Provide exactly the papers the job posting asks for
Submit whatever documents or form the vacancy lists. If a CV is required, connect your jobs and schooling directly to the position. Do not include your BSN (citizen service number), a copy of your ID document or health information in a standard application. Describe a diploma from another country in simple language, and before you pay for a comparison with Dutch credentials, find out whether your profession requires official recognition.
This guide serves people who apply for work in the Netherlands, among them newcomers whose experience or qualifications come from abroad. Begin with the vacancy itself: see if it requests a CV, a sollicitatiebrief (application letter), a form or a different application method. To find job listings, see the guide at finding a job without fluent Dutch.
When you build a portfolio for Oriëntatie op de Nederlandse Arbeidsmarkt (ONA, Dutch labour market orientation), use its document rules. ONA forms part of the inburgering (civic integration) exam. DUO (Dienst Uitvoering Onderwijs, Dutch education service) provides the ONA portfolio instructions as a PDF (a document file that preserves its layout), around 111 kilobytes. On your CV, DUO requires your address, woonplaats (town where you live) and year of birth. Your letter shows your own address. Complete the 2 sollicitatieformulieren (application forms) in Dutch with your own information. The ONA portfolio guide sets out DUO’s rules for these documents.
For ONA, the CV and letter must be written in Dutch. DUO permits those 2 documents in English only if every vacancy you selected is in English. The forms must always be in Dutch. These portfolio rules are not the same as the privacy advice for regular job applications given below.
Find out the application method for the vacancy
Different vacancies may request different documents. Before writing, note the organisation, role, deadline and contact. Consult the table to see what each application method requires.
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| Channel | What may start the application | What to confirm |
|---|---|---|
| Employer email or apply button | The requested CV, letter and attachments | Document list, language, deadline, contact name and vacancy number |
| Employer portal | Required form fields, sometimes with one or more uploads | Whether the form replaces a letter, accepted file types and whether you can save a draft |
| Werving-en-selectiebureau (recruitment agency) | A profile, call or CV for a client vacancy | Which organisations may receive your data and who would employ you |
| Uitzendbureau (temporary employment agency) or detacheringsbureau (secondment agency) | Registration and availability, followed by a proposed assignment | Who signs the contract, which client you work for, hours, wages and applicable CAO (collective labour agreement) |
| Network contact, open sollicitatie (application without an advertised vacancy) or open hiring (recruitment without a CV or selection interview) | A conversation, short message or the method named by the organisation | What the contact wants next; check the job requirements even when no CV or letter is needed |
The UWV (Uitvoeringsinstituut Werknemersverzekeringen, employee insurance agency) open-hiring advice explains hiring that happens without a CV, motivation letter or selection interview. Verify whether you satisfy the job requirements. Once you are accepted, a short discussion about employment terms still takes place.
To prepare and send an application, complete these steps in the order shown:
- Keep the vacancy text and its instructions about documents, language and deadline.
- Separate the skills and experience that are required from preferences and general information about the company.
- For every relevant requirement, select one genuine task, result, qualification or example.
- Prepare whichever is requested: CV, letter, form, portfolio or certificate.
- Take out personal details, contact details belonging to other people and scanned documents the employer does not need.
- Send it using the channel the employer requested.
- Keep your files, the confirmation, the vacancy text and the date of your application.
If you get WW (unemployment benefit), the UWV job-search rules allow multiple kinds of activity. Registering with an uitzendbureau, making an open application and applying through an agency or website can all count. Follow your own UWV agreement and report every activity through the required channel. Keep application letters and invitations to interviews or tests for at least 2 years.
Make relevant experience the centre of your CV
The UWV’s CV advice includes personal details, work experience, education, skills, certificates and languages. Use the suggested layout below to present the evidence that matters for this vacancy. A personal profile and additional activities are optional.
It is possible to scroll wide tables sideways.
| Section | Evidence to include | How to adapt it |
|---|---|---|
| Contact details | Name, reachable email and phone number; city or region when useful | Give a full street address only when the form or role needs it. |
| Persoonlijk profiel (personal profile) | A few lines linking your experience to this role | Rewrite it for the vacancy or omit it when it adds no evidence. |
| Werkervaring (work experience) | Employer, role, location, dates and short task or result lines | We suggest putting recent work first. For a career change or limited relevant experience, you can group evidence by skill. |
| Opleidingen en cursussen (education and courses) | Original qualification, institution, country and completion date | Add a supported Dutch comparison or a plain description when the title is unfamiliar. |
| Vaardigheden (skills) and languages | Specific tools, tasks and honest language levels | Replace labels such as “flexible” or “reliable” with proof from the role. |
| Nevenactiviteiten (additional activities) | Relevant volunteer work, boards, projects or portfolio links | Keep only items that show a criterion the employer asks for. |
Use the vacancy’s rules for length, order and file type. Our suggestion is to aim for one or two pages if that suits your work history. For senior, academic or portfolio roles, find out which format the employer wants. Choose a layout that is easy to read and a file type that is accepted. A PDF can be used when the upload accepts it.
Show what you did
For example: '2019–2023 — Sales assistant, Alfa Market, Damascus. Served customers, managed stock and trained 2 new colleagues.' Include numbers or results only if you can explain how you know them. If you have no reliable figure, keep the task description.
Draft the letter or complete the form
See if the vacancy requests a sollicitatiebrief or motivatiebrief (motivation letter). See whether the form wants answers or a separate letter. Complete the fields that are requested and answer the questions listed below.
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| Vacancy asks for | Response to provide |
|---|---|
| Why this organisation or role | One concrete reason tied to its work, clients, product or stated task |
| A required skill or experience | One true example: situation, your action and the relevant result |
| A gap in experience | The closest relevant example from your experience and what you still need to learn |
| Availability, salary or permission to work | A precise answer only when requested; never invent or hide a restriction |
The UWV’s application-letter advice advises you to read the vacancy carefully and to use the terms that are relevant in it. Back up your answers with specific examples or results. When the employer sets no length limit, our suggestion is to keep a letter to one page. Respect any limit that appears in the form. Before sending, check spelling, names and claims.
Write in the application language the vacancy asks for. If this is not clear, ask the contact whether to use Dutch or English. Give your actual level, for example 'Nederlands (Dutch): B1 (independent user), in progress.' You may ask for language help. Be sure you understand every claim and can explain it. Requiring accent-free Dutch can be discriminatory if the job does not need it.
Give personal data only at the correct stage
Provide only the personal data that each stage requires. The table distinguishes an application from the checks that are needed when you begin work. The Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (Dutch privacy regulator) explains what data employers may process during recruitment.
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| Stage | Data normally needed | Applicant action |
|---|---|---|
| Application | Name, email, phone and evidence relevant to the vacancy | Leave out unnecessary BSN, identity-copy, health, marital-status, birth-date, nationality and photo data. Ask why any extra field is needed. |
| Identity check during selection | The employer may inspect an original identity document to verify who you are | Show the original for a justified check. An ordinary employer may not keep a copy during selection; see the agency exception below. |
| After you are hired | The employer checks your original identity document, keeps the required copy and uses your BSN for payroll | Provide the data through the secure route the employer uses for new staff. |
Registration with an agency has a separate rule for identity checks. An agency that places workers or matches them to employers must verify identity before placement or referral. It keeps a copy of an identity document only for as long as that check needs it, up to 4 weeks. If the agency becomes your employer, it keeps the copy under payroll rules. For a freelance assignment arranged through an agency, the agency may not copy your passport or identity card. The Article 7c’s agency identity-check rule establishes this exception.
An employer can also request your BSN in order to check with UWV whether you qualify under a disability employment scheme. This exception relates to the Wet banenafspraak en quotum arbeidsbeperkten (employment targets and quotas law for people with disabilities). Ask what check the employer needs.
An employer may request a video application only with your explicit consent. You must be able to apply in another way without facing negative consequences.
As a rule, employers delete an unsuccessful applicant’s data within 4 weeks after the procedure ends. If you give permission, it can be reasonable to keep that data for a later vacancy for up to 1 year after the procedure ends.
To search online for information about you, an employer needs a strong reason connected to the job. It must announce that possibility beforehand and restrict searches to business information. It must give you the chance to explain online information that is used during the application procedure. The privacy regulator’s guidance on online searches lays down these conditions.
Review selection criteria and health-related questions
Employers and recruitment agencies are prohibited from discriminating based on protected characteristics. Protected characteristics cover age, origin or race, nationality, sex or pregnancy, religion, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, and chronic illness. Examples from College voor de Rechten van de Mens (Netherlands Institute for Human Rights) vacancy check include “young”, requiring Dutch nationality, and “accent-free Dutch”. It is allowed to require a relevant level of Dutch. A legal exception can permit a distinction, but the employer has to be able to justify why the role needs it.
Usually, you leave diagnoses, details about disability, pregnancy, and previous sick leave off your CV and out of the interview. According to privacy regulator’s health guidance, you have to mention health information that is directly relevant to the job. For instance, a condition might stop you from carrying out important tasks. This obligation does not give employers the right to ask general health questions.
A medical examination may happen only if the job has necessary special medical requirements. Under Rijksoverheid (Dutch government) medical-check rules, the vacancy must state that such an examination will take place. It is carried out by a registered occupational doctor after selection, at the point when the employer intends to hire you. The doctor reports whether you are fit for the job. Rijksoverheid states that medical details can be shared only with your permission.
According to Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens guidance on medical checks, you decide whether the examining doctor is allowed to release the result. If you consent, the doctor may share only whether you are medically fit for the role, and no medical details. Rijksoverheid describes a separate exception for sharing medical information with your consent. These official descriptions are not the same. Before you agree to share medical details, ask the examining doctor to explain the legal basis and what information the employer would receive.
If a vacancy or a rejection might be discriminatory, keep the vacancy, messages, dates, and names. Ask the employer for its reason, or use its complaints procedure. Discriminatie.nl (discrimination reporting and advice service) provides local help and acts only with your permission. You can ask the College voor de Rechten van de Mens for a free judgment. Its judgment has authority but is not legally binding. The College cannot award damages; only a court can decide on compensation.
Describe your foreign diploma before making a payment
Provide the original title of the qualification, the institution, the country, the completion date, the subject, and the length of study. Nuffic (Dutch organisation for international cooperation in education) publishes comparisons by country that may give an employer enough context. Before you choose an evaluation, check the rules for the profession.
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| Situation | Route | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| The profession is not regulated | Use a plain description. Order a diplomawaardering (credential evaluation) from IDW (international credential evaluation service) if the employer asks or the level remains unclear. | The evaluation advises on a Dutch level; it does not create a legal right to a job. |
| The profession is regulated | Find the profession in the regulated-professions database and apply to its bevoegde autoriteit (competent authority). | An IDW evaluation alone does not give permission to practise. |
IDW assesses one diploma for each application. If you use the paid work route, upload full colour scans of your diploma, transcript or diploma supplement, plus your passport, identity card or residence permit. Your identity document must remain valid for at least 3 more months. Look at IDW’s required-document list for any additional documents.
With a paid evaluation, no certified translation is required for a diploma, transcript or supplement in Dutch, English, German, French or Afrikaans. For any other language, obtain a certified translation from a sworn translator. If your institution provided an English version, upload it together with the original; a certified translation is not needed. The free evaluation for inburgering, naturalisation or permanent residence also requires no certified translation.
If you have or had refugee status and cannot safely ask for missing records, IDW may assess the documents you still possess. If you have or had refugee status, have no education documents left, and cannot safely request them, describe your studies in the application. IDW decides whether it can issue an Indicatie Onderwijsniveau (indication of education level) based on that information. State which evidence is missing. The guide to documents to collect before moving covers how to prepare records before departure.
In October 2026, a paid IDW work evaluation costs €148.83 for each diploma. IDW delay notice states that the first document check takes about 6 working weeks. After a complete file reaches an evaluator, the evaluation then takes about 8 working weeks. If the first check finds missing documents or unclear scans, you rejoin that queue after you send corrections. The new first check takes about another 6 working weeks. Check the price and waiting times again before you pay.
IDW integration route permits one free evaluation in specified cases. These cases include an integration obligation that began on or after 1 January 2015, supported by a qualifying DUO letter. Once you receive the inburgeringsdiploma (civic integration diploma), you are no longer eligible. For naturalisation or a permanent-residence application, IDW checks eligibility with DUO. If you get a qualifying UWV benefit, ask UWV to approve funding before you apply; UWV sends the purchase order to IDW.
Describe foreign work experience and arrange references
State the employer, city, country, dates, role, and relevant tasks. Describe an unfamiliar organisation in a single sentence. For instance, if your employer had 40 shops, you could write: “Alfa Market, a supermarket chain with 40 shops in Syria.” For a gap, you can mention a move, a course, a care period, or a job search. Share only the health or family details that you decide to disclose.
Keep contracts, payslips, reference letters, and work samples as evidence. Before sharing them, hide personal data that is unrelated.
Before you share a referee’s contact details, ask that referee (a person who can confirm your work). Provide references when they are requested, or write “references available on request”. An employer’s checks may include calling the references you provide. If a former employer has closed or is unsafe to contact, explain that limitation. Offer a former colleague who can be reached, a contract, a payslip, a work sample, or other evidence. An employer that checks public online information must still follow the privacy conditions above.
Verify your work permission before you start
Your right to work depends on your nationality and residence status. Work in NL work-permit guide confirms that citizens of the EU (European Union), the EEA (European Economic Area), and Switzerland do not need a work permit. An employer usually needs a permit before another non-EU national can start, depending on that person’s status. See the guide to work rights by residence permit.
If it is useful, add an accurate line such as “Authorised to work in the Netherlands without employer sponsorship.” Use it only if it correctly describes your permission. Do not include your BSN or copies of identity documents in an ordinary application; agency checks are the exception mentioned above. When you begin a new job, government identity rules require an original-document check and a copy for the employer. Share hiring documents through the employer’s secure channel.
Resolve common application problems
Use these checks when a document request, a qualification, or a rejection is unclear:
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| Problem | Check and next action |
|---|---|
| The document request is unclear | Reopen the vacancy and portal. Ask the named contact which fields and files are required. |
| The letter fits every employer | Give one reason tied to the organisation’s work and one example of relevant experience. |
| The foreign title has no clear Dutch meaning | Describe the subject and study length. Use Nuffic or IDW for a supported comparison. |
| A reference cannot be reached | Explain the access problem and offer another person or documentary evidence without exposing unrelated data. |
| The portal asks early for BSN, an identity-document copy, video or health data | Ask why the data is needed, which rule allows it, how long it is kept and whether another way to apply is available. Check the agency exception above. |
| The criterion or rejection may discriminate | Save the evidence, ask for the reason and contact Discriminatie.nl or the College if needed. |
Before you send anything, check which files are requested, the language, and the deadline. If a request for personal data is unclear, ask the contact to explain it before you share anything. No application format guarantees an interview or a job.
Before you accept an offer, check the contract’s probation period, hours, pay, holiday allowance, and CAO terms.
Proceed with these guides:
- Find a job in the Netherlands without fluent Dutch
- Foreign diploma recognition in the Netherlands
- Dutch employment contracts: what to check before signing
Official Sources
- UWV: Een uniek cv maken (make a unique CV) - The recurring CV information named by UWV: personal details, work experience, education, competences, certificates and language knowledge, plus the common pairing of a CV and application letter.
- UWV: Sollicitatiebrief AI-proof maken (application-letter advice for AI (artificial intelligence) screening) - The advice to read the vacancy closely, use its relevant terms and support fit with concrete examples and results; the page covers technique, not legal requirements.
- UWV: Sollicitatieplicht (job-search obligation) - Activities that can count toward a WW job-search obligation, including direct and open applications, agency registration and online applications, plus the instruction to keep proof for at least 2 years.
- Work in NL: Employment agency agreement - An uitzendovereenkomst (temporary agency employment contract) is a contract with the agency: the agency is the formal employer and pays wages while the worker works under the client’s supervision.
- Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens: Personal data of applicants - Recruitment data limits; the BSN employment-scheme exception; original identity checks; voluntary video applications with explicit consent and another method without negative consequences; retention of 4 weeks or up to 1 year after the procedure ends.
- Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens: Gathering information about applicants - Online searches require a strong job-related reason, business-information scope, advance notice and an opportunity to explain findings used in the procedure; supplied references may be checked.
- Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens: Health data during job applications - You decide whether the medical result may be released; with permission, only fitness for the role is reported. Rijksoverheid separately describes a consent exception for medical information.
- College voor de Rechten van de Mens: Vacaturecheck (vacancy check) - Examples of direct and indirect discrimination in vacancy wording, job-relevance tests for language requirements and the possibility of lawful exceptions.
- Rijksoverheid: Medical examinations during recruitment - Necessary special medical requirements, vacancy notice, examination after selection by a registered doctor, fitness reporting and the stated consent exception for sharing medical details.
- Rijksoverheid: Unequal treatment during an application - Steps after suspected recruitment discrimination: raise it with the employer, seek an anti-discrimination service, request a non-binding College judgment or go to court.
- IDW: To work - Credential evaluation as advice rather than a right; current fee, documents, translation rules, one-diploma scope, regulated-profession check and UWV-funded route with approval.
- IDW: Required documents - Complete colour scans, identity-document validity, translation language exemptions, institution-issued English versions, the free-route translation exemption and UWV approval before funding.
- IDW: Longer processing times - Current delay notice: about 6 working weeks for the first check and about 8 working weeks for evaluation after a complete file reaches an evaluator; the first-check queue restarts after additional documents arrive.
- IDW: Inburgering - One free evaluation for qualifying integration, naturalisation or permanent-residence cases; exclusion after the integration diploma; DUO eligibility checks and refugee applicants with missing education records.
- NetherlandsWorldwide: Evaluation for work - When an employer may ask for an evaluation, the advisory status, programme conditions, translation requirement and the separate recognition route for regulated professions.
- Nuffic: Working in the Netherlands with a foreign diploma - How to check the regulated-professions database, find the competent authority and use Nuffic’s country comparisons before ordering an IDW document.
- Government.nl: Compulsory identification - The duty to show an original identity document when starting a new job and the employer’s duty to make a copy at that stage.
- Work in NL: Work permit - EU, EEA and Swiss citizens need no work permit, while an employer usually needs one before a non-EU worker can start, subject to the person’s exact status.
- DUO: Oriëntatie op de Nederlandse Arbeidsmarkt, toelichting resultaatkaarten (result-card instructions) - Card 7, vraag 5 (question 5): the minimum CV details, including address, woonplaats and year of birth; your own address on the letter; and application forms that are always in Dutch.
- DUO: ONA resultaatkaart 7 (werk vinden) (result card 7, finding work) - Vraag 5: the statement that you filled in the application forms with your own details.
- UWV: Moeite met solliciteren? Deze tips helpen! (tips if applying for jobs is difficult) - Open hiring without a CV, motivation letter or selection interview; job requirements still apply and an employment-terms conversation follows acceptance.
- Overheid.nl (Dutch government website): Agency identity checks, Article 7c - Article IX inserts Article 7c: identity checks before placement or referral, copies kept only as long as necessary up to 4 weeks, and the payroll-retention exception when the agency becomes the employer.
- Discriminatie.nl: Discriminatie melden (reporting discrimination) - Local advice after a discrimination report and no action without permission.
- College voor de Rechten van de Mens: Discriminatieklachten en verzoek om een oordeel (discrimination complaints and requests for a judgment) - The free judgment procedure, its non-binding outcome and the limit on sanctions and damages.
- Council of Europe: CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) global scale - B1 belongs to the Independent User category in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
- Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens: Identiteitsbewijs bij werk of uitkering (identity documents for work or benefits) - Temporary-agency registration permits identity copies for at most 4 weeks unless employment starts; an agency may not copy the passport or identity card for a freelance assignment.