moving over looking for advice

[Susan W]

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

[Donegal]

Originally Posted by Veronica

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

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

[kimonas]

Originally Posted by Susan W

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...

[BabsM]

Originally Posted by Susan W

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.....

[Veronica]

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

[Susan W]

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