Work and office vocabulary in Dutch

Work vocabulary earns its keep fast if you're job-hunting or employed in the Netherlands or Belgium. This page covers professions, the objects and people of the office, and the specific language of applying for a job — a vacature, a sollicitatie, a cv — plus the set formulas for work emails.

Professions

Job titles are almost all de-words. Many have a masculine and feminine form (de leraar / de lerares), though the masculine form is increasingly used as neutral.

Dutch	Article	Plural	English
leraar	de	leraren	teacher
arts	de	artsen	doctor
verpleegkundige	de	verpleegkundigen	nurse
advocaat	de	advocaten	lawyer
ingenieur	de	ingenieurs	engineer
boekhouder	de	boekhouders	accountant
verkoper	de	verkopers	salesperson
directeur	de	directeuren	director
ontwikkelaar	de	ontwikkelaars	developer
monteur	de	monteurs	mechanic
loodgieter	de	loodgieters	plumber
timmerman	de	timmerlieden	carpenter
bakker	de	bakkers	baker
kok	de	koks	cook / chef
kapper	de	kappers	hairdresser
boer	de	boeren	farmer
politieagent	de	politieagenten	police officer
ambtenaar	de	ambtenaren	civil servant
tandarts	de	tandartsen	dentist
zzp'er	de	zzp'ers	freelancer / self-employed (NL)

The office

Het kantoor (office) and het bureau (desk) are the het-words to remember; the people around you are nearly all de.

Dutch	Article	Plural	English
kantoor	het	kantoren	office
bureau	het	bureaus	desk
computer	de	computers	computer
toetsenbord	het	toetsenborden	keyboard
scherm	het	schermen	screen
vergadering	de	vergaderingen	meeting
afspraak	de	afspraken	appointment
agenda	de	agenda's	diary / schedule
collega	de	collega's	colleague
baas	de	bazen	boss
werknemer	de	werknemers	employee
werkgever	de	werkgevers	employer
salaris	het	salarissen	salary
pauze	de	pauzes	break
map	de	mappen	folder

Applying for a job

This is the vocabulary you'll meet on job boards and in HR emails. The verb is solliciteren (to apply), and a job posting is een vacature. Note that een sollicitatie is the application itself, not the interview — the interview is het sollicitatiegesprek.

Dutch	English
de vacature	vacancy / job posting
de sollicitatie	job application
solliciteren	to apply for a job
het cv (curriculum vitae)	résumé / CV
de motivatiebrief	cover letter
het sollicitatiegesprek	job interview
de werkervaring	work experience
de functie	position / role
het arbeidscontract	employment contract
de proeftijd	probation period
de opzegtermijn	notice period
het vakantiegeld	holiday allowance (paid annually)

Emails and meetings

Written Dutch at work is more formal than English, and it uses fixed opening and closing formulas. Getting these right signals you know the register. Use the formal u unless you're clearly on je terms — the pronoun choice is covered in Dutch pronouns.

Dutch	English
Geachte heer / mevrouw,	Dear Sir / Madam, (formal)
Beste Jan,	Dear Jan, (neutral / friendly)
Zullen we een afspraak maken?	Shall we set up a meeting?
Kunnen we dit even bespreken?	Can we discuss this briefly?
Alvast bedankt.	Thanks in advance.
Ik hoor graag van u.	I look forward to hearing from you.
Met vriendelijke groet,	Kind regards, (standard sign-off)
Hoogachtend,	Yours faithfully, (very formal)

The full business register — phone etiquette, meeting language and when Dutch offices switch to English — is in business Dutch. Worth knowing: in many Dutch and international workplaces the working language is simply English, so your Dutch effort is appreciated more than required.

Belgium: Belgian employment vocabulary keeps the old white-collar / blue-collar split: de bediende (salaried office worker) versus de arbeider (manual worker), a distinction with real legal weight. Full-time and part-time are usually voltijds and deeltijds in Flanders rather than the English-derived fulltime / parttime common in the Netherlands. A company is often de firma.

Continue with numbers for salaries and hours, or travel vocabulary for the commute. To handle the formal address these emails require, review u versus je.