Is it easy to get employment on the Island?

betty · Joined: 03 Jul 2008 Posts: 4

My husband and I are thinking of moving to the Island from North London.
We will need to work. I have always worked in admin in schools - are there many vacancies? Is it a good place to live? We have been many times on holiday and it seems great but living somewhere is always different.

Any advice would be great.

Thanks Betty

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EinsteinsGhost · Joined: 20 Jun 2008 Posts: 92 Location: Ryde

Hi Betty,

My girlfreind and I are from Ladbroke Grove and have the same dream. We want to move asap but need at least one of us to find work first.

You mentioned School Admin. In the first intance try the following links, one for the IOW Council and one for the 'County Press' Local paper. There are some school vacancies on their at the moment.

www.iwcp.co.uk

www.iwight.com

You may find like we have, that to increase your chances of finding suitable work you will have to consider communting to Portsmouth or Southampton. If so, don't forget the cost of communting on the ferries. Annual ticket to Portsmouth is currently in the region of £1,300 and nearer £2000 for Southampton!
Good luck.

Nigel (AKA EinsteinsGhost)

betty · Joined: 03 Jul 2008 Posts: 4

Thanks Nigel

I shall check the websites out - do you know if the pay is the same as the mainland? When are you going to move to the Island?

Best Wishes
Betty

riiverbelle · Joined: 10 Dec 2006 Posts: 25 Location: The Island

Far lower wages are offered on the island compared to the mainland.

EinsteinsGhost · Joined: 20 Jun 2008 Posts: 92 Location: Ryde

Hi again Betty,

If it was up to us we would move tomorrow! but realistically it's going to be 6-8 months. My girlfriend currently works as a PA at Tate Modern and has just applied for a PA role at Portsmouth NHS so fingers crossed.
As for wages, from the research we have done, it's not so much that wages are lower but that compared to somewhere like London where we are now, the range of jobs on offer is far smaller. The major employers are the council and the Islands NHS and there wages are pretty much in line with mainland UK. Other than that, a lot of work in in tourism/hospitality and private care work which is traditionally low paid.

Another couple of sites worth looking at are the Portsmouth or Southampton council websites and follow the links for jobs. When I have looked their is usually some school jobs.

www.portsmouth.gov.uk

www.southampton.gov.uk

There is a adult education college on the island though I don't have the web address to hand, and check out also Portsmouth or Southampton Universitys for education/admin type roles available.