This is the first of perhaps many blogs which I will use to reflect my thoughts on IT recruitment in the Caribbean. Hopefully this will be beneficial for people who are interested in relocating abroad. I also wanted to share my initial thoughts on the first three months on the island.

When I was first approached about a position over in the Cayman Islands in February, there were a number of thoughts circulating in my mind about the island and how my career will benefit. It happened to come at a time when the cold and icy climate of the UK were starting to become less appealing. Needless to say it didn’t take long to be persuaded to make a life changing decision, and soon enough I was on flight BA1027 from London Heathrow to Grand Cayman.

While CML helped to provide a company house and car for four weeks which made things very comfortable, I knew I would eventually have to find my own way forward. First stop, finding a place to live. This quite fortunately became one of the most simple tasks to complete. I managed to find a house share with two people (also from the UK) for $1300 per month including bills. Did I also mention we live on the beach and have our own swimming pool and tennis court…?



What most locals will label as the “island lifestyle” is a long way from the hustle and bustle of a cramped tube ride from Paddington Station through to Oxford Circus. With Grand Cayman being so small, it eradicates the need for a lengthy commute, and instead exchanges it for a short drive parallel with Seven Mile Beach. Socially, people are very friendly and due to a large community of ex-pat professionals on the island, settling in became very easy. I have already joined multiple sports teams and managed to meet a number of like-minded people out here.

Now from a recruitment perspective I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect, bearing in mind some of the Worlds largest companies operate right here on the island.

Aesthetically the buildings are generally three stories high, surrounded by the typical tropical image of palm trees. What I quickly came to terms with was that the market is vibrant in what can only be described as a candidate-driven environment.

My professional quest is to hire country-based IT professionals, whether that be in Cayman, Bermuda, BVI, Bahamas, Jersey etc. Failing that, the next step is looking offshore. Now that may seem like an easy job right? Let’s ask fifty people if they want to change their busy London/New York lifestyle for one in the Caribbean, we all know what the majority will say..

While I have so far successfully pursued in attracting the some exceptional candidates, I’m sure there are still many stones so far unturned. Right now we have a number of interviews with a handful of clients across the Caribbean which is a fair reflection of the market over here. Certainly software developers (C#, Asp.net, MVC, SQL) and network engineers (VMWare, Cisco, Virtualization) are both very prominent positions in the market which we will be looking to capitilise on in the short term future.

Companies throughout a variety of industries are readily waiting for strong candidates to take up an interest in making a similar move as myself.

I will try and use this weekly blog as a way of reflecting the IT market from a recruitment prospective. If you have any questions, or want to send across your resume then I’ll be happy to have a discussion with you.

So what are you waiting for?

Neil