Applied on their website as per usual. about a month later i received an update saying there were 187 people who applied, and that's why it was taking so long. i was one of 10 who was shortlisted. i replied back and say that's a pleasant surprise, and let me know if i can help answer some questions in the meantime. in my mind i was never going to get the job with those odds. eventually a while later i received an email asking me what i meant on my resume by my level of dutch (I wrote there B2 level, where i completed a course to that level). i said i could speak dutch in normal conversations without problems. i also attached the certificate of the course. then later, i received a whatsapp message from the recruiter asking me a suitable date/time for a call to schedule an interview. we arranged that and during the first call, it was more like an interview - we discussed why i applied, what do i do and how my dutch really was - i replied if you wanted to continue in dutch we could give it a go. we talked about general things, what i liked to do etc., holidays (it was in july), and then in the last few mins of the call we scheduled the interview. the first online interview was with my now current senior scientists. we talked about technical stuff, what i did, what i like to do, a bit about myself etc. i also had some time to ask some questions about their research (i read their papers), and what it's like to work at tno - i checked their linkedin and they've all been at tno for 10+ years. we said goodbye and noted that we didn't have time to discuss other interesting topics with technical work. i said, i hope to have more opportunity to chat to you about that and thanks for your time. eventually a few weeks later, i was texted on whatsapp by the recruiter that we'll do another interview, this time with the admin staff, research manager and project manager. i was told i would also write a mock grant application. on that day there was the NS strike (i think it was on a thursday) and the recruiter asked me whether i wanted to reschedule - i said no, i'll drive to the office as planned. the recruiter was there. i could feel that the recruiter wanted to convince the manager that i was a good pick from the shortlist (out of 3). the first interview we talked about non-technical stuff, like how do i feel, what i liked, how do i fit in to the workplace, do i feel comfortable with working in the dutch environment etc. what would i do in certain situations etc. the second interview as also less technical, but more like my personality and what would i like to do, how do i handle stress, projects etc. the soft skills, and the miscellaneous section on my resume (i.e. hobbies). i also pulled out some slides (printed) where my connections/network are located across the world, people i've collaborated with. they really see this as important. i also pulled out a successful zonmw grant that i wrote recently, and said this is an exmaple of my grant writing skills, let me know if you'd still like me to write a mock grant application. i felt both conversations initially started off as fairly straightfoward interview questions and then eventually evolved into a chat. at the end of the whole process i was told i will hear back first thing monday morning. the weekend came and went, so did monday. i thought i didn't get the job. i've put a fair bit of time and effort into preparing for the whole job application, i felt a bit bad, especially when i have just been rejected by a few positions after doing the interviews. then on tuesday i got another whatsapp by the recruiter asking me if he can call me later in the day. i said yes, anytime. then, i got a call shortly after, and he said "how do you feel" and i was like "well i don't know it depends on what you're going to say" and he said the outcome was "positive". that was when i really exhaled deeply, and i was like okay nice. he gave feedback on my interviews, and i also had the opportunity to address some of the things he didn't know. thereafter we scheduled another video call a few days later to discuss about the compensation package, start date, as well as paperwork to do in the interim. that was my experience with applying with tno, the whole process took about 3 months in total from applying to offer, over the summer break. i felt really lucky, and let's say 10-20% of the total application were irrelevant, i was probably still up against 100+ very qualified candidates.