The Flinx Recruitment Expo Dutch-Caribbean (FRED) hosted it’s sixth edition at the World Trade Centre Rotterdam last Saturday. This event strives to connect employers in the Dutch Caribbean with professionals and students in the Netherlands. The expo featured various companies within different sectors ranging from technology to healthcare. As an organisation, we at USC see the importance in attending such an event. This year marked our third year participating. We aimed to highlight the value in networking, a skill that is required and should be developed throughout a professional’s life. We also hoped to encourage our community to nurture relationships that will propel them and lead them towards success and opportunity. 

Regardless of whether one is looking for a job, a network is something that should be cultivated and developed over time. We encouraged these skills by offering CV checks throughout the day and offering a workshop that was open to all attendants. This year, we specifically focused on first impressions, self-confidence and dressing in a professional setting during our Dress For Success workshop lead by our own Sidoney Surpris. The workshop broke down the different dress codes encountered in various professional environments and highlighted the importance of how one carries themselves. We’d like to thank  Estika Halley, Jeroom York and Denecia Meade for modeling different dress codes during the workshop.

We were very pleased with the robust presence of the Sint Maarten dignitaries at FRED who spent some time with both Sint Maarten companies and attendees. The delegation included the Honorable Chairwoman of Parliament Sarah Wescott-Williams, Honorable MP Silveria Jacobs, Honorable MP Wycliffe Smith, Honorable Minister ECYS Jorien Wuite, Honorable Deputy Minister Plenipotentiary Hasani Ellis and the staff of the cabinet of the Minister Plenipotentiary. The dignitaries highlighted the importance of these platforms to attract talent to the island. Minister Wuite also gave a call to action for professionals interested in the recently launched National Recovery Program Bureau (NRPB) vacancies which can be found on www.sintmaartengov.org.

We at USC enjoyed our time at FRED. We are thankful for the presence of companies that came to engage with the talent pool in the Netherlands. The healthcare sector was well-represented this year and we hope to see more companies partake in the expo next year and in the coming years.