Finding employment
To live on this island, expats are required to be employed (or dependents of someone who is.) Both of us work for public accounting firms and found our jobs by contacting the firms directly. If you wish to work for a public accounting firm, here are the links to the major firms on the island (in alphabetical order):
Baker Tilly: Located in Governor's Square.
BDO: Located in Governor's Square, BDO generally hires for an October intake.
Deloitte: Two locations in George Town, Deloitte generally hires for a January intake.
EisnerAmper: Located in Cricket Square.
Ernst & Young: Located in Camana Bay, E&Y hires from October through January.
GrantThornton: Located in George Town.
KPMG: Located in George Town, KPMG generally hires for a
January intake
PwC: Located in George Town (and will be moving to Camana Bay), PwC generally hires for an October intake.
Alternatively, you may find your job through a recruitment agency. Although we ultimately didn't use any recruiters to land our jobs, I've worked with auditors placed by CML Offshore Recruitment. Other recruitment agencies can be found on the Cayman New Resident site.
Moving to the island
Once you've found your job, pulled the trigger, and said goodbye to family and friends, you'll be wanting to know what to bring to the island. Bear in mind that most condos in Grand Cayman come fully furnished with many of the comforts of home. However, depending on how "comfortable" you want to be (coupled with the consideration of shipping cots from your home of record), you may pack certain of your household items and personal effects to ship to the island. We covered some of the contents of our 15 (yes, 15!) boxes shipped to the island in this post.
Where to live
There are so many lovely communities in Grand Cayman, it makes differentiating between all the options a bit challenging! We did quite a bit of research before coming to the island to get a feel for the various neighborhoods, amenities, and price points. Assuming you are on a budget (who isn't!), the best thing to do is to prioritize what housing options are important to you and your family, and then find something that checks off the top items on your list within your price range. We ended up in the same condo complex that we had picked out online, but not before looking around at various parts of Seven Mile Beach, West Bay, and South Sound. You can read about the results of our search here.
Getting around
Unless you have money to burn, don't bother shipping your vehicle to the island. You'll pay hefty duty charges, and if you drive something other than a Japanese or American car, your repair bills will be through the roof. Consider your move to Grand Cayman to be your chance to give up the 4-wheeled status symbol in favor of something cheap but reliable. Besides, who needs heated leather seats when in the Caribbean? We're now accustomed to our "antique" cars, and honestly, they're not half bad to drive. Check our what gets us to and fro on the island here and here.
Setting up your life
Moving to the island involves more than your typical relocation; it's a bit like starting over. Establishing yourself can be expensive, and you'll want to make sure your bank account is prepared for the many expenditures. We detail the cash outflows you can expect here.
Setting up your life
Moving to the island involves more than your typical relocation; it's a bit like starting over. Establishing yourself can be expensive, and you'll want to make sure your bank account is prepared for the many expenditures. We detail the cash outflows you can expect here.
What's news?
No, that title is not a typo. That's how my South African co-worker greets us in the office. We've had fun learning new phrases that are used around the world.
To find out what's happening in the Cayman Islands, check out these news sources:
cayCompass: The local newspaper.
Cayman News Service: Provides online news stories.
Other useful information
Both before and after arriving on the island, we found that the Cayman New Resident website holds a wealth of information on living in Grand Cayman. The website (and the hardcopy magazine, which is available for free everywhere on the island) is organized by topic and walks you through the steps you'll need to know before moving day. Your employer should also be a good source of information, as they should be accustomed to bringing new hires onto the island and all that the process entails.
We hope that this blog is a useful resource for those coming to Grand Cayman to live. Take a look at the labels in the sidebar for topics that may be relevant to you. And if we haven't covered a topic sufficiently on the blog, send us an email! We can be reached at offshorecpablog [at] gmail [dot] com. We'd love to help you out.
