I'm moving out to live in Athens with my partner (who is greek) in January next year and Will need to look for a Job. I'm a Cardiac nurse working in the UK at present and hopefully will be learning Greek once I move. I tired to contact the embassy in Greece regarding work but I did not find it very useful. Right now I know a little Greek, but no where enough to even try for Greek speaking job. Does anyone know what type of work (if any) that I might be able to get in Athens that requires English only? Maybe private nursing jobs, ex- pat hospitals? I really don't Even know where to start looking for such jobs. I've been told you can get greek news papers in English but I've not seen any in the local shops in Athens. Is there anyone who has similar experience or any idea where I start?
Greece - 3 Answers
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1 :
As for the newspaper in English, there's the Athens Plus, which is a weekly in English. Kathimerini also publishes an English language edition. Generally, however, you won't find many English-only jobs advertised in newspapers here, and the ones you will find usually aren't ones you want to have (or are ones you want to avoid - employers looking to take advantage of the poor, naive immigrants). Yes, there are some private nursing jobs to be had from time to time, as a vacancy arises. What I'd suggest doing is searching around for the various ex-pat websites (there are several, e.g., http://www.xpatathens.com/ ) and posting on the forums asking about private doctors for ex-pats. I'm sure you'll be able to get some contact info that way. From there I'd go in and speak to the doctors. You might find one who has an opening, or at least one who can point you in the right direction. As for non-nursing jobs, you can probably find work teaching English in a language school, or working at an Irish pub (there are four or five of them spread out through Athens). These two options - teacher and barwoman/waitress - are really horrible jobs, with crappy work conditions and even crappier pay. But some work is better than no work, right? You might also find work as a secretary or administrative clerk in an international company. In this case the conditions and pay will vary from company to company and position to position. Such jobs do pop up from time to time, just you have to constantly keep an eye out for them and not lose a single second in arranging an interview, as these jobs too are quite competitive. I'd say this will probably be your best bet if you can't get a nursing-related job. In sum, there are very, very few English-only jobs going around, and when coupled with a large English-speaking population (both native speakers and speakers of English as a foreign language) this makes landing such a job difficult at best, and nearly impossible at worst. That being said, it isn't totally impossible, it just takes time and determination. I'd recommend learning Greek a.s.a.p.
2 :
Since you are a qualified nurse, I'd start from searching sth. in that field. You could for example work in a private clinic, doctors definitely speak english, if you don't have direct contact with clients (who also speak english but would expect you to speak greek) you can work in a clinic, if you can find one who needs you. In addition, you can definitely work as an "exclusive" nurse (called apoklistiki in Greek). That is a tiring job, nurses who get paid extra to go into hospitals -private or public- hired by patients who are in bad condition or recovering, and take care of them during the night usually, but in daytime too. That means you are there tomake sure they are OK, give their meds., help them wash themselves or go to the toilet, and this kind of things. They get paid well. Many foreigners do that, and in fact they are sometimes from Eastern Europe so they don't speak neither Greek nor English sometimes. Once you get here you should get connected to some hospital nurses so that they can give your phone for such cases, or hand out cards in hospitals or clinics. Also, you can do babysitting in the day speaking english to the child, many parents want that. I am sure they'd be happy with a nurse taking care of their child, just remember you'd not get a lot of money. Put ads in local shops and look at newspapers. It is easy to learn how to read the ads in Greek, it's not like you'll be reading a novel! My friend who was looking for a flat learned how to understand the relevant ads in Greek very soon.
3 :
lol
