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Work Belgium Overseas Study Work Overseas

2007-04-23:

About two-thirds of the Belgian population works in service industries.
About 25% of workers in Belgium belong to trade unions.
Private recruitment agencies often specialise in particular career areas.
Details of agencies can be found in the Belgian Yellow Pages Pages d’Or, Gouden Gids under Bureaux de Placement, Aanwervingsbureaus for permanent work or Intérimaires, Tijdelijke Arbeid for temporary work.
Details of Belgian companies may be obtained by searching directories such as Kompass Belgium, the Belgian Yellow Pages or trade and business directories.
Vacancy bulletins are usually produced for current students and recent graduates.
The amount of help available to overseas students and graduates wanting to work in Belgium may vary between institutions.

Public employment services
There are three regional employment services offices throughout Belgium that can be used by EU nationals:

Flemish Public Employment Service VDAB Dutch area.
These services deal with both permanent and temporary work and have a specialist temporary work division called T-Interim or T-Service.
Jobcentre Plus has links with several of its European Union EU counterparts, including Belgium.

British Council Education and Training Group offers help securing work related placements stages lasting up to six months for students, and in some cases, graduates.
AIESEC is a student-run organisation which offers an International Traineeship Exchange Programme offering work experience for anything between six weeks and 18 months.
Contact The European Commission Traineeships Office Bureau de Stages for details.
As well as applying speculatively to firms and organisations, you may also find temporary work in Belgian newspaper recruitment sections or by contacting temporary recruitment agencies and government employment offices.

Higher education comprises of university and non university institutions Hogescholen.
Entrance examinations exist only for civil engineering, civil engineering, architecture, dental sciences, medical sciences, nautical sciences and fine arts.

Higher non-university education offers both short-term one cycle three year study courses, and long-term two cycle four to five year study courses.
Study is divided into three levels.
The third level is postgraduate study, the so called English Master Programmes.
Complementary programmes offer a one year course which widens the field of study and, to enter, a second level undergraduate degree is required.
UK students can enter with a bachelors degree.
A diplome detudes complementaires, gediplomeerde in de aanvullende studies is awarded.
Specialised programmes and research either build on the undergraduate degree studies or allow a new field to be studied and lasts one or two years and can also be a preparatory programme for doctoral research.
The universities organise language courses during the summer.
Many foreign nationals work in Belgium in an impressive range of professional sectors.

Nationals of pre-2004 European Union EU member states are entitled to live and work in Belgium provided they have a full valid passport. (Permalink)