

Alternatively you can send using DHL (www.dhlparcel.nl/en) which can be cheaper, especially for larger parcels. You purchase the shipping label online, print it off and stick it to your parcel before taking it to a drop-off point. As a guide a 2kg parcel within Western Europe costs €10 and to the USA would cost €24.

If you are sending a parcel outside the EU you need to include a CN22 or CN23 customs form on the parcel. You can download this form online, or fill it in when you take your parcel to a PostNL shop.

PostNL fee booklet (in English) http://goo.gl/MiABvx

DHL fee booklet (in English) https://goo.gl/JPFoCP

If you are receiving mail, especially from outside the EU, keep in mind there may be custom fees depending on the value of the parcel. If it is marked as a ‘gift’ it can have a value of up to €45 before you have to pay custom fees. If it was a shop purchase then if it is worth over €21 (excluding

7 | Connections #68

Food for Thought

TRADITIONAL SIMNEL CAKEBaking For Easter

I would like to share with you a family recipe for a traditional Simnel Cake. Simnel cakes have been around since the Middle Ages and are predominantly eaten in the UK and Ireland during Easter week, or sometimes for Mothering Sunday (the Sunday halfway between the start of Lent and Easter). In the 19th century, girls “in service” used to bake them for their mothers and take them with them on a rare trip home. It is a traditional fruit cake with marzipan in the middle and on top; and if you wish to adhere to religious tradition you can place 11 marzipan balls on top of the cake to represent the 12 apostles minus Judas. Some add an extra ball to represent Jesus. Our family recipe was adapted from Mrs Beeton’s.

Ingredients:A: 200 g plain flour, 0.5 teaspoon of baking powder, 0.5 teaspoon salt

B: 150 g butter, 150 g caster sugar (we like to use the Dutch ‘bruine basterdsuiker’ for this)

4 eggs (use large ones if you can get them)

C: 150 g glacé cherries, halved, 125 g currants, 150 g sultanas (we use ‘blanke rozijen’), 150 g raisins and 50 g mixed peel if you like it (we don’t).

50 g ground almonds

500 g marzipan (store bought or homemade, or homemade almond paste, as you wish)

apricot jam to glaze

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Food for Thought

Method:Sift the A ingredients together into a bowl.

Use a mixer to cream the B ingredients together and then add the eggs and beat some more.

Fold A and C and the ground almonds into the butter/sugar/eggs mixture.

Pour half the mixture into a greased, round cake tin (anything between 16-20 cm diameter is fine).

Place a layer of marzipan (around 1 cm thick, roughly a third of your marzipan) on top. Pile the rest of the cake mixture on top of that and smooth out the top, leaving a dip in the middle.

Bake for 1 hour at 180 degrees in a pre-heated oven, then reduce the oven to 160 degrees and bake for about 90 Cake baked, decorated and photographed by

Jayne Moorcroft-Ramaekers using a Mary Berry recipe.minutes more. Cover the cake with

tinfoil for the last half hour if you feel it is starting to look burnt around the edges. Cool in the tin and then turn out onto wire rack.

Once cool, glaze with some warmed apricot jam. Divide your leftover marzipan in half. Roll out a 1 cm thick circle and place it on top of the cake. With the rest of the marzipan make the 11 balls for example. We leave it plain, but you can also glaze the marzipan with egg and grill briefly, or add decorations with white icing, glacé cherries, Easter motif decorations etc. Eet smakelijk!

If your child has an Easter breakfast/lunch/brunch at school or you are having guests over, consider a Bavarian Easter loaf (Osterpinze), or chocolate/cornflake bird’s nests as well as Easter cookies to enhance the

celebrations. Recipes and inspiration abound on the internet.

Written by Alexandra van den Doel.

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Upcoming Event

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FAIR 2016

The event everyone has been waiting for

In June 2015, the IWCN together with Connect International and Hanze University students organized the Professional Development Fair for the first time. The goal was to bridge the gap between internationals and locals on both social and professional levels. The event was a big success and has received a lot of positive feedback from all participants (more than 80 people) and businesses that supported this event.

This year we decided to take this project one step further and focus only on professional development. The Professional Development Fair 2016 will be an event for expats and their partners, PhD students and postdocs and graduating Master's students wishing to familiarize themselves with the specifics of the Dutch labor market; to learn and to develop professional skills needed to succeed in the job application process; to widen their professional networking circle, to get to know several international businesses operating locally and to find a job in the Netherlands as an end result. Representatives of the key companies in the Northern Netherlands, HR-managers,

career coaches and more than 100 other internationals with unique backgrounds will be there to share their experiences with you.

So, are you looking for a job? Do you plan to open your own business? Do you need professional help to improve your CV? Would you like to receive an objective assessment of your Dutch language proficiency? Do you dare to experience the thrill of the "real" job interview? Are you lost in the Dutch taxes? Do you want to learn more about the specifics of Dutch business culture? Are you interested in networking? Would you like to use a chance to promote your own small business to other expats?

If your answer is “Yes” to at least one of these questions, the Professional Development Fair 2016 is a great opportunity for you! The purpose of this event is to provide international citizens living in the Northern Netherlands (in the provinces of Groningen, Friesland and Drenthe) with the necessary knowledge, tools and connections needed to increase their professional potential and to realize their professional ambitions, thus motivating them to stay in the region and to integrate successfully.

Learn more at: www.professionaldevelopmentfair.nl

Written by Maria Kuznetsova

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Upcoming Event

Activities:

• Professional skills development workshops (CV & Application masterclass; Networking masterclass; Start-ups & Income Taxes; Accountancy & Administration; “Intercultural differences on the business level” lecture; etc.);

• Information market representing various hiring and career supporting companies;

• Ongoing activities such as a CV scan; Language proficiency check; Mock-up interviews with experienced HR-managers (in Dutch and in English), etc.;

• Facilitated networking rounds and pitch presentations from various companies;

• Informal “borrel” and networking + lottery.

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Your Career

THE JOB QUEST OF A CHEEKY SCIENTIST

5 Crucial aspects for an effective job quest

The job search landscape has drastically changed during the economic downturn of the last decade - in no favor of academic researchers looking to spread their wings outside the confines of the ivory tower. How exactly are researchers affected? Well, nowadays networking is the best way to find coveted industry positions as the majority of open positions are filled through employee referrals. Additionally, academic researchers are busy with their own research and can lose sight of their networking objectives and job search strategy, which can bring tremendous value BEFORE finishing their thesis. These two points can unfortunately keep academics stuck in the confines of academia longer than desired.

Based on my own unique career path, first as a tax accountant and later as a biochemist, I share here my own job quest and how the Cheeky Scientist Association (CSA, cheekyscientist.com) equipped me with an effective job search strategy.

At a young age, I started following unbeaten paths, literally and figuratively, along with my dad during a run in basketball shoes near a reservoir in Wellington, Ohio. Although I stopped several times to catch a breath, this first run spurred a 5-year competitive running career during secondary school that taught me the value of vision, perseverance, and self-confidence. I carry these values with me to this day.

After high school, I took a detour in my career by venturing into the life sciences after five years as a tax accountant with prestigious firms in San Francisco and Manhattan. Not an obvious transition, right? I think the “aha” moment came when I was making mental calculations to estimate time of arrival to work based on a


Your Career

certain speed. . . I didn’t want to be late. No, wait… The epiphany came shortly before when I was returning home from work in a taxi when the rest of the Big Apple seemed asleep (quite a rare sight in New York City). Or maybe it finally occurred to me that I was truly working too hard when my roommate called me to see if he should find a replacement for me—he sincerely thought I moved out after two weeks of no Matt-sightings. I have been known to be a hard worker, but that was over the top. Putting all of these eye-openers into perspective was an important step in helping me face reality: I was simply not happy in this career. So, I started to consider what I could do next.

rightfully so. However, the triumphs of novel results in a specialized field are simply not enough to break into industry positions. Companies are looking for relevant soft skills.

The major hiccup comes when trying to highlight these skills from published works. Even after soft skills are identified, the job quest is further complicated by the realities of networking to ‘get a foot in the door,’ which is most often shunned by academic researchers and their supervisors. Therefore, I will summarize how I turned a nerve-wrecking, stressful job search strategy into an enjoyable professional development period with the help of CSA.

Before joining CSA, the most useful career guidance that I received was during the Career Course for PhDs & Postdocs at the University of Groningen. This excellent course focused on self-awareness to iron out one’s true strengths to ultimately come up with a personal profile customized towards targeted jobs. The importance of networking was also stressed, which I took more lightly than I realized. After this, I applied to 8 positions online without any callbacks. I quickly realized that I had to step up my game to become competitive. Joining CSA was the best thing I could have done, and I quickly realized 5 crucial

Drawing on a 6-month journey around Australia, I was equipped with the introspection and personal commitment to my own happiness to be able to make a career transition from accounting to biochemistry. The Aussie trip also inspired me to continue studies abroad in Switzerland and the Netherlands to experience other cultures and languages. Key message: traveling serves more purposes in life than the snapshots can ever depict.

Fast-forward 10 years later, my experience as an academic researcher has been nothing short of serendipitous. I entered science to feed my inquisitive nature by transforming a childhood passion of building things with Legos into engineering biomolecules. In retrospect, I learned a great deal more because being a scientific researcher demands skills that are performed by < 1% of the world’s population. The prestige associated with obtaining a PhD automatically confers a feeling of distinction and triumph—and

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Your Career

aspects for an effective job quest in industry:

1. Applying online is not effectiveThere is only an ~8% chance of success with online applications without referrals. However, the odds tip in favor of those who have referrals; almost guaranteeing that a human will take a serious look at your application.

2. Publication lists are a waste of valuable space on a resumeA friend once told me, “I feel naked without listing publications on a resume [for industry positions].” This is one of the major misconceptions that transitioning academics have, because they often think that the publications speak for themselves. To understand this notion one must be empathetic and ask themselves, “As a resume screener, would I honestly place objective value on a random publication based solely on it’s complex title that I will likely know little about?” The key is to extract the relevant skills for the target position and communicate these in a way that an employer would value.

3. Cover letters are important: A chance to stand outA former doctoral researcher once applied to ~300 positions with NO cover letters in a country were there are easily 200+ applicants per position. The result: no callbacks. This case alone emphasizes the importance of cover letters. If an applicant cannot take time to articulate why they would fit a company based on easy-to-find information on the company’s website, then the application is a waste of time for everyone involved. Although articles report distaste for cover letters, this is an easy step you can take to be more safe than sorry. Becoming an effective networker may even help you skip the need for a

cover letter and could have likely helped that job-seeking doctorate.

4. Networking is the key to success.Up to 70% of jobs are gained through referrals. Why? Think about it: If you had a choice to sift through 100’s of applications or simply go to fellow coworkers to get their trusted referrals for a few potential candidates, which route would you choose? A Wall Street Journal study suggests the latter. If you are one of those referred candidates, you have already figured out the immense power that networking brings. The sooner one realizes the serendipitous value that networking carries, the sooner a job search strategy turns from strikeouts to homeruns. If anything, networking provides the ‘meat’ of the cover letter because most often one learns information about a company or position that is not public, which provides a rich basis for compelling messages. The most rewarding and key aspect in networking is offering value without the expectation of returned favors. When

networking is done right on a two-way path, it becomes a gift that keeps on giving in unimaginable ways.

5. A LinkedIn profile is your key networking toolFor those who believe a LinkedIn profile is not necessary for an effective job search strategy, a rude awakening awaits; especially if networking is not already a component in your strategy. Like it or not, it was reported that 77% of the 100 recruiters surveyed, in fact, do research candidates online. Of those recruiters utilizing online research, 35% eliminated candidates based on online search results. One survey even reported a 70% elimination rate. So, why not control how your online presence is perceived by creating an online professional profile?

Whether you found these 5 aspects convincing or not, let me briefly share how they transformed my job search strategy into a reliable, insightful, and opportunity-rich experience as a CSA member.

After joining CSA, I developed a streamlined job search strategy by first ironing out what positions I would enjoy through a reliable transition plan. Then, after going through numerous training modules for resumes and cover letters, networking, LinkedIn strategies, and customized coaching sessions; I have expanded my network tremendously. That has opened many doors. The key networking opportunities that propelled my strategy to the next level were the BCF career event (www.bcfcareerevent.nl), BioBusiness Summer School (www.biobusinesssummerschool.nl) and various conferences and workshops geared towards aspiring consultants. From these events, I have been able to gauge

which companies align with my values and ambitions, generate incredible contacts and free-lance opportunities with JLJ Consultancy (www.jljconsultancy.com), and position myself as a strong applicant for companies after finalizing my doctoral thesis.

I have found my strengths and regained my confidence as a CSA member since recruiters and companies are now reaching out to me! This has evoked a feeling of being a job chooser instead of a job seeker.

If you would like to know more about my stories or become a member of the CSA, feel free to take that important step in connecting with me via:

E-mail (mmheberling[at]gmail.com);LinkedIn (linkedin.com/in/matthewheberling); or CSA webpage (www.cheekyscientist.com) to enroll

Written by Matthew Heberling


Your Career

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68 connections mar2016