JOBS IN ENGINEERING - HIGH TECH

The supply of Dutch specialists is scarce, and the influx of new talent is insufficient to fill the shortfalls.

Government, business and educational institutions in the Netherlands will need to work even more closely together in the future, in order to jointly meet the challenge and make professionals enthusiastic about high-tech jobs.

How to get a job in high-tech?

Below are three tips that will increase your chances of starting in a high-tech job.Soft-skills requestedTrainingRelevant hobbies

• Wanted: soft-skills
• Training
• Relevant hobbies

Wanted: soft skills

Most high-tech jobs at High-Tech Semiconductors are currently Embedded Software Engineers and Digital IC Verification Engineers.

A technical environment is often thought to be all about hard skills. However, we are seeing that soft skills, such as collaboration, communication skills and adaptability, are becoming increasingly important.

Managers look to see if someone is a good fit for the team and work environment. If a candidate is communicatively proficient and eager to learn, this is an huge advantage.

Consider extra training

Technological developments are happening fast. As a candidate, it is therefore important that you stay up to date with everything that is happening in the field, share this with your colleagues and be open to further training.

Our advice is to subscribe to specialist literature, go to conferences and lectures and join relevant Linkedin groups.

Relevant hobbies are important

Another development we see is that candidates, and especially ypng graduates, need to have relevant hobbies in addition to good grades, so you need to be able to demonstrate that you really like what you're doing. This requirement is important in the selection process. For example, think of app development, programming, and coding. Is that a hobby of yours? And do you have the skills to execute it? Put it on your CV.

Candidates with several years of work experience need to specialize, but they need to remain all-round employable. This seems to contradict each other, but it does reflect how the market works.

Because processes are cut into small sub-processes, you work with many specialists on a project. You need to be a specialist in your sub-process, but still see the bigger picture. If you can articulate that well, or get back to your resume, then that will certainly add value when applying for high-tech jobs.