The story of Jerry and Vlerick Business School

Talentree is proud to announce it has matched another international talent with a Belgian company. We present to you the story of Jerry and Vlerick Business School.

Job hunting: challenge accepted!

Jerry is a talent from El Salvador and was a language teacher for a very long time in his country, as well as in America. As his wife is half-Belgian, they decided to migrate to our little country. Once arrived, he started looking for a job. A quest that took him some time, but in which he succeeded eventually! He took the next step in his career, and today he is working as learning designer at Vlerick Business School and he could not be happier.

What Jerry experienced to be the most difficult in finding a job in Belgium was the understanding of the job market. Arriving in a new country implies not only learning a new language, but also getting used to new technologies and new business cultures. Jerry tried applying right away, but he soon understood that he should work on his skill set first, as well on a personal level, as on the understanding of the Belgian labour market.

From April until November he was searching without success, but then, after seven months (which is rather fast!), he started a freelance job. Parallelly, he continued looking for other jobs and went through many interview procedures and, unfortunately, rejections. During the year he worked as a freelancer, he met Hannelore, the founder of Talentree.

“A guy we can bet on”

When getting to know each other, Jerry felt a strong connection and interest beyond the job hunt. He was very fond of the human touch Talentree added to the job search. From our side, we felt that Jerry is a guy we could bet on, and we believed in him from the very first second. Our gut feeling turned out to be right! Jerry showed initiative from his side as well and led to an amazing job at Vlerick Business School.

His international roots were a great asset in his search as well. People from El Salvador are in general very hard workers. While Europe is still fast asleep at 7, in South America people are already in the office. His culture is also an altruistic one, and that is why Jerry loves helping and serving others. Let’s be honest, which company would not be interested in a hard-working and helping profile?

Just do it!

Jerry was so kind as to share some tips and tricks to find your perfect job in Belgium.

  • Be patient. Looking for a job takes time and there are native Belgian people who experience the same problems as internationals.
  • Be persistent. Do not give up, and never quit working on your skills on a professional level, as well as on your personal strengths.
  • Sell your international potential to companies. Every culture has something unique to offer.

The last, but maybe most important tip he shared was JUST DO IT. Get out there and send your cv and motivation letter to companies, even when you feel you are not fully ready for it. The experience you gain from this journey is very valuable.

 

Want to find a job with the help of Talentree as well? Join our talentpool!

Want to get more tips and tricks on finding a job in Belgium? Read Matheus’ story

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