On June 27, the Parkstad Employers Service, together with the Dutch employment office UWV, organized a so-called Vacancy Café, a job placement café, in the Parkstad Limburg Stadium.
Such an event is attended by both job seekers and employers. The concept is to provide both sides with a forum where they can engage with each other in a relaxed manner. The job seeker receives information about the employer’s expectations and the employer gains an impression of the people who are looking for work.
The Cross-Border Employment Service Point participated in this event for the first time. The main idea was to make job seekers aware that there are also positions on the other side of the border that might be interesting. Often, lack of knowledge of laws and regulations is an obstacle to considering these job offers.
The cross-border employment service team set up a booth staffed by members of this team, where interested parties can address questions and obtain information about working on the other side of the border.
Furthermore, information was provided about open positions for which staff is being sought.
This initiative proved to be a bullseye. Approximately 40 people with serious interest in a cross-border job registered.
They will be invited by SGA staff to a more detailed discussion in the coming weeks, during which everything will be reviewed again. It will be analyzed to what extent education and experience match the job profiles. If there is a match, the respective job seeker will be referred and introduced to the employer. If there is no direct vacant position for the job seeker at the moment, possibilities continue to be monitored for them. It might happen that eventually there is a suitable vacant position to which the person can be referred. It is expected that some of these candidates can be directly placed.
The experiences gained from participating in this event show that job seekers often have doubts about accepting a cross-border job, as they are not familiar with the relevant laws and regulations. These doubts can often be dispelled in personal conversations. It’s about making personal contact. The “Vacature café” proves to be an ideal forum for this.