Moving to Brussels, Belgium, work related questions

[Lemontez]

Hey everyone,

I’m in the need of some information.

I’m currently residing in Canada, and will soon be moving to Brussels, in Belgium. The problem is, I only speak English, and have little knowledge of French, and no Dutch. Now, in my search process for employment in the Brussels area, I have only found jobs where there is the language such as French, Flemish, Dutch, German is needed, or a degree of some sort is needed. I only have secondary education, although my English writing skills could be considered an asset.

I’m currently looking for any type of work to start me off, so it could be anything from a library to a communications company. I'm looking for information of any companies that hire English speaking personnel, or if anyone knows of any websites that are related to finding English speaking jobs in Brussels. It would be greatly appreciated if you would contact me by e-mail with this info.

Also, if you know of any international companies in Brussels that work strictly in the English language, relaying them to me would be appreciated.

Any information related to my situation would be of great help as well. My contact info is below.

Thanks,
Trevor

You can e-mail me any information at the following:
xxxxxx

[synthia]

Welcome!

I removed your e-mail address because automatic programs look for such things and use them to send spam. Anyone who wants to contact you can use the visitor message system until you have five posts and can use private messaging. We'd prefer to have the discussions here in the forum, however, so they can benefit others.

Are you going to Belgium on a working holiday visa? If not, how will you get the right to live and work in Brussels?

Without languages and without a degree and without skills, I think you will have a very difficult time finding work, largely because I have seen other posts from people who have been in the same situation and haven't been successful.

[klamm]

unless you are an eu national it will be difficult to get work in Brussels

[Bevdeforges]

Hi, and welcome to the forum.

Is there a reason you're moving to Brussels? (I.e. family, girlfriend, etc.) I only ask because you are going to run into a visa issue, as Synthia has already mentioned unless you have EU nationality. If you are moving with family members, make sure you know the work status for your visa, as work visas are extremely difficult to get in Belgium, particularly for someone without a degree and/or local language skills.

In addition, Brussels is a "multi-lingual" enclave in the middle of the Flemish part of Belgium. Many of the "English speaking" employers are either connected with the European Union or with NATO - and jobs with those sorts of institutions are extremely competitive. It could be next to impossible to find a job outside the city of Brussels without speaking Flemish. Language is a very sensitive issue there.

Any possibility of studying in Brussels? That might give you a chance to work on the language skills while learning your way around.
Cheers,
Bev

[subhuman]

Hi
Im moving in Brussel this August, to study.
I will get student work visa.
But I have a question , how possible is to find any parttime job without knowledge of French or Dutch ?
Do you have any idea where should I look?

thanks