Paphos People

Hi there,

I just joined the site as my girlfriend and I are considering moving over soon. I wanted to test the water and ask the people on this site a few questions. My background is IT and my girlfriend works for British Airways and is a part time beauty therapist offering manicure/pedicure and shellac nails. Do you think there are job opportunities for these sorts of areas?? I'd appreciate your response.

If you don't speak Greek, then opportunities are few and far between. You will be in competition with Eastern Bloc and Asian people who work for peanuts.

There are more beauty therapists here than there are swimming pools.

Come over on holidays and look for yourself.

Do a bit of research on various Cyprus sites.

Good luck

Alan

What sort of IT do you do?

I would recommend looking outside of Paphos to the areas that aren't totally dependent upon tourism. So try Limassol, Larnaca and Nicosia.

For IT positions you may be better to look for work with "offshore" companies and register your interest with some of the job agencies. Cyprus Anglo Info is a good place to start: http://cyprus.angloinfo.com/af/442/cypr ... tment.html (I would start with GRS Recruitment).

I've been working in Cyprus (Limassol) since March 2004 and work in the online gaming industry. There are a number of companies in Cyprus and some may need IT personnel but it depends what you have to offer.

We're always looking for staff but at the moment are concentrating on employees who are fluent in more than one language for 24 hour Customer Support. Most staff will start in that department but if you have other skills they will always be looked upon favourably.

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Regards
Shell

If you have good jobs in the Uk now is not the time to give them up and come here, as jobs are few and far between with much lower pay than in the Uk. However if you are out of work and have enough money put to one side to support yourselves for several months while you try to secure jobs you have nothing to lose providing you do not have any children. If you do take the plunge make sure you put enough money to one side to pay your flights home if things don't work out.

To recap, don't come unless you have a good nest egg and make sure you keep your airfares home.

Come and feel the water , if you have something to fall back on in the UK ..
just like a long holiday (kinda)

Welcome to P.P

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REACH 1000`s of PAPHOS CUSTOMERS EVERY DAY FOR A FRACTION OF WHAT THE OTHERS CHARGE
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Whilst the optimist and the pessimist argued that the whisky glass was either half full
or half empty ? .
I drank it .....
The opportunist..

Good Advice

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Molly

Treat others as you want to be treated

A bit more food for thought here:

Start Up costs will be your worst nightmare and need to be considered in any event, it's not just about having the costs of a return flight in your pocket....

I always recommend having enough money with you to withstand you for 12 months without any income so you will need to allow for: rent (usually 2 months in advance), electricity supply deposit (not sure what it is now but think it was around Cy£75 in 2004), telephone connection deposit (around EUR 150), you will most certainly need a car so allow for at least EUR 2,000 - 3,000 for a reasonable second hand one.

Internet access isn't cheap in Cyprus. We pay around EUR 70 per month for 6mb broadband, telephony supply / calls plus TV connection with PrimeTel. Electricity bills come every 2 months and I think Cyprus is the highest priced country for electricity costs!

Hot water comes free with the sun - as long as you get a property that has solar panels. Believe it or not, not all properties have them so watch out particularly for new build apartments! Some developers don't affix solar panels which means you need to use the immersion heater...

It's not all sun, sea and shangri la

We came for a more relaxed pace of lifestyle and that's what we have. We socialise more than we did in UK and we do actually have more money in our bank balance at the end of every month, whereas we were almost always in overdraft in UK. We run 2 cars here (only 1 in UK) and have no bank loans or overdraft.

In the summer you can still go to the beach around 6pm for a swim then chill out with a beer afterwards before it goes dark. You can go down to the beach cafes for lunch in the winter months as daytime temperatures are still fairly pleasant.

Work wise - a lot of companies operate a "split shift" which means you may be expected to go home for a couple of hours at lunch time and then return to work from about 3 or 4pm for another 2 or 3 hours. Hence the need for transport.

It's recommended not to live more than 20 minutes drive or so away from your place of work in Cyprus. Nobody likes to drive more than that, particularly in the hottest summer months and legitimate employers will seriously consider where you live in line with where you are looking to work.....

The saying in Cyprus and one most definitely to be remembered is "siga, siga" (slowly, slowly) - nothing happens overnight here but sometimes delivery services will surprise you! Unlike UK there is no fixed day, date or time for items to be delivered....

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Regards
Shell