Laura Fernandez
The quality of life here is very high, and your working day doesn’t last a whole day.
Laura Fernandez Diaz actually found her current job a little by chance. “I have a friend who works at a nanotechnology lab in Portugal where they use FEI equipment. She knew that I was really interested in electron microscopy and told me that FEI in the Netherlands was looking for people. I was already living in Eindhoven at the time because my boyfriend was doing his PhD at TU/e, so that fitted in nicely. As if by destiny.”
Compared with countries where she has worked previously, the Netherlands is a breath of fresh air for Laura. “The quality of life here is very high, and your working day doesn’t last a whole day as in Mexico or Spain where you’d be required to overwork on a regular basis. If you work longer here, it’s because there really is a need to do so, but it is not a regular occurrence. In the evenings you have enough time to meet up with friends or do other nice things.”
This is a really international environment. My colleagues come from countries like China, Romania, South Africa and Ireland.
No-one ever has to get bored in Eindhoven according to Laura; it’s a lively place to be. “Go out to a restaurant in the evening and it’s almost always full. In the cold winters and dark weather you may get a sense of loneliness now and then but I don’t ever feel that way here in Eindhoven.” But there is room for improvement in one aspect in the region, and that is accommodation. Laura and her boyfriend now live together in a small apartment. She hopes to find something else very soon but it’s not proving very easy. Laura is already becoming part of the landscape, doing everything by bike, something she sees as being typically Dutch. “It sometimes seems to be as if you are born with a bike.”
“You don’t need to speak Dutch to be able to get on with your colleagues. Everyone here speaks good English and that’s a good thing since that’s the company language at FEI. This is a really international environment. My colleagues come from countries like China, Romania, South Africa and Ireland. I am learning Dutch but it’s not something you need to have on your first day, and that is great.”
- Name
- Laura Fernandez
- Company
- FEI Company
- Function
- Product Market Engineer
- Country
- Spain
- City
- Eindhoven
- Education
- PhD in Chemistry
