You are a graduate! Now what?
Do you think that after graduation you are done with studying? Maybe…
But if your parents are not millionaires, you might want to have a job. I found a great blog that will definitely help you before and interview or before an assessment day.
Here it is : http://www.blog.grad-expectations.com/
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Tips & Tricks: How to find cheap furniture
At some point everyone has to face the challenge called find the perfect accommodation in Groningen but even if you manage to do that there is the additional trial to buy some furniture because most of the rooms in Groningen are not furnished and it is up to you how comfortable and pretty your home is going to be. Even when you are international student, living in some of Housing office’s student houses keep in mind that they are providing only the basic furniture like a bed and a table and in most cases students prefer to add some personal touch to this almost empty picture, so let me give you some tips and tricks how to deal with the matter.
The first solution and most expensive one is going to the good old IKEA, which is situated at Sontweg 9, a little bit far from all major sights of the city but can be reached with busses 9, 22, 73 and 76. The IKEA in Groningen is one of the biggest in the Netherlands and offers a great variety of products, in other words the possibility not to find what you are looking for is very little, the price is a different question.
The opening hours are:
Monday –Frida: 10am–9pm
Saturday: 9am–8pm
On Sunday it is closed.
Even if you don’t have what to buy there, still it is interesting to just visit since it can definitely you’re your boredom at least for one full day.
Moving on our next and cheaper option is buying second hand furniture. I will recommend Mamamini, which is a shop for secondhand stuff; you can find everything from junk and clothes to reasonable furniture. Keep in mind checking if some kind of bugs hasn’t decide to claim your new sofa for theirs. In Groningen there are three Mamamini stores for you to choose. Be sure that all of them have completely different furniture compare to the previous, so if you don’t find something that you like in the first who knows maybe you will be lucky in the second. Here is a map to check the locations or you can just Google it for yourself.
Last but not least, is to buy your furniture from other students; normally this is the cheapest solution.
First you can have a look at the different student houses, typically there are sell-advertisements on the ground floor but I don’t really believe that anyone will really start going from house to house just search for someone’s old chair, so let’s go to the more convenient option.
You can join the Facebook group “For sale in Groningen”, where people offer you their old stuff on quite reasonable prices. The variety is not limited to furniture only but you can buy a bike or something else. The group is all in English and all the items offered are shown on photos for you to know what exactly you are buying. In addition, you can negotiate the price if the seller is willing to do so.
With this my little lecture is over, I wish you good luck in decorating your perfect room!
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Getting a job after graduation
At the beginning of the year one of my professors told us: “Being a master student is a full time job!”. Everything was true. Plus, I would like to add that you will work a lot of “unpaid overtime” hours and weekends in order to successfully graduate.
Searching for a job as an international student is again a full time job. So, in order to make your life easier I would like to give you some tips and tricks from my job hunting experience.
1. Monster.com – is probably the biggest job board available. It has many options and filters that will help you find your dream job faster.
2. LinkedIn – the well-known social media platform for jobs has some limitations when it comes to search filters, but you can find many companies posting their announcements here.
3. iagora.com – is great a great tool to find internships, graduate programs, but also jobs. Before paying the premium features, please search the announcement on google. Sometime you will be able to find the original job description and to apply directly on the company website. For example: Step1: premium job announcement: “Site Editors are the final stage in the deal creation system, giving each (COMPANY NAME) its own web page.” Step 2: google search for “Site Editors are the final stage in the deal creation system, giving each”. Step 3: google search results number one – the company name is Groupon UK. Step 4: go to groupon website and apply directly by avoiding to pay the premium fee.
4. graduateland.com – this website is focused on graduate programs, but also jobs. A lot of jobs available in Denmark.
5. graduate-jobs.com and milkround.com- other websites for graduate programs.
6. European Institutions – keep an eye on the major European institutions: European Council, European Parliament, European Central Bank, etc. They are often recruiting.
Good luck!
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Mind the bike!
We all know that Netherlands is the most bike friendly country in the world.
So, how many of you know the real “power” of bikes in Netherlands?
I just discovered some important tips and tricks regarding biking in this beautiful country. I thought it would be a pity not to share this with all of you, so here we go.
Netherlands has an amazing infrastructure. And I am not talking only about highways and airports.
Since the spring in here a bike trip sounds like a good idea for escaping the rush of the city.
On this website: http://www.nederlandfietsland.nl/fietsrouteplanner you can plan your bike trip using the magic tool provided. You can actually travel across Netherlands using just bike paths.
http://www.bikemap.net is another website that provides bike routes that you can enjoy with your friends.
Here is a short movie about the bike paths and their use in Netherlands.
Grocery Shopping
There are of course several ways of doing grocery shopping in Groningen. In the following we will provide you with some tips on where to do your grocery shopping in general, and where you will find cheaper alternatives.
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Getting a job in Groningen
Since I first arrived in Groningen (19 months ago) I heard many stories about part-time jobs for students. Mostly of these stories were pretty extreme: “It is impossible to find a part-time job as a student” or “Oh… is very easy to get a job in Groningen. I found a job in just 2 days”.
Like in most of the cases, the truth is in the middle. It might be pretty hard to get a part-time job in Groningen, but it is not impossible. So, here are some tips and tricks:
1. Learn Dutch
The most important think probably is the language barrier. Although in Netherlands almost anyone can speak English, when it comes to a position in a company, suddenly you are asked to speak Dutch.
2. Be motivated!
Just staying in front of the computer google-ing “jobs in groningen” will not get you a job. Take advantage of one of the biggest asset of Groningen: over 100 bars/pubs/clubs. Most of the time one of them will look for a dishwasher, waiter, bodyguard, delivery etc. But, they are not going to come and offer you a job. You have to go in person and tell them a beautiful story and they might offer you a job.
3. Newspapers
If you really need some money, you might consider working for one of the newspapers delivery company. The salary is low (100-200 euros/month), but at least you will have an income. Here are some links of the companies who constantly looking for employees (use google chrome for automatic translation of the webpages):
http://www.worddagbladbezorger.nl/
http://www.santibri.nl/bezorgers.html
4. Facebook
There is a group on Facebook for job seekers: https://www.facebook.com/groups/158770247529417/ but of course, because of the high number of students, jobs are not posted very often. You might consider keeping an eye on this group.
5. Study hard!!!
Getting good grades will also give you an advantage of having a job. Let me explain what I mean. If you plan to stay in Groningen for more than one year, having very good grades gives you the opportunity to get a job from the university. So, if you take an 8-9 or 10 at (for example) statistics, you can try to talk with your professor for a part-time job as a teaching assistant for next academic year.
P.S. YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO WORK MORE THAN 8-10 HOURS PER WEEK AS A STUDENT!
P.S.S the new rule that in order to get Dutch studyfinanciering; in the future students will need to work a minimum of 14 hours (used to be 8): More details here: http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2012/03/eu_students_face_tougher_rules.php
Feel free to leave your comments in the section below. By doing this, we can improve this articles for the future students.
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