Neha’s career in the Netherlands is as nerve-calming as a roller-coaster ride.
From a successful entrepreneur in India, Neha found herself looking for an entry-level sales role in the Dutch job market. Five years later, Neha threw herself into deep waters again, when she decided to become a specialist photographer.
Neha specialises in maternity, children and family photography. She creates mushy motherhood moments with creative props and the language of her lens. Within 4 years of her practice in Utrecht, Neha enjoys a steady pull of clients and has stopped actively promoting her service across social media and other marketing channels.
Jessica Lau, her client, gushed “I want to wear Neha’s gorgeous maternity gowns and feel like a goddess”. Another client, Sampada Sagar said, “When I got pregnant, I was advised to book a midwife, Kraamzorg and a session with Neha Mangat”.
Interestingly, Neha did not set out to be a photographer. An entrepreneur at 22, she had built a successful recruitment company in India. She had helped over 400 unemployed graduates from smaller towns find jobs in several global organisations, for over 5 years.
Neha had wrapped up the firm and followed her husband who had taken up a role in the Netherlands. The call of an adventure in a new country was too strong to resist. Within months, she realised she needed more than that to stay productive and feel fulfilled.
Neha had begun carpet-bombing every job portal for expats and had rewritten her resume several times before she was called for the first job interview, a whole year later. “You sound over-qualified as an “entrepreneur”, advised her career consultant. “I had nearly erased the entrepreneur experience and played up my skills in sales and marketing”, she admits.
Neha recommends using the assistance of a career coach to tailor one’s resume to the Dutch job market, as well as attending relevant webinars and information sessions by expat help groups. “Linkedin is very relevant here. Build up a network and stay active with your connections”, she adds.
Motherhood moments: Photos by Neha Mangat
Neha’s first job was to sell technology events in Europe to companies across the world. Neha began to build a network that became very useful for landing the next job. With her recruitment experience in India coupled with the newly-gained sales skills she moved up as an enrollment advisor at a group of universities. Here, she honed her counseling abilities as she helped mid-career executives upgrade their skills through various university courses. “I learnt how to read people, their hopes and aspirations. I began to understand the context of a question that a client posed for me”, she says. “I still keep in touch with my earliest colleagues, and this network has grown to add everyone I’ve worked with in the Netherlands”.
Five years later, Neha quit her job to raise her son. When the career bug bit Neha again, she had decided to explore her favourite hobby, photography.
Setting up a business and promoting it in the Netherlands was, however, a different ball game. Neha found herself in deep waters, again. The early years saw Neha clicking away at friends’ birthday parties. “I took every opportunity to meet people and share my work with them. I attended business events and entrepreneurship seminars and offered my services at a discounted price.”
Neha took up any assignment, regardless of size, be it products, headshots, private or business events. This helped Neha stay visible to a large network of potential clients, in addition to targeted social media marketing. One of the key factors that helped Neha was becoming a part of expat forums and women entrepreneur groups on Facebook. “The knowledge exchange in these groups helped me in many ways – from client leads to finding tax consultants”.
Speaking on her biggest challenges as an entrepreneur, Neha says “Photography took its toll on work-life balance initially. The business needed my constant attention, not just for continuous growth but also to understand and navigate Dutch regulations. Everything was new – Dutch taxes, VAT regulations, laws and insurances. This consumed a lot of time and effort. It was a rough beginning, but I made it! ”.
Neha’s career curve is proof that it is not impossible to start over and thrive in the Netherlands. She says, “You may have people tell you that it is impossible to find a job here and can give you any number of examples. But it is your choice to believe them or trust in yourself to carve your way through any obstacle”.
