Annotated Dialogue: A Job Interview (B2)

A Dutch sollicitatiegesprek (job interview) is a register exam as much as a content one. You stay on u throughout, you soften your wishes into the conditional Ik zou graag …, you talk about yourself with the reflexive uzelf, and — crucially — you describe your track record in the perfect tense (Ik heb gewerkt bij …), not the simple past an English speaker reaches for. This page walks through a complete, natural interview and unpacks the grammar that makes a candidate sound poised rather than stilted.

The dialogue

I is the interviewer; S is the candidate, Sanne.

What's happening grammatically

"Vertelt u eens …" — the formal imperative

The interviewer's opener, Vertelt u eens iets over uzelf, is a formal imperative. Where an informal command drops the pronoun and uses the bare stem (Vertel eens …), the polite version keeps u and adds the full ending: *Vertelt u …. The little word *eens (often softened to 'ns in speech) takes the edge off a command, turning "Tell!" into "Do tell …". This stem + -t + u pattern is the hallmark of formal instructions and signs (Neemt u plaats, "Take a seat").

uzelf — the reflexive pronoun for u

When the object of a verb is the same person as the subject u, Dutch uses the reflexive uzelf ("yourself", formal). It is built transparently from u + zelf. This matters because the informal counterpart is jezelf (from je + zelf), and learners often carry jezelf into a formal interview by mistake, or build a non-word like uzelfs. The whole register has to agree: u subject → uzelf reflexive → uw possessive.

Describing experience: the perfect tense, not the simple past

This is the single biggest English-interference trap in a Dutch interview. To describe completed work experience, Dutch overwhelmingly uses the perfect tense (hebben + past participle): *Ik heb vijf jaar bij een bureau gewerkt*, *Ik heb projecten geleid*. English uses the simple past for the same idea ("I worked there for five years"), so learners say Ik werkte vijf jaar bij…, which is grammatical but sounds like narration or a habitual past, not a CV statement. In spoken and semi-formal Dutch, completed events are reported in the perfect; the simple past (werkte, leidde) is reserved for storytelling and written narrative.

"Ik zou graag …" — conditional politeness

To express a wish politely, the candidate uses the conditional: Ik zou graag … (willen), built on zou (past-conditional of zullen). Ik zou graag bij u werken ("I would like to work for you") is softer and more deferential than the plain Ik wil graag … of the bank counter — appropriate because in an interview you're asking, not ordering. The verb being wished-for can be a bare infinitive (zou graag … werken) or stacked with willen (zou graag … willen werken). Both are correct; the willen version is a touch more tentative.

The modals at work: willen and kunnen

The interviewer's two key questions run on modals. Waarom wilt u hier werken? uses willen ("to want"), with u triggering the form wilt (irregular: u wilt, also heard as u wil). Wanneer kunt u beginnen? uses kunnen ("to be able"), with u triggering kunt (likewise u kan exists colloquially). Both are V2 questions — the question word (Waarom, Wanneer) is first, the modal second, u third, and the main infinitive (werken, beginnen) at the end. Wrapping the modal in zou — Wanneer zou u kunnen beginnen? — adds a layer of conditional courtesy.

"ervaring met" — the fixed preposition

"Experience with something" is ervaring met in Dutch — the preposition is fixed and not negotiable. English "experience in/of/with" all map onto met here: ervaring met projectmanagement, ervaring met Excel, ervaring met leidinggeven. This is a prepositional collocation you memorise, not derive.

Vocabulary and cultural note

Interview vocabulary worth locking in:

• het sollicitatiegesprek — the job interview; solliciteren (op/naar) — to apply (for).
• de functie / de vacature — the position / the vacancy.
• uw sterke punten / uw zwakke punten — your strengths / weaknesses (the inevitable question).
• ervaring met … — experience with …; leidinggeven — to manage/lead people.
• de opzegtermijn — notice period; het arbeidsvoorwaardengesprek — the follow-up meeting about terms and salary.
• aansturen / leidinggeven aan — to lead/manage (a team).

A cultural note: Dutch interviews prize directness and self-aware modesty. Overselling (Ik ben de allerbeste kandidaat) tends to land badly; concrete, perfect-tense achievements (Ik heb X opgezet, wat Y opleverde) land well. The conditional zou graag signals exactly the calibrated, non-pushy confidence the culture rewards.

Register note

This dialogue is formal-professional: u, uw, uzelf, conditional zou graag, formal imperatives. It is the obligatory register for an interview with people you don't know. Note that even here Dutch interviews can warm into a semi-formal jij once rapport is established — and some startups open on je from the first minute. But the safe default is to start on u and let the interviewer downgrade first. Mismatching — answering a formal u-question with a breezy je weet wel — reads as either nervous or disrespectful. Keep subject, reflexive, and possessive in agreement: u … uzelf … uw as one set, je … jezelf … jouw as the other.

Common Mistakes