What's a Good Salary in Malta? - Updated

...it doesn't grow on trees here in Malta!

It is always difficult to discover exactly how much people pay or get paid in wages.  Potentially embarrassing dinner party conversation, don't you know.  But I have done some digging around on the internet to try to come up with an answer for you.   A lot of sites ask people to enter their own wage and job type and work on estimates that way, but I'm guessing this attracts the type of person with a better salary, not to mention encouraging them to exaggerate a little, so I will try to stick to more reliable sources.

Summer Jobs in Malta 2014

People are always asking about jobs and summer work, so here are a few examples of what's out there at the moment.  You won't find a lot of these advertised on other sites.  I will add more as and when I see them.

Sofra Kebab, Mosta

Employment Agencies in Malta (or How Not to Make Money from Blogging)

This is going to be less satisfying than some people hope for, and more interesting than others expect. Maybe.

Okay.  For my first year in Malta, I worked as a teacher in a wonderful language school, (no job agency involvement), of which more in a later edition.  However, if you are a foreigner in Malta and want to make some money, there is only really one game in town.  That game is the i-gaming game.  I had no experience whatsoever in this line of business, but sent my CV to various agencies in the hope that one of them would be able to sort me out with an interview or two.

So here is a list of employment agency sites for Malta:

recruitmentsolutionsmalta.com
pentasia.com/malta
maltajobs.com
jobinmalta.com
malta.xpatjobs.com
8am.com.mt
reed.co.uk/malta
people.com.mt
careerjet.com.mt
keepmeposted.com.mt
eujobs77.com/mt
maltajobsboard.com

I did not get a fantastic response.  I may have got an apologetic email from a couple, but generally the agencies seemed disinterested in my attempted career jump. Except for one.  And from this one agency, and despite my complete lack of experience in the industry, I received two invitations to interview, and from one of them, a job.

How to get a Visa in Malta - Non-EU Citizens

(By popular demand, I have written an extended version of my previous post on the visa issue.)
I was fortunate enough (in terms of travelling if nothing else) to be born within that block of countries that we call the European Union.  Makes life simpler at airports.  If you are from outside of that group of disparate nations, then getting a long-term visa for Malta becomes a little more complicated.  I am no lawyer, as eagle-eyed readers of these posts may have noticed, but I'm going to share what I know about the whole messy business here:

Holiday Visas:

This is the easy one.  Getting a three month holiday visa for Malta is no trouble for anyone.  You can get a tourist visa for 3 months out of 6 in any Schengen area country.  Should you wish to extend this by a further 3 months you need to apply to the Malta Immigration department and give them a valid reason why they should agree to the extension.  In my experience, English language students usually have little problem getting such an extension when it is accompanied by a letter from their school here in Malta.  

In any event, you are obviously not entitled to work on a tourist visa.

How to Find Summer Jobs in Malta (2013)

Work in St Julian's!

A lot of people like the idea of coming over to Malta to work for the summer months in some type of seasonal position.  I don't blame you - it's a good idea!  But it is not always easy to find this type of job advertised on the internet, so I thought I would give you a few pointers:

Bars and Restaurants:  Lots of jobs available, most of which can be found by just walking the streets of the main tourist towns/areas.  So that means Sliema, St Julian's, St Paul's and Bugibba are the kind of places you should be thinking about.  As I say, many of these jobs you will find by walking in off the street, but this recruitment agency has quite a few vacancies listed.

How to Get a Social Security Number in Malta

This rather dilapidated-looking building is what you have to look out for when you go to get you social security number, necessary once you start working in Malta.  The Department of Social Security is located on Dingli street, about 150 metres from the seafront and on the left hand side of the street as you go uphill.  Just in case your Maltese isn't too hot, the sign below states that opening hours are 8am to 12pm and then 1.30pm to 4.30pm from mid October to mid June.  And then they only open in the mornings from June 15th to September 15th. 

How to do your Income Tax Returns

This is not too complicated.

In June you will receive a green Income Tax return form for the previous calendar year, which must be completed and sent to the tax office by the end of the month.  Some employers deal with all of this, but depending on where you are working you might need to complete the form yourself.  Not difficult.  It's a case of putting in your income, deducting the appropriate expenses (for rent paid or 'ground rent' as it's called, for example) and then seeing what you owe or are owed at the end.

These are the tax bands for an unmarried individual working in Malta as of 2012:

How to Get Summer Work/Casual Jobs in Malta

High season in Malta runs from April to October, so obviously this is the time to be looking for work in bars and restaurants.  Experienced chefs are always in demand, and there are usually a lot of waiter/waitress jobs going too.  There are also jobs available in the tourist sector, whether distributing fliers or working as a guide or as a student liaison officer in one of the language schools.  The average Maltese monthly wage is about €1,200, (based on an 8 hour working day), which is not high by European standards.  And the minimum wage works out at about €660 per month - again based on working 8 hour days.  So in other words, don't come over from somewhere like Germany or the U.K. and expect to make your fortune.  However as cost of living is also cheaper, less goes further than in those countries.

How to get a Work Permit for Non-EU Citizens

This is not easy.

Malta is quite protective about it's employment market, and fearful of an influx of non-EU members coming in and taking work from it's own citizens.  And for this reason, it can be difficult to get a work permit if you are resident outside of the European Union.

The work permit is for a period of between 1 and 3 years, after which time it must be renewed.  The employer must apply for this permit, so you need to find a job first and the application has to be sent 3 months before you are to start work.  In order to qualify for this permit you must be qualified in your field and possessing skills or experience which no Maltese citizen has.  As I said, it is not easy to get one of these permits, especially since it's your prospective employer who has to go to all the trouble of applying for one, which obviously makes them less keen on hiring non-EU workers.  Take a look at this government employment website for a detailed look at exactly what is required.

Your other options are restricted to the following:
1.  Set up your own business here in Malta.
2.  Work in a job where they are not too fussy about whether or not you have a permit.  (All the usual caveats and problems and lack of rights apply if you go for this option, of course).

How to get a Police Conduct certificate in Malta

You will need one of these for a wide variety of jobs (including teaching or internet gaming), or if you want to apply for permanent residence in Malta.

Not difficult to get, so long as you don't have a criminal past you have been trying to keep secret from your employer.  What you need to do is get yourself (with passport or Maltese ID card) down to the Police HQ in Floriana - you can take a bus to the Valletta and get off at the stop just before the Triton Fountain and bus terminus.  Cut through the small park and go straight down Triq V.Dimech for a couple of minutes - passing the football pitches on your right - and you'll find the Police HQ on Pjazza San Kalcidonju on the left.  You need the small entrance marked Criminal Records Office.

How to get a Job in a Casino in Malta

There are four casinos in Malta that I am aware of, so your options are somewhat limited.  They are (and please excuse me if I've omitted any):

Portomaso Casino (Paceville)
Dragonara Casino (Paceville)
Oracle Casino (St Paul's Bay)
Casino Vittorioso (Birgu)

If you want to work in any of these, you should check out their websites for vacancies.  There are generally jobs available for bar and cleaning staff, but to work on the tables is a little more difficult.  If you have some experience, then no problem, send in your C.V. and you have a good chance of getting work.  Otherwise, look out for 'poker schools' advertised under the vacancies section of the casino websites.  Even if you have had no previous experience, you can sign up for one of these schools and try to master the art of dealing.  Usually the course will run for a couple of weeks in the evenings, and if you are deemed to be good enough, they will give you part-time work and you can take it from there.  Note that the Portomaso and Vittorioso casinos favour people who speak Italian as well as English, as a lot of Italians come over to Malta to gamble.  Roll the dice...


(Click here for info on work permits for non-EU citizens)

How to get a job as an English Teacher in Malta

First things first - to work as a TEFL teacher in Malta you need to get a teaching permit from the Education department here in Floriana.  The requirements for this are simple enough:

- Recognised TEFL certificate (minimum 60 hour course)
- A-level qualifications (or equivalent such as Leaving Certificate from Ireland)
- Police Conduct certificate
- Passport
- Birth certificate

That's all you need.  But if you don't get the teaching permit you won't get a job, not for more than a few weeks certainly.  Once you have this (and it shouldn't take too long to sort out the provisional cert) then you can hit the streets with your C.V. and try to find a school to take you on.  From May to September is the busy period here and work is not hard to find if you have any kind of experience.  You will not be able to buy a yacht with your earnings, but it will finance your stay in the sun.

For a full list of all the English language schools in Malta, go here.

How to get an ID card in Malta - Updated

**click here for information on how to get the new e-residence card**

As bus fares are now 1.50 EUR for everybody for a full-day ticket (instead of 2.60 EUR for those without the ID card) that is one less reason to go and get a Maltese ID.  But as you will see below, it's still worth doing.  

close-ups are tricky for my camera

So this is how you go about getting your resident's card like my one here (as you can see, it's no good for travelling outside the country..).

**click here for information on how to get the new e-residence card**