One small world. Many big changes
“Relocation” is the term we use to describe the process of helping someone move from their home country to the Netherlands. It is a relatively small word that marks a big step in one’s life. At Jumbo’s Tech Campus, you will find IT professionals from 35 different countries. Some of them used to live relatively close to the Netherlands. Others crossed much greater distances to come and work in Veghel. One of those globe trotters is Matheus Domingos, data engineer at the Jumbo Tech Campus. He left Brazil, together with his fiancée, to join us at the Jumbo Tech Campus. And we’re glad he did!
Off to the US
Matheus was such a good student that he was given the chance to study in the United States. That explains why he speaks English with an accent that is hardly noticeable.
Matheus: “After getting my degree in System Analysis and Development, I started studying for a second one in Business Management. I also began teaching IT-skills in a technical school, amongst others.” Matheus tells us, “I taught students basic technical knowledge. When I started working at consultant companies, I stopped teaching for then. I picked it up again after I finished my MBA. Although this time, it was at a night school and the subjects were more complex, like Big Data.”
The company he worked for helped him to get the certifications he needed to further boost his career. By the time he appeared on the radar of one of our recruiters, he was an ideal candidate to come and work with us. Matheus has a word of advice for fellow Brazilians who want to work abroad: “Learn to speak and write English. Only 5% of the people in my country do. And no matter how skilled you are in tech, when you can’t communicate, that won’t help you land and keep a job outside Brasil.”
Hello Jumbo
Matheus takes us back to the moment he first heard of Jumbo: “A recruiter contacted me through LinkedIn and told me about the position. We talked for a bit and very soon I had my first online meeting with Jumbo. Shortly after that we met again and this time he was joined by a few managers. No later than the next day they reached out to me saying that I had the job if I wanted it. Talk about moving quickly…”.
Hello Netherlands
As you may have suspected, Matheus accepted the offer and that signaled the start of his relocation process. Matheus: “First thing on the agenda was to get the necessary documentation from the Dutch Consulate. I needed that to get a working Visa.” Just like all other expats working at our Campus, Matheus received ample support from our relocation team: “They helped me out very well. I’ve heard the stories where they provided colleagues with containers to ship nearly everything they own. But they didn’t need to do that for me or my fiancée. We travelled light. All I took with me was a couple of suitcases and my guitar. And instead of containers, Jumbo gave us a few suitcases to pack our things. Everything we needed came along with us on the plane to the Netherlands.
Easy Traffic
The relocation team helped him to get settled by providing the couple with a temporary place to stay. “With their help I started looking for an apartment and after a few weeks, I found one in Eindhoven. Now all we needed was some furniture and other basic stuff, but that’s easy to get over here. So, we’re pretty much settled now.” Matheus enjoys living in Eindhoven: “I like it here and I love that my function is a hybrid one, so I visit the office twice a week. The rest of the days I work from home. ” He has a view on commuting not every Dutchman will share: “Travelling to Veghel by car is easy, because the traffic over here is much better than São Paulo or Rio.”.
Sharing the experience
Matheus started working at our campus shortly after his arrival. He immediately felt very welcome: “They showed me around and helped me get settled and started. That was a very positive experience.” His team consists of people from many different nationalities. Matheus: “There’s a colleague from Serbia who has been living here for quite a few years already. She stared working just before I did, which helped me a lot requesting accesses and getting familiar with the tech environment. There are many expats in the coming to whom I have the opportunity to share my experiences about relocation, the cold, the rain, and Dutch culture. For example our opinion about the Dutch lunch. Instead of eating a decent meal, people here sit down for a few minutes with a ‘boterham met kaas’ or what’s it called? Oh yeah: Hagelslag. I will probably never get used to that.”
A future full of culture
His career is not the only thing on his mind when we ask Matheus about his future plans. “I want to work on improving my technical skills and contribute to important projects, like the one I just started on. But I really want to travel and see Europe. To me, it feels like a country more than a part of the world. Compared to Brazil, everything interesting is within a short travelling distance here. To me, Europe has always felt more like a country than a continent. You can travel from one culturally interesting place to another in just a few hours. I love that. As long as I can visit Paris and London in less than a day’s travel, I can live with the funny lunches.”