Eight colleagues from OchtendMensen, partner of Refugee Talent Hub, form mentor duos with professionals with a refugee background. Together they work on application skills, insight into the Dutch labor market and a network. Mentor Floor shares her experiences.

Recently, the mentors and mentees of the mentoring program of OchtendMensen and Refugee Talent Hub came together for an inspiring intermediate event. Floor says that she was able to make great strides in the first period together with her mentee from Turkey, who has a background in finance and business administration: “After the introductory event, which was mainly about getting to know each other, we worked on improving the CV and LinkedIn profile, among other things, and identifying qualities.”

 Floor: “I realized that a resume can be very different and decisive per culture. By making small adjustments, such as naming a number of extracurricular activities, you can already help to better connect to the Dutch labor market. The interim event was a nice next step in that respect: after recognizing qualities and presenting this on the resume, we now started working on the application itself.”

 Insight into the Dutch application culture

 The afternoon started with a short presentation on how the application process in the Netherlands often works, with practical tips on non-verbal communication, self-reflection and the importance of good preparation. After that it was time to get started with an interactive workshop on application skills.

 Mentors and mentees worked together with tools such as the STARR method, personal pitches and the core quadrant model. On the floor, a large quadrant was laid out – with core quality, pitfall, challenge and allergy – to increase self-knowledge in a visual and practical way.

 Floor says: “During the exercise, we came to the conclusion that drive is a core quality. At the same time, we discovered that this can sometimes be at the expense of efficiency or a good work-life balance. In my mentee's culture, this is seen as flexibility and dedication, while in Dutch work culture, setting priorities and daring to say 'no' is considered professional. By discussing this, we learned a lot from each other's perspectives.”

 The afternoon ended with an inspiring moment: one of the mentees spontaneously shared her personal pitch with the entire group.

 Closure

 After the substantive program, there was room for informal contact during a drink. Floor looks back: “It is special how many steps you can take in one afternoon. You see the self-confidence of mentees grow, while we as mentors also learn a lot about other perspectives, work cultures and the power of real collaboration.”

This is a shortened version of the article. Curious about the full story? Read it on the OchtendMensen website.

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