“They said my Dutch was not good enough.”
I have been thinking about that sentence for a long time, because I hear it often and it is never said lightly.
And to be fair: there are jobs where speaking Dutch well is simply part of the work. If you are going to run meetings with Dutch clients, write to Dutch customers or lead a Dutch team, then the requirement is the job and not a hurdle in front of it.
But that is not the situation most people describe to me. They describe having the experience, the qualifications and the skills for a role, and then not getting it because their Dutch was not quite where it needed to be. What a hiring manager is usually testing is not vocabulary but professional Dutch: whether you can hold an adult conversation at your own level. Or being ready for the next step, and watching it go to someone who comes across more strongly in Dutch than in anything else.
Maybe your Dutch really was the reason. But was it the whole story?
I ask that honestly, not as a rhetorical trick. I do not know what happened in your process and neither do you, and that is exactly what makes it so hard to sit with.
What that line in the advert usually means
A stated level in a job advert is rarely something anyone measured. In most cases it is written by someone who wanted to say: you need to be able to function here, with us, in Dutch surroundings. That is a real requirement, and it is also a much lower bar than the letter and number suggest.
Which is why my honest advice is usually to apply anyway when you meet the rest of the requirements. A no you would have had regardless costs you an afternoon. Not applying costs you the role. And if your plan for getting there is to sign up for one more course first, read this before you do.
What the interview actually tests
Not your Dutch. Whether you can show what you are capable of, in Dutch.
Those are two different things, and the gap between them is where it goes wrong. You know your field. You have explained your work a hundred times, in English, well. Then you are sitting in a room, in Dutch, and the version of that explanation that comes out is shorter, flatter and less convincing than the one in your head. Nothing about your expertise changed in that moment. Only your access to it did.
That is the same mechanism I wrote about in why you understand Dutch but cannot speak it, and it hits hardest exactly where the stakes are highest.
Someone who set out to change this deliberately
From only English to real conversations, in ten weeks
Polina had been in the Netherlands for six months and had done some Duolingo. All Dutch words sounded the same to her, she could not build a proper sentence or a question, and she knew some words without being able to use any of them.
She had two goals, and the second one is why she is on this page: to talk with the people around her, and to prepare herself for the Dutch job market in HR. She had already worked out that a standard course would take a very long time before she would actually speak, so she went looking for something built around speaking from day one.
“I am looking for a job in the Netherlands. And I need to learn the language so I can find a job more quickly.”
Polina, from zero to A1+ in ten weeks
Ten weeks later she was understanding everyday conversations, building her own sentences and questions, and asking people to speak Dutch with her so she could practise. That last one is the real marker. Someone who asks for Dutch is no longer waiting to be ready.
What you can do, starting now
- Apply anyway. If you meet the rest, let them decide. You are currently doing the rejecting for them.
- Have your professional story in Dutch. Not the whole interview, one thing: who you are, what you do, and what you are good at, in four or five sentences you have said out loud until they are boring. That is the answer you will always be asked.
- Say what you can do, rather than apologising for what you cannot. I can follow meetings and take part, and I am still building speed in longer explanations. That is a professional answer. It also stops the interviewer guessing, which is what makes people nervous about hiring you.
- Offer to do part of it in Dutch. One or two questions. It shows your level and, more importantly, that you use it. Nothing on a certificate does that.
- Start before you feel ready. The level you want will not arrive on its own while you wait for the right moment. It arrives from speaking badly, often, somewhere it costs you nothing.
- If you work for yourself, this applies too. The client conversation is the interview, every time. That one has its own page.
Where to build it
The free Spreekwafel app is ten minutes a day, out loud, around real work situations. If you are applying now, that is the fastest honest thing you can start today.
Spreekwafel Circle adds the part an app cannot do: other professionals who hear you every week and respond, a weekly speaking assignment with feedback, and a monthly masterclass. The group starts on 1 October 2026.
And if you have an interview coming and want to think out loud about how to handle the Dutch part, just ask me.
Questions people ask about this
How good does my Dutch need to be to get a job in the Netherlands?
It depends far more on the role than on a level. For some jobs Dutch genuinely is the work, and there the bar is real. For many others the requirement is closer to whether you can take part in the team and in a conversation, and that is a lower bar than most people assume.
Should I apply if my Dutch is not at the level the advert asks for?
Usually yes, especially if you meet the rest of the requirements. A stated level in an advert is rarely something anyone measured, and it is often a shorthand for wanting someone who can function in Dutch surroundings. The worst outcome is a no you would have had anyway.
What do I say about my Dutch in an interview?
Say what you can do rather than apologising for what you cannot. Something like: I can follow meetings and take part, and I am still building speed in longer explanations. That is a professional answer, and it stops the guessing.
Can I ask to do part of the interview in Dutch?
Yes, and it usually lands well. Offering to answer one or two questions in Dutch shows both the level you are at and the fact that you are using it, which is more convincing than any certificate.
Is it worth learning Dutch if my company works in English?
The company works in English. The corridor, the lunch, the informal decisions and the jokes usually do not. That is where a lot of what happens at work actually happens.
Written by Jacky van der Starre, who teaches professionals to speak the Dutch they already understand.