Sticking around in Tilburg after your graduation: ‘Jobs with Impact’ helps students build a career in their own city

Off to Amsterdam after your master’s? The initiative Jobs with Impact doesn’t think so. They aim to counter the brain drain in Tilburg by connecting students early on with local organizations through student jobs. ‘By the time they graduate, many students are already mentally checked out. At that point, it’s simply too late for local companies.’

The municipality of Tilburg has been struggling with talent loss for years. Many university students leave the city after graduation to build their careers in the Randstad. The common belief: there are no real career opportunities in Tilburg. Jobs with Impact, an initiative by Citymarketing Tilburg and the business collective The Tailors, wants to change that perception.

Maud Eggen (24), an HR student at Tilburg University, leads the project. Two days a week, she recruits companies, promotes the initiative to students, and shares job openings through the “Jobs with Impact” WhatsApp community. ‘That group now has over 450 students, all looking for a relevant part-time job or student placement,’ says Eggen.

Mentally already gone

Around 50 local companies are now involved in the project, ranging from IT firms and marketing agencies to law offices. They offer student placements – serious part-time roles of 8 to 24 hours a week that allow students to gain relevant work experience – so that students can get to know Tilburg-based businesses during their studies.

Eggen sees this as the key: ‘Many local companies only start trying to recruit students after they’ve graduated. But during their studies, students are already thinking ahead to that next step. Big Randstad-based firms are highly visible, so mentally, students have often already left Tilburg. By the time local businesses knock on the door, it’s simply too late.’

From student job to full-time position

In two years, 45 vacancies have been shared in the WhatsApp group. More than 18 students have landed a job at a local company. And once you’re connected with a Tilburg-based firm, chances are you’ll stay. That was the case for Bennet van den Broek (24). He joined the WhatsApp group and within weeks found a part-time job at software company KLERQ. After graduation, he was offered a full-time contract.

According to Van den Broek, it was a bit of a surprise: ‘I hadn’t even planned to start working immediately after graduation, but now I’ve found my place.’ For now, he’s staying in Tilburg.

And so is Jobs with Impact. The municipality of Tilburg recently announced a one million euro investment in retaining talent in the region. Part of that—50,000 euros—will go to Jobs with Impact. ‘We’ve already shown that we can successfully connect students and companies with limited resources,’ Eggen explains. ‘With this funding, we want to hire an extra team member and invest more in marketing. Our goal is to boost our visibility and keep even more graduates here in Tilburg.’