matski55 wrote on 27. May 2007 at 20:58:

It will not be easy as his qualifications, however good, won't be recognised. There are Greeks who can't get UK or US degrees accepted here.
Plumbing systems here are different from the UK so there would be a learning curve, although not a steep one.
There are many plumbers here already and the fact that some are incompetent doesn't mean the builders won't use them (they're probably cousins).
To set up as self-employed will mean registering a company with the red tape and expense involved and initially, at least, the only work is likely to come from ex-pats. As most properties bought by ex-pats are new builds there may not be much need for plumbing work beyond installing a washing machine or dishwasher (and many properties have thise included anyway)

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Theoretically, you should be able to teach without knowing any of the foreign language. My sister-in-law is a qualified TEFL teacher who, at the end of her course, was offered supply teaching work at the college where she qualified. She was teaching classes with five or six different nationalities so couldn't possibly speak all of those. However, most people (both in the UK and here) who know nothing about the training find it difficult to accept that it's possible to teach without some knowledge of the pupils' language.

There are many language schools and frontisteria here that teach English and you may be able to find work in one (or more) of those but you will need time to build a reputation. There are also many experienced TEFL teachers who will be competing for whatever jobs are available.

As for teaching privately you will need to allow time to build a reputation which means finding pupils who are not too sceptical about any lack of Greek and getting recommendations. My sister-in-law found that even here Greek teacher was a little doubtful about her teaching his three children. After a year he was very pleased with the kids' progress but then they decided "we want to go to a proper school with our friends" so there's more to it than just an ability to teach well

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Point one to consider is that many Cretans find it difficult to find full time, permanent employment. For non-seasonal, permanent jobs you'll need pretty good Greek if you want to work for a Greek employer. In many instances you'll need to get in line behind brothers/sisters, cousins, friends, friends of friends etc. Apart from that quite a lot of ex-pats have set up businesses here in estate agency, property maintenance, house-sitting for absent owners, gardening etc., etc. and there may be opportunities there. For most of those you won't need much Greek although it will help as you could be dealing with local suppliers and contractors.

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Most people advocate renting for at least 12 months. It may depend on how well you know Crete already and how committed you are. Whichever you do I'd recommend that you bring enough money to support yourselves for a minimum 12 months, perhaps supplemented by casual or seasonal work. Then, if you get lucky and find reasonable jobs early on you're on the right side.

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Generally speaking, the north coast is more expensive than the south with the western part around Hania probably the most expensive as that is where most foreigners have headed for. The further south and east you go tends to become cheaper. However, bear in mind that job opportunities will be less in the quieter areas especially if you are looking for non-seasonal work. Best chances for jobs are likely to be around Heraklion, Hania, Rethimno followed by the other 'large' towns - which aren't big compared with even small English towns.

It's a big step; don't expect it to be easy.

Good luck,
VA

If you are considering taking the TEFL/TESOL course I can highly recommend Intesol Greece as I took my course here last year.  (Google intesolgreece for info)

The school is in Hania - 5 minutes from the harbour and the accommodation in the old town is great.....

If you want to teach on Crete you would be well advised to take the full course as opposed to any of the on line courses - you'll get practice of teaching Greek students and a TESOL qualification and a teaching certificate at the end of it.

Have a look in the Athens News -printed in English - or Hanotika Nea (local Hania paper- mostly printed in Greek although some English ads) to give you an idea of the jobs available.

There have been previous posts discussing plumbing and electrical work requiring different qualifications but I can't really offer you any advce on what you need to do on this.......

Hope this helps - good luck....

Sandie