# Confused and hesitant!



## DH59 (Feb 23, 2010)

Hello there,

We are in a bit of a quandary at the moment. My husband and myself were both made redundant just before Christmas (both working for the same small company here in the UK) and are now in the process of job searching. During this search, my husband came across a job in Cyprus and so applied for it, without really expecting it to progress. However, he now has been invited over for an interview and we are unsure what to do.

We are still waiting for our redundancy money (which won't be that much anyway), we have a house to sell (in an uncertain market, but we should still make a profit if we price to sell), we have no savings to speak of (remiss of us, I know), and for us to live comfortably I would also need to find a job if we do move to Cyprus. The salary offered is €15,000 - €18,000, which is a fair amount below what he was earning recently.

Since being made redundant, I have been in the process of planning to start my own business, most probably in photography, but could also be in IT - I can build and repair computers and I am quite experienced in that field, although by no means an expert (I have a basic IT technician qualification). I was thinking that maybe I could do portrait and wedding photography and perhaps tuition/photo tours. If we remain in the UK I was looking into producing items for craft fairs, but I don't know if they exist on Cyprus. I do have other skills - my recent job involved general admin, publishing work, conference organisation, producing marketing materials, etc.

As for our knowledge of the island, we have been on holiday there numerous times (Ayia Napa, Paphos, Polis), but the last time was about 14 years ago, so I presume things have changed quite a bit. I have been reading some of the threads here and some have put me off, but some have encouraged me.

The quandary we have is that this is all happening quite quickly, and we have only had just over a week to analyse all the possibilities. We have never taken any risks in our lives and to do something out of the ordinary like this is outside our comfort zone. Also, we are in our 50s so we are taking this risk rather late in life. The upside is that my husband will be eligible to draw a pension later this year, so that will help us financially.

My husband's interview is this coming Friday, so he has to now quickly arrange a flight. Unfortunately, we cannot afford for both of us to come over. The company are paying 60% towards the flight and providing accommodation. He was going to cancel, but we've decided to give it a go. Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

Any advice, encouragement, words of wisdom, knock-backs will be gratefully received!


----------



## deks36 (May 31, 2009)

Can I just wish your Husband good luck for the interview. Its a good idea to go with it as this will give you some more breathing time while you research some more and you can still say no afterwards better to try than to turn it down flat. a couple of beeter placed members will give you some good advice soon who are better placed than me I do hope it all works out well for you 
regards


----------



## DH59 (Feb 23, 2010)

deks36 said:


> Can I just wish your Husband good luck for the interview. Its a good idea to go with it as this will give you some more breathing time while you research some more and you can still say no afterwards better to try than to turn it down flat. a couple of beeter placed members will give you some good advice soon who are better placed than me I do hope it all works out well for you
> regards


Thank you for your reply and your good wishes.

We had thought that the job might not be really what he wanted, but the option to turn it down if offered the job would also mean that the interview expenses might not be paid, and this cost is something we really can't afford to stand in our present circumstances. So, it has been a bit of a problem deciding what to do. However, he has now just booked his flights!


----------



## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

As you are both currently out of work you have little to lose in giving it go.
My advice however would be to hang on to your house in the Uk for now and rent it out.
If your husband takes the job come over and give it year here before you sell your house. That way, if you really cannot hack it here you still have a home to go to.

Good luck, whatever you decide to do.

Veronica


----------



## DH59 (Feb 23, 2010)

Veronica said:


> As you are both currently out of work you have little to lose in giving it go.
> My advice however would be to hang on to your house in the Uk for now and rent it out.
> If your husband takes the job come over and give it year here before you sell your house. That way, if you really cannot hack it here you still have a home to go to.
> 
> ...


Thank you Veronica, for your advice.

We had thought about renting out our house here, but again it's whether the rental market is buoyant enough. And then there's all the hassle of what to bring with us and what to leave!! As the house is quite a financial burden for us, even with jobs, we had thought that getting rid would be the better option, and then rent somewhere cheaper if we come back. We are not ideally placed and were thinking of moving once the market picked up anyway.

It's all so mind-blowing that we are almost paralysed into doing nothing, but then that's how we seem to have lived our lives and I really want to do something 'exciting' before I keel over for good!! We've seen our friends and relatives take risks and come out smelling of roses, and yet we seem to think that if we do anything risky we'll just end up in the doo-doo.

I think if we manage our money wisely, we could manage in Cyprus, and especially so when hubby's pension comes into the equation. I can turn my hand to anything, really, even if it's hotel work. We are also fairly experienced birdwatchers (one reason why we started going to Cyprus) so I could take birding tours, as well as photographic tours. I would really like to build some sort of photography business, but I hadn't even got that off the ground here, never mind trying it in another country!

Hubby was hesitant about the job itself, a geography field instructor, but has since been told that there is more to this than just teaching. As he's not a qualified teacher, he was even more doubtful about taking it, but they obviously think he has the necessary qualifications to do the job otherwise he wouldn't have got the interview.

Anyway, flight is now booked and we'll see what happens. He might not even get the job!!


----------



## zeebo (Nov 15, 2009)

Hey your strategic decision making seem to follow a similar thread to mine.. I saw a job on the net and though "ahh give it a go you never know... then wow an interview "well it would be rude not too and you never know unless you try"... then it is "oh shoot they have offered what shall i do?"... Then get on the plane and 'its kind of a free holiday for a while'

Before you know it your thousands of miles away in a different life lol..... If you don't try it then i think you would regret it! 

One positive thing you will find is that cypriots are probably the most un-ageist people ever and the more senior are respected.. don't get me wrong they have plenty of other isms and phobias etc..

and to balance with a negative... the salary is low and everything is painfully expensive here.. we are talking 4 quid for shaving foam etc etc... so be warned!! If the job is for the government or gov agency take it as they only work half days the lucky bleeders!!


----------



## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

DH59 said:


> Thank you Veronica, for your advice.
> 
> We had thought about renting out our house here, but again it's whether the rental market is buoyant enough. And then there's all the hassle of what to bring with us and what to leave!! As the house is quite a financial burden for us, even with jobs, we had thought that getting rid would be the better option, and then rent somewhere cheaper if we come back. We are not ideally placed and were thinking of moving once the market picked up anyway.
> 
> ...


As Cyprus is a popular place for keen birdwatchers it seems to me that combining that with photography you could have a good basis for a tourist business. Get together with people who have holiday accomodation and offer photography/bird watching holidays.
If you plan well and do everything by the book and don't try to work under the radar (the government is actively seeking out and dealing with people who are working in the black economy) you could build up a lucrative business.

Veronica


----------



## DH59 (Feb 23, 2010)

Veronica said:


> As Cyprus is a popular place for keen birdwatchers it seems to me that combining that with photography you could have a good basis for a tourist business. Get together with people who have holiday accomodation and offer photography/bird watching holidays.
> If you plan well and do everything by the book and don't try to work under the radar (the government is actively seeking out and dealing with people who are working in the black economy) you could build up a lucrative business.
> 
> Veronica


That sounds very encouraging! And a good idea to join up with accommodation providers. I was also thinking about offering wedding photography to those from the UK who go over to get married. I don't know what the market is like already, but I suppose if I market it right there is a good chance of some success. Of course, I also need to get some idea of wedding photography, as it's not something I have experience of! I was thinking of doing a course here, but now money's a bit tight... And I was considering portrait photography also.

Are there such things as craft fairs in Cyprus? This was another aspect of my business plan I was considering. Selling mounted prints and photo cards. There is also the possibility of building up a stock for display in a gallery. Would they be easy to come by?

I am certainly going to the business legally - no question. I just have to look into what's required to set up a business. Here you can just get going and register for self-employment and fill in the tax return every year.

I will look into all this in more detail if he gets the job.


----------



## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

DH59 said:


> That sounds very encouraging! And a good idea to join up with accommodation providers. I was also thinking about offering wedding photography to those from the UK who go over to get married. I don't know what the market is like already, but I suppose if I market it right there is a good chance of some success. Of course, I also need to get some idea of wedding photography, as it's not something I have experience of! I was thinking of doing a course here, but now money's a bit tight... And I was considering portrait photography also.
> 
> Are there such things as craft fairs in Cyprus? This was another aspect of my business plan I was considering. Selling mounted prints and photo cards. There is also the possibility of building up a stock for display in a gallery. Would they be easy to come by?
> 
> ...


There are already a lot ofwedding photographers here and the number of Brits coming over to get married has fallen in the last year or two. I think to have something totally different like birdwatching and wildlife photography might be the way to go.
There are craft fairs and also regular exhibitions of work of local artists and I wouldtink that you could exhibit photography in some of these exhibitions.
There are very regular ones in a large gallery near the castle on paphos harbour.


----------



## kimonas (Jul 19, 2008)

It seems to me that you might as well take a chance and go for the new job plus opportunuties that might allow you to make a go of things in Cyprus. There are lots of cautionary tales in the threads, but most of the warnings are normally aimed at younger families that experience a holiday and then decide, almost on a whim, to up sticks and drag children kicking and screaming into their 'dream' without properly researching jobs, security, health and education. 

The salaries are a shock to the system, and the one you quoted does sound a bit on the low side for a teaching position. One thing to ask at interview would be arrangements for holidays and salary , if and when, there are no pupils - an issue if it is a school or college post. Some schools do not pay over long vacations, which could leave you stuck as the long summer holiday at least is a couple of months without a salary. The better schools should be offering a full package which covers holidays and includes COLA (a cost of living increment) and 13th salary.

There is a growing awareness of the fantastic natural resources of Cyprus and something like birdwatching tours would fit in nicely with the growing agro and ecotourism industry which is slowly replacing mass beach tourism, especially in the 'off season'. Cyprus is full of migrant birds at the moment and because of all the extra rain there are wetlands where there normally are dust bowls - I've had egrets, stilts, herons, occasional lost flamingos and all manner of small waders to watch outside my office window for the last few weeks.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do...


----------



## Spike59 (Dec 2, 2009)

Hi. this is my first post on the Forum and I just wanted to say good luck.

I have just been "Head Hunted" and offered a job by an International Offshore Investment Company and my Partner and I will be coming over to live and work in cyprus in June.

We are also both nervous - new job, new Country etc but you only live once and I believe that hard work pays off. Too many people hold off making decisions and end up with regrets. 

You can turn a difficult time in your lives to the good and maybe you will reflect in the future that the redundancies were "fate" and the best thing to happen to you. Some forced decisions end up being the best !

Again good luck.


----------



## Geraldine (Jan 3, 2009)

Hi,

How exciting!! I say go for it. Life is far too short for 'what ifs' especially at our age. I am slightly older than you both, am waiting for my property to sell then I shall be off. 
Good luck, lets hope the interview is a success.:clap2:


----------



## DH59 (Feb 23, 2010)

kimonas said:


> It seems to me that you might as well take a chance and go for the new job plus opportunuties that might allow you to make a go of things in Cyprus. There are lots of cautionary tales in the threads, but most of the warnings are normally aimed at younger families that experience a holiday and then decide, almost on a whim, to up sticks and drag children kicking and screaming into their 'dream' without properly researching jobs, security, health and education.
> 
> The salaries are a shock to the system, and the one you quoted does sound a bit on the low side for a teaching position. One thing to ask at interview would be arrangements for holidays and salary , if and when, there are no pupils - an issue if it is a school or college post. Some schools do not pay over long vacations, which could leave you stuck as the long summer holiday at least is a couple of months without a salary. The better schools should be offering a full package which covers holidays and includes COLA (a cost of living increment) and 13th salary.
> 
> ...


I have mentioned your caution to my husband, and he will make sure to ask about it, but the job is not at a school - it's an environmental study centre, and there will also be adults attending the courses.

I like the sound of the view from your office window!


----------



## DH59 (Feb 23, 2010)

Geraldine said:


> Hi,
> 
> How exciting!! I say go for it. Life is far too short for 'what ifs' especially at our age. I am slightly older than you both, am waiting for my property to sell then I shall be off.
> Good luck, lets hope the interview is a success.:clap2:


Hi,

Selling our property is another thing I am concerned about in the current market, but we will try and get a good price, but set a price that will sell it quickly, hopefully.

I see you are also in South Yorkshire - we're near Barnsley.

Anyway, we'll be off to bed early tonight, as we've got an early start in the morning to get to Gatwick for hubby's 7.15am flight. Luckily, I don't have to drive back, as I'm staying with a friend in Essex until it's time to pick hubby up from the airport on Saturday night. We can't afford for both of us to go, unfortunately.


----------



## Geraldine (Jan 3, 2009)

DH59 said:


> Hi,
> 
> Selling our property is another thing I am concerned about in the current market, but we will try and get a good price, but set a price that will sell it quickly, hopefully.
> 
> ...


So am I!!! I live at Staincross.


----------



## DH59 (Feb 23, 2010)

Well, we were pretty tired after our early start, but hubby got his flight and I did my own thing for the day before heading to our friend's house to stay for the duration.

Hubby kept updating me by text and it appears that he has a better impression of the place and the job after being there and is now keen to get the job, I think.

I left our friend's place on Saturday evening to pick H up from Gatwick Airport. The flight was late and we didn't get home until 1am Sunday. I don't know how I didn't crash the car, I was so tired!

He still hasn't heard yet, but there were only four interviewees, so the chances are good.

I am mostly concerned about being able to sell this house, but we are hoping the market is a bit better than it has been. We are thinking of getting a valuation anyway, as we might not be able to afford to keep it on in our current situation.

I will keep you posted.


----------



## Simon_J (Mar 2, 2010)

Start your own business. 

I would never ever work for a Cypriot, never. They are totally different to us Brits and I wouldn't know where I would stand.


----------



## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

Simon_J said:


> Start your own business.
> 
> I would never ever work for a Cypriot, never. They are totally different to us Brits and I wouldn't know where I would stand.


As long as you do it all above board, registering for tax and vat and social etc working for yourself is the best way unless you are working for another Brit. Try to do it under the radar and you could end up in huge trouble as the government are now actively seeking out anyone who is cheating the system. The penalties if you get caught are severe.

Veronica


----------



## Simon_J (Mar 2, 2010)

Veronica said:


> As long as you do it all above board, registering for tax and vat and social etc working for yourself is the best way unless you are working for another Brit. Try to do it under the radar and you could end up in huge trouble as the government are now actively seeking out anyone who is cheating the system. The penalties if you get caught are severe.
> 
> Veronica


Just like in the UK


----------



## jkelly (May 21, 2009)

Veronica said:


> As you are both currently out of work you have little to lose in giving it go.
> My advice however would be to hang on to your house in the Uk for now and rent it out.
> If your husband takes the job come over and give it year here before you sell your house. That way, if you really cannot hack it here you still have a home to go to.
> 
> ...


Hi Veronica

Over the last few years one thing stands out about some threads and that is that because we are or soon will be - expats that the loacals can resent you?
or is it a case if you don't mix or try to intigrate.

We intend to do our best to intigrate with the locals and not be confined to little Brtain.

Jim


----------



## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

jkelly said:


> Hi Veronica
> 
> Over the last few years one thing stands out about some threads and that is that because we are or soon will be - expats that the loacals can resent you?
> or is it a case if you don't mix or try to intigrate.
> ...


Hi jim,

We don't have find that the locals resent us, in fact we have found that in many ways they treat us better than our own countrymen do. We have been ripped by many Brits since coming here but only by a couple of locals.
We have good friends among the Cypriots and find they are very helpful when we have any problems.

Veronica


----------



## BabsM (May 24, 2008)

jkelly said:


> Hi Veronica
> 
> Over the last few years one thing stands out about some threads and that is that because we are or soon will be - expats that the loacals can resent you?
> or is it a case if you don't mix or try to intigrate.
> ...


It may depend on the area you are in. We haven't had a problem with the locals resenting us either here or in Oroklini but then the husband and I do our best to integrate, be pleasant, mild tempered, patient and attempt to learn and use the language. We also don't expect Cyprus to be little Britain or expect the locals to change to help us fit in.

With one notable exception, most of the people who have tried to rip us off are Brits! In fact only last week, the local carpenter repaired two chairs and a table free of charge! The local shop lets us off the pence too rather than give change, as do many shops in Cyprus...I've never had that in England!


----------



## Simon_J (Mar 2, 2010)

The locals do treat you differently when you are living there. I have a friend who lives in Pissouri and he says the same.


----------



## kimonas (Jul 19, 2008)

Simon_J said:


> The locals do treat you differently when you are living there. I have a friend who lives in Pissouri and he says the same.


It really does depend on individual circumstances and general attitude. I've known ex-pats come over, buy a villa - place kitsch lions at their drive way, hoist the Union Jack over their new garage, shout at locals in the patronising way Basil Fawlty would address the partially hearing, and then complain when they are not received with open arms by the local community. One has to remember that there are deep rooted histories through which certain communities are resentful of the British related to the troubles of 1954-1959 which saw a level of violence which claimed many lives on the island. The above example is extreme, but sometimes more subtle indicators of annoyance of culture shock can give the impression to expats that they're not made to feel welcome. But once you've lived here for a while, one realises that many of the things that are taken to be 'poor treatment' is just generally different behaviour. For example there is no queue ethic here, people will barge you out of the way of what you see as a forming line, not because of your percieved race or culture, but because you are in the way!


----------



## Mycroft (Sep 9, 2009)

jkelly said:


> Hi Veronica
> 
> Over the last few years one thing stands out about some threads and that is that because we are or soon will be - expats that the loacals can resent you?
> or is it a case if you don't mix or try to intigrate.
> ...


We live in a small ( about 50 houses) village up in the mountains and are the only expats. From the moment we moved in we have been adopted by the locals, we even garden by committee, i.e. advice on tree planting, watering etc., they have organised our wood delivery, for the fire, and we get invited to all the celebrations. As long as you are trying to integrate, learn Greek, and appreciate this is not UK and things are different you will be OK. Things do move a lot slower, the paperwork and time needed for anything can be a nightmare, but learn to enjoy the difference, and when you are sitting in the summer, with a glass of chilled wine, enjoying your new home you will realise it has all been worthwhile.


----------



## DH59 (Feb 23, 2010)

Oh well. That's it then. He didn't get the job in the end, although they said it was a close-run thing, and they were switching between him and one of the others all week. In the end, the other fellow came out as the most suitable, but they have offered some encouraging words that they would like to keep him in mind for any future opportunities.

So, we're not coming now, but having got the idea in our heads, and hubby re-acquainting himself with the island, I think we may still look into it as a possibility in the future, when we have more time to prepare and plan. Perhaps as a retirement plan.

In the meantime, he has seen a much more suitable job here, and one that he is keen to get.

Thanks for all your help and advice. I hope to be in touch again sometime in the future.


----------



## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

DH59 said:


> Oh well. That's it then. He didn't get the job in the end, although they said it was a close-run thing, and they were switching between him and one of the others all week. In the end, the other fellow came out as the most suitable, but they have offered some encouraging words that they would like to keep him in mind for any future opportunities.
> 
> So, we're not coming now, but having got the idea in our heads, and hubby re-acquainting himself with the island, I think we may still look into it as a possibility in the future, when we have more time to prepare and plan. Perhaps as a retirement plan.
> 
> ...


Sorry he didnt get the job. It obviously wasnt meant to be and maybe the other job will turn out to be great. As you say you can always come later. In the meantime try to come over for holidays to get to know t he island as much as possible so that when the time is right you will have an idea of where you would like to be.

Veronica


----------

