Defense has approximately 8,000 vacancies open. To fill these vacancies and recruit more young people, the organization has devised the ‘service year’. During such a year, young people can get a taste of what it is like to be a soldier.
Action and challenge
Siem also wanted to do something else after his training. After completing his HBO law education, he opted for a gap year in the navy: “Something with more action and physical challenge instead of an office job. I want to do something fun while I’m still a bit young, that’s why I opted for the service year.” .”
Siem now works on a mine hunter at the naval base and he likes it so much that he would like to continue working in the navy. “I quickly thought, I really love this and would like to stay. I hope that’s possible, but I think so.”
Gap year popularity
When asked whether Defense came up with this service year because the gap year is so popular among young people, Commander Van Dijk says convincingly: “Yes, it is a unique opportunity to do a paid gap year, where you can gain experience and learn things. ”
Research by the State of Education from 2023 shows that after obtaining a HAVO or VWO diploma, fewer and fewer students immediately start further education in the following year. Some of them are taking a gap year. Young people like Siem choose to do something different for a year after their further education. They are also welcome at Defense.
More important than ever
The importance of young people in Defense is greater than ever according to Commander van Dijk, partly due to the personnel shortage and the various hot spots in the world.
Van Dijk sees the motivation and understanding for the organization growing: “We on the mine hunter have been doing useful work in the North Sea for some time, and thus make the North Sea a lot safer. Nowadays it is a lot easier to explain what we as a mine hunter can do. also in the Black Sea where it is full of mines.”