Trajectory guidance for foreign-language speaking employees

Highly educated people with a different mother tongue (HOA) often find it difficult to find a job that matches their talent. Knowledge of the Dutch language often forms a barrier during the selection and recruitment process. However, language is a developable competence. The university therefore offers highly educated foreigners the opportunity to do an internship within a faculty department or a department of a central administration, combined with coaching in the workplace. In this way, the university tries to fulfill its social function by valorising multilingual talent. At the same time, the work and research environment becomes more diverse in this way.

The HOA-talent@UGent project started in 2020. Highly educated non-native speakers can sharpen their professional competences, expand their network and optimize their knowledge of (academic) Dutch through an internship in collaboration with VDAB, named Beroepsinlevingsstage (BIS-internship). This internship prepares job seekers excellently for a job according to the level of education.