The Dutch water and soil sector faces major challenges in many areas. Climate change further increases these and demands closer cooperation between different disciplines. The need for cross-border perspectives on water, soil and energy is therefore increasing.
The Dutch water and soil sector faces major challenges in many areas. Climate change further increases these and demands closer cooperation between different disciplines. The need for cross-border perspectives on water, soil and energy is therefore increasing.
This two-year (Dutch-language!) program prepares you for the professional field, but also includes your personal development. You will work for two years in a familiar setting. From Monday to Thursday you will work with 1 organization in our network, where you will learn from and with your colleagues in order to master your profession.
On Fridays you will be away from your organization and follow an extensive trainee program with your fellow trainees. Here you alternate trainings, coaching and intervision groups with working on inter-sectoral projects, excursions and visits to organizations. This gives you plenty of opportunity to peek into new directions.
Prior knowledge is not required. It is about discovering different organizations and sectors to find out what you really want to do and what role suits you as a person and as a professional! In this way we can make an impact towards a sustainable future together.
Meet the National Water and Soil Traineeship: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hddrkmWLK-w
We are looking for passionate talented young individuals with a completed college or university degree, for example in civil engineering, planning or physical geography, but other backgrounds such as public administration are also welcome! Our traineeship focuses on starters with a maximum of two years of relevant work experience.
What do we expect from you? A strong drive to improve yourself and the world, proactivity to seize opportunities and push the boundaries of your comfort zone, and a genuine interest in your growth and that of others. Ready to make an impact? Then join our traineeship!
Before the start of the traineeship, you start by finding a suitable position. Together with you, we will search our broad network for a job that matches your profile and personal ambitions. Organizations present us with vacancies in which they offer a trainee a two-year challenge. But we will also bring you to the attention of organizations you are interested in, regardless of these vacancies!
From dyke reinforcement project leader to policy officer on citizen participation, from river ecologist to water process technologist, from climate adaptation advisor to community manager; the diversity of roles fulfilled by our trainees is enormous!
After two years you will continue working at the organization where you completed your traineeship, or you can easily find a new career step through the network that you have built up during those two years in our program.
If you attended our online information session and apply, we will have two one-on-one online meetings to get to know each other better. This is important because it allows us to search even more specifically for a position that really suits you and because it shows us how serious you are about taking on the adventure with us.
Do you go through to the official selection morning at our office? Then you will most likely meet several of your future fellow trainees for the first time. During this morning you can experience whether our traineeship is really for you. If the mutual match is obvious, we will schedule a personal brainstorming session to discuss and fine-tune all options. Meanwhile you have already started to get to know employers and other trainees.
You apply with a motivation in a form that suits you, addressing the questions:
- What can you contribute for the water and/or soil sector in the Netherlands?
- How do you want to use your participation in the traineeship for that purpose?