Born in Zeijen, Drenthe, he started his career with Eredivisie club Heerenveen in 2003, before moving to Eerste Divisie side Zwolle, on loan, between 2004 and 2006.

He moved to Scottish Premier League side Celtic in January 2010 but after one year was loaned out to Danish Superliga club Copenhagen.

In the next season he made twelve appearances in the League mostly as a left back, starting in five of those matches which included wins over Ajax and PSV.

During the 2004−05 season, Hooiveld had an unsuccessful trial with Scottish side Livingston, later claiming that a noisy hotel staff party left him sleep deprived and damaged his chances of winning a contract.

In April 2007, after just eight months at the club and having made just fourteen appearances, Hooiveld signed a two-year contract with Inter Turku.

In the beginning of the 2008 season he won the League Cup, when FC Inter beat their local rival Turun Palloseura in the final.

He was again named Veikkausliiga defender of the season for the second time in only two years in Finland – impressively FC Inter kept 16 clean sheets in the League in 26 matches in which Hooiveld played.

Mikael Stahre wished Hooiveld well on his move commenting "Jos has, during this year, helped and contributed to the winning mentality that characterizes AIK.

[11] He lost his place in the team[12] after giving away a penalty in a 4–0 Europa League defeat to FC Utrecht a month later,[13] before returning as a substitute in the 9–0 win over Aberdeen in November 2010.

[15] Hooiveld made 11 appearances for Copenhagen (four as a substitute) but on 28 May 2011 the club announced that they would not be taking up the option to make the move permanent.

[18] On 18 October, he scored his first league goal in a 1–0 victory over West Ham United, a win which put the Saints five points clear at the top of the table.