’From the first day on, I always felt welcome here.’

Two Incluusion trainees. Photo: Eline Bollaart - Trainee Ahmad and supervisor Laurens share their experiences with the Incluusion Traineeship: a program for status holders to gain relevant work experience at Utrecht University. Ahmad started his traineeship at the University Library, where Laurens had already been working for years. Why traineeships?. It is difficult for status holders to find a job, despite the tight labor market. Foreign diplomas, a language barrier and a (seemingly inexplicable) gap in one's CV are reasons why refugees struggle to find work. However, of the 9 trainees who completed their traineeship in 2022, everyone has found a paid position. Ahmad, with his background as a librarian, found a job in early 2023 at Ingressus, a service organization for libraries.