Jobs In Cyprus

A Reality Check In A Time Of Recession

Jobs in Cyprus are hard to come by

There, I have said it now and I wish a few more people would be realistic with their advice, but this is my belief and I am sticking to it.

If it is your dream to come to the island, find a permanent job and settle down for ever after, you might find things are not quite as you imagined, and it is unfair on you to paint a rosy picture where it may not be.

Someone once described the situation to me in such a way as to create a visual picture of how things are so you don't run away with yourself in thinking that cyprus jobs are easy to come by.

They said...

...Cyprus is about the size of the Isle of Wight (a very small island on the south coast of england, if you are not familiar) and to imagine if you lived there and tried to get a job, the difficulties you might face based on the population size and the main industries for employment...

What's That Got To Do With The Price Of Fish?

Well, there are several things at play here, and this page is just very general information because it is impossible to give you exactly the state of the job market at any given time.

Many Cyprus Jobs Are Seasonal

The main industry for jobs is tourism and while the island is a year round destination, the winter season does employ a lot less people, and year on year for about the last 10 years, tourism has generally gone down.

Tour operators who bring the tourists from overseas tend to recruit from their home country, and have small back office facilities for their guests in each of the resorts.

The staff rarely work a full year, because they have to work the whole of the summer and perhaps part of the winter as well, without much time off,(6 days a week) and then take 3 months break.

You might be lucky and apply locally for work but the applications tend to be too many for too few jobs.

The Pay Is Not Great

People employed in tourism tend not to be that well paid and they are in competion for jobs from people from Eastern Europe who are cheaper, local cypriots who have more experience and in some cases the black market (because it is a reality).

There are also people who have come from Northern & Western Europe to start up their own company servicing villas, apartments and pools but because tourism is down in Cyprus usually they just employ themselves or take people on a seasonal basis, so you cannot guarantee your income necessarily from someone who speaks the same language as you and this can be a living nightmare if you have children in school, and a home to support.

More Tips About

Moving To Cyprus

The Pay Scale

The average pay seems to be around 200 Euros per month for a live in maid with a family to approx 600 Euros for up to an office manager level type of job.

The amounts vary of course but the scale slides along approximately these amounts.

Obviously considerably more is paid for jobs in Cyprus if you have professional qualifications but the pay is never comparable to similar positions in Europe or the USA, Australia and so on.

What About Other Industries?

I fully appreciate not everyone has a tourism background or indeed wants to work in the field, but other industries have other issues attached to them.

Greek Language

Pick up any newspaper or apply for a job in other areas and the chances are 9.9 times out of 10 written and spoken greek is required, because you will be interacting with greek speaking people and not everyone wants, likes or can speak english, despite the widespread use of the language in many areas of the cyprus economy.

Quite often another language is specified, such as Russian, as there are many russians living on the island.

Shipping companies administration for example will often require language skills, particularly as you would be dealing with world wide companies.

Specialist Jobs In Cyprus

If you have specialist skills such as a doctor or dentist you will have to be licensed to practice and may have to sit a local examination to make sure you are competent in the field, that said the island is awash with "professional people" who have their own practices so you have to give consideration to how many people you will find to service.

Where Are The Best Places To Search For Jobs In Cyprus?

Well of course it depends what your industry is, but for general positions you would be best placed to start online.

Job marketing is not that great in my opinion in Cyprus but it is better than it was.

Do your research, contact as many people as you can, and often the best way to locate is a job is to be on island and in front of the employers.

Search out local newspapers, greek and english online versions here

and get in touch with everyone you know on the island to keep an eye out in your search for jobs in Cyprus.

Search all forums and blogs, write to hotels, restaurants or just walk in off the street, you never know what might be in store for you.

Sometimes you just fall lucky, but just be aware,they might only be a temporary jobs in Cyprus for now.

And keep your mind open to the jobs & foreigners mentality, Cyprus is a small island, and people on the island who are themselves looking for work, may not take kindly to a foreigner in a job, they perhaps wanted.

Think how you might feel if 60,000 cypriots lived in your country and wanted a job as well as you and you may not get one because they got it instead.

We all like to think we are equal and fair, but life sadly is not like that as much as we want it to be.

We have seen so many people have to leave because of the work situation, so we come from a place of experience and reality, and want you to be absolutely realistic!

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