# moving over looking for advice



## Susan W (Oct 28, 2009)

Hi I am Susan, hubby's name Allan, we are coming over in 2 weeks time to look at property to rent.
My daughter in law has also been on this site for advice as we are all hoping to move over next year to live.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
My husband and myself are looking to move to semi retire,so what sort of part time jobs are available?.


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

Susan W said:


> Hi I am Susan, hubby's name Allan, we are coming over in 2 weeks time to look at property to rent.
> My daughter in law has also been on this site for advice as we are all hoping to move over next year to live.
> Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
> My husband and myself are looking to move to semi retire,so what sort of part time jobs are available?.


Unfortunately the job front is not very healthy at the moment as is the case everywhere of course,but if you are only looking to earn a little extra to subsidise pensions etc part time work in hotels, cafes, shops etc is there if you are willing to go out and find it. Don't expect it to be easy though and be prepared for low wages.
What sort of work have you done in the past and what wouldyou be lookingfor?

Which part of Cyprus are you coming to?

Veronica


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## Susan W (Oct 28, 2009)

Thanks for replying so quickly, I am retiring early, at present I am qualified to level 4 in health and social care for mental health/ learning disabilities, also I am a curtain/blind maker.
Allan in an air conditioning engineer, also retiring early, reason for this is that my son and daughter in law are moving over also. Dont know what part we want to move to, hence the holiday in November. Well have a look about and the 4 of us will be across spring of next year to do more research. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

Susan W said:


> Thanks for replying so quickly, I am retiring early, at present I am qualified to level 4 in health and social care for mental health/ learning disabilities, also I am a curtain/blind maker.
> Allan in an air conditioning engineer, also retiring early, reason for this is that my son and daughter in law are moving over also. Dont know what part we want to move to, hence the holiday in November. Well have a look about and the 4 of us will be across spring of next year to do more research. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.


It looks to me as though you are doing the right thing in having some trip over to research. 
Try to get around and see as much of the island as you can aswhat suits one person does not suit everyone.
I personally wouldnt want to live anywhere other than the Paphos area but you will find others love living in larnaca or Limassol etc. IT horses for courses and only you know what is right for you.
Renting, at least to start with is wise as you know at least if you find you dont like it where you are as soon as your rental contract is over you can move somewhere else. 
Use this trip to look around and get to know some areas, but it is probably too early to look for properties as anything that is available for rent now is unlikely to still be there next spring.

Regards
Veronica


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## Susan W (Oct 28, 2009)

Cheers for that veronica, whats our line of work like out in Cyprus.Once we have been out for our research mission Ill get back in touch if not before with any queries I have .


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

Susan W said:


> Cheers for that veronica, whats our line of work like out in Cyprus.Once we have been out for our research mission Ill get back in touch if not before with any queries I have .


Feel free to pick my brains and those of anyone else on here, thats what these forums are for. If you have any questions I cant answer there will always be someone who can.

Veronica


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## Susan W (Oct 28, 2009)

Hi Veronica forgot to ask if you knew of any ex pat clubs in Paphos that we could visit when we are over in November. Cheers


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

Susan W said:


> Hi Veronica forgot to ask if you knew of any ex pat clubs in Paphos that we could visit when we are over in November. Cheers


Theres the UKCA near the St George Hotel.

Veronica


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## BabsM (May 24, 2008)

Susan W said:


> Thanks for replying so quickly, I am retiring early, at present I am qualified to level 4 in health and social care for mental health/ learning disabilities, also I am a curtain/blind maker.
> Allan in an air conditioning engineer, also retiring early, reason for this is that my son and daughter in law are moving over also. Dont know what part we want to move to, hence the holiday in November. Well have a look about and the 4 of us will be across spring of next year to do more research. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.


Hi Susan, 
Thinking of your experience with curtain/blind making and aircon engineering I would have thought that you should be able to get the odd job here or there amongst the expats. 

What would your son and daughter-in-law be doing? Do they have children? Would they need private schools locally?

Do have a good look around the whole island before making any decisions. As Veronica says, some like one area, some like others. Personally I love the Larnaca area. Paphos is the last place I'd choose! (Sorry Veronica!). 

What do I like about Larnaca? we can reach anywhere on the island, the North included, within a short period of time as the road network is good. There's not too many Brits here but enough for a regular 'fix' of English. Because there aren't too many, the locals are still very welcoming. We get tourists but are not over-run in the summer and Larnaca still retains its culture. We have hills, countryside and a view and can still find a quiet/ almost deserted beach nearby.


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## kimonas (Jul 19, 2008)

Hello Sue and welcome to the forum,

It seems to me that your plans will centre on the younger members of your family and their ability to find work. Life is certainly much tougher for younger families moving over, especially if they have kids. There are no short answers or quick fixes - the crux boils down to the tiny salaries in all sectors of work, and the very tough jobs market for ex-pats as they are in competition with locals (and it is very much a 'who you know rather than what you know' environment here) and a jobs market that is flooded with in excess of 100,000 legal and illegal immigrant workers who come from countries where a salary of 4-500 euros a month sounds like a great deal. Added to that is the problem of the language barrier and the fact that most employees are going to opt for someone who is bilingual (or tri-lingual) given the choice - where Greek, English and Russian are at a premium). 

That's the doom and gloom bit over - the good news is that for those that do have independent means (rental income or pensions) and/or who are lucky enough to find jobs (there are half decent jobs here, but they take quite a bit of finding) then life in Cyprus is a good one - healthier, more relaxing and more rewarding in terms of quality of life than the lives that many of us seek to leave as ex-pats. 

Job opportunities are probably more likely to be found in those places where the action is within the still rapidly expanding economy (despite the current recession). Don't rule out places like Larnaca (new airport and massive luxury cruise ship hub marina development will create new jobs in the future) and there is a good mix of locals and ex-pats from many countries and still job opportunities in the field of education; Nicosia - financial hub and capital of the island - lots of offshore companies have opportunities - also an interesting place to live (although unbearabaly hot in the summer when it pretty much closes down anyway) and Limmassol - hugely metropolitan and many job offers in tourism etc, but also offshore work in the expanding gas and petroluem industries - the down side is the gangland reputation it has (three people were murdered gangland syle -gunned down in public places there in the last week alone). 

For job searching, the EURES website is useful to get an idea of opportunities and salaries, but bear in mind that the face to face approach is best - many spend lost of time and resources sending out CVs and don't hear anything back for their efforts. You have to get out and meet people here to get jobs (on the whole). 

Do get back with further questions - I can help with anything related to education and schooling as I've been lucky enough to land a job in this sector. 

Good Luck!


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## Susan W (Oct 28, 2009)

Hi Kimonas and BabsM
Our son Bryan is a joiner and Erin is a hairdresser, she owns her own salon, this is the type of work they would like but know that it may not be possible at the beginning so they are prepared to do anything they can find. I would be interested in part time work making curtains/blinds as it is a passion of mine, I love to see the finished result on the windows but well see, do you know what is the work situation is like in residential/nursing homes(do they have them).
We are lucky enough not to have to dive into looking for work but the kids do. so whats the job prospects like for them. We are looking forward to our busmans holiday next week. 
thanks Susan W


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## Donegal (Jan 25, 2009)

*Rentals*



Veronica said:


> It looks to me as though you are doing the right thing in having some trip over to research.
> Try to get around and see as much of the island as you can aswhat suits one person does not suit everyone.
> I personally wouldnt want to live anywhere other than the Paphos area but you will find others love living in larnaca or Limassol etc. IT horses for courses and only you know what is right for you.
> Renting, at least to start with is wise as you know at least if you find you dont like it where you are as soon as your rental contract is over you can move somewhere else.
> ...


Hi I would say form my knowledge of teh rental market in teh Paphos area that there is a huge amount of properties for rent and the rental costs are coming down all the time and what you would have paid earlier this year you would now have trimmed a reasonable amount of that rental.
thing to take into account is the recession hasn't really got started here yet, but come next year you will definately get a lot more bang for your buck in rentals which also impacts on the job front. But don't let that put you off, if you look you will find.
Good luck


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## kimonas (Jul 19, 2008)

Susan W said:


> Hi Kimonas and BabsM
> Our son Bryan is a joiner and Erin is a hairdresser, she owns her own salon, this is the type of work they would like but know that it may not be possible at the beginning so they are prepared to do anything they can find. I would be interested in part time work making curtains/blinds as it is a passion of mine, I love to see the finished result on the windows but well see, do you know what is the work situation is like in residential/nursing homes(do they have them).
> We are lucky enough not to have to dive into looking for work but the kids do. so whats the job prospects like for them. We are looking forward to our busmans holiday next week.
> thanks Susan W


There are very few residential nursing homes in Cyprus as the family tends to look after the sick, disabled and elderly. There is also an established pattern of hiring in very cheap immigrant live-in maids who often act as personal nurses to the elderly (on very low salaries). Fluent Greek is essential in the microscopic Care Industrythat does exist.

Aesthetics, hairdressing, make-up, nails etc is a BIG industry, on the whole Cypriot women of a certain age and status are high maintenance (apologies for any stereotyping) and there is a thriving Salon sector (with many women attending almost every day of the week [certainly in Nicosia] to have different parts of their anatomy maintained, pampered, coloured, waxed, detoxified, exfoliated, peeled, varnished etc.) The downside is that there are literally hundreds (if not thousands) of salons all competative and jealously guarding their patch. It will be a difficult market to break into (with friends and contacts essentail and a willingness to accept the lower prices generally for Beauty treatments outside of the International Chains - one of the reasons that some women CAN go to the Salon almost every day)

Joinery was also (until recently) a big trade within the building industry. There is a trend for immigrant workers to mop up the jobs as they are willing to work for low salaries, so again it will be difficult to break into the trade if UK salaries are expected. Working hours and conditions are also sometimes a bit of a shock as many work very long hours and don'r get paid very much.

Sorry to be a bit negative - it is possible to get work here, but it is better to go into the search with realistic expectations.

Good Luck in your search...


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## BabsM (May 24, 2008)

Susan W said:


> Hi Kimonas and BabsM
> Our son Bryan is a joiner and Erin is a hairdresser, she owns her own salon, this is the type of work they would like .......
> We are lucky enough not to have to dive into looking for work but the kids do. so whats the job prospects like for them.
> thanks Susan W



I agree with Kimonas neither of these professions are going to be easy to break into. I will say the same to you as I said to someone else, go the area you are planning to live in and have a good look around. See who else is doing your chosen job, the prices they are charging and how well they seem to be doing. In the Larnaca area there is no shortage of beauty salons, hairdressers, nail technicians etc.

Joinery may be easier to break into.....


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

It's pretty much the same in the Paphos area, loads of beauty salons, nail technicians etc so getting work in these areas might not be particularly easy.
As for joinery, with the downturn in the building industry it might also be difficult to find that sort of work. 
It may be that there will be work upgrading older homes, such as new kitchens etc as many people are now buying older properties because they have title deeds. These properties almost always need quite a bit of upgrading so that is one area which is could well be worth looking into.

Veronica


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## Susan W (Oct 28, 2009)

Hi to all who replied re the work situation, sounds a bit dire, but the rest of the worlds the same, at least the sun shines in Crprus and our kids still want to try it. We will be arriving tomorrow on our busmans holiday, relay looking forward to it. We are living in Phapos and will be touring about looking at all the different areas,so you wont here from me for two weeks. Next time Im on no doubt Ill have a million questions to ask . Thanks everyone


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