Shaun Venter

Shaun and his wife Natasha, together with their little baby, have arrived in the Netherlands in June 2018. We, as summit developers, picked them up at Schiphol Airport with 2 cars. When a young family with a baby emigrates, they bring a lot of luggage 🙂

Shaun, why did you emigrate to the Netherlands?
We (my wife and then 3 months old baby) moved to the Netherlands because we wanted a better future for our child and possible future children. We do love South Africa and the people, but the current situation is not ideal. The Netherlands has free schooling and free health care for children.

Can you tell us something how you do like the Netherlands?
We love the Netherlands, it is very safe, open and free. The people are also amazing and really try to accommodate you, even when you speak very broken Dutch, they will happily switch to English if required. 

Dutch is not Afrikaans, although Afrikaans helps a lot.

Everything is a bit smaller that we are used to, from food portions to housing, but this is made up for by the spaces outside that you can freely explore anytime of the day.

Please tell us something about the projects you are currently working on
I am currently working at internet connectivity provider which is part of one of the biggest companies in the Netherlands, This is a really amazing company. They have all the latest and greatest tech stack. They invest in tech and people, you are encouraged to learn and make mistakes. They also make sure you have a good work life balance as work stays at work. 

Did the process of emigration go smoothly?
Considering the BIG step, it does go quite easy, once you have all the paper work everything else is smooth.

Can you explain to the South Africans who are considering to go overseas how you did experience the support from us?
summit developers helped us every step of the way, from the reassurance that this is not a scam…to the paperwork and settling in period. They are always a simple message or email away and always willing to help, even when it might not be work related issues.