How to apply for a job in Malta: the CV, the cover note, the interview

Maltese employers read a CV in thirty seconds and decide one thing: can this person start, legally, soon. Put the answer in the first three lines and the rest of the CV gets read. Leave it out and the rest gets skipped. Everything below follows from that.

The Maltese CV

• Two pages. One if you have under five years of experience. Nobody reads page three.
• In English. Always, even for a Maltese employer, even for a Spanish-speaking team.
• No photo needed. Add one if you like; it is common and nobody minds. Leave out date of birth, marital status and religion.
• Permit status on the first line if you are from outside the EU. Three honest options:
  • “Holder of a Maltese Single Permit, change of employer required.”
  • “Currently abroad, require Single Permit sponsorship. Pre-Departure Course completed.”
  • “EU citizen, no permit required.” An employer who must advertise for three weeks and pay €600 wants to know that before anything else. Hiding it wastes everyone’s week.
• Start date. “Available from 1 February” or “available immediately”. Second line.
• Contact. Phone with country code, email, city. WhatsApp number if you are abroad; that is how Maltese HR calls you.
• Experience first, newest first. Company, role, dates, three bullet points of what you did, with a number in each where you can: covers per shift, tickets per day, invoices per month.
• Languages with levels. English is assumed; say how good. Maltese, Italian, Spanish, French, Tagalog, Portuguese: all count in a customer-facing job.
• Education last, with the Malta Qualifications Recognition and Information Centre (MQRIC) recognition noted if you have it. Regulated professions need it; others are helped by it. Getting your qualifications recognised has its own page.
• File name: Firstname-Lastname-CV.pdf. A PDF, never a Word file, never a photo of a paper CV.

What to leave out: a long “objective” paragraph, hobbies, references’ phone numbers, your salary history. Keep those for the interview.

The cover note

Not a letter. Five lines in the email body, under the CV attachment.

1. The job you are applying for, with its reference if there is one.
2. Your permit status and start date, again.
3. One sentence on why you fit: the one experience that matches their ad.
4. One sentence on why Malta, or why them, if you mean it.
5. Thanks, name, phone.

Same five lines whether you apply through a portal or write directly.

Writing to an employer directly

Most jobs in Malta are filled before they are advertised, through someone who knows someone. You do not know anyone yet, so write.

• Find the real company email on their own website, not a Gmail address from a Facebook post. How to verify a Maltese employer takes this further.
• Write to a named person where you can: the restaurant manager, the head of HR, the owner. Their names are on LinkedIn and on the company site.
• Subject line: “Chef de partie, available March, Single Permit holder” beats “Job application”.
• Attach the CV. Keep the note to the five lines.
• One follow-up after a week. Then stop.

Hotels, restaurants, care homes, gaming companies and accountancy firms all hire this way. Small Maltese firms especially: the owner reads the inbox.

Interview by video from abroad

Maltese employers interview foreign candidates on Teams, Zoom or a WhatsApp video call, in English. Prepare for three questions that always come:

• “Tell me about your current job.” Two minutes, with a number.
• “Do you understand the salary and the cost of living here?” Say yes and show you have read the salaries guide: name a rent figure.
• “When can you start, and what do you need from us?” The honest answer: the permit application, the pre-departure course, a flight date.

Practical: a quiet room, a plain wall, a wired connection if you have one, the camera at eye level, your CV printed beside you. Check Malta’s time zone: Central European Time. In winter a 10 a.m. interview in Malta is 4 a.m. in Bogotá and 5 p.m. in Manila; in summer one hour earlier for both. Confirm the time in writing the day before.

Ask your own questions. Hours per week, days off, where the staff live, whether the salary is gross or net, how long the probation is. A real employer answers all five without blinking.

References

Two is enough. A former manager and a colleague, with email addresses, in English. Tell them first. Maltese employers do check, usually by email, usually after the interview, sometimes after the offer. Do not list them on the CV; say “references available”.

“We will keep your CV on file”

It means no. Politely, sometimes sincerely, but no. Do not wait for that file to open. Apply elsewhere the same day.

The exception is a hotel group or a care provider that hires in waves. They may call you three months later. Keep your phone on and your email checked, and move on anyway.

Follow-up timing

• After sending a CV: one follow-up after seven days.
• After an interview: a thank-you email the same day, three lines. Then nothing for a week. Then one polite question about their timeline.
• After an offer: answer within two days, in writing, even if the answer is “I need until Friday”.
• After silence of three weeks: it is a no. Stop.

When the offer comes

Ask for the contract before you accept, and read these lines: gross salary, hours per week, probation (six months is the default), notice period, who pays the permit (the employer, always), where you will live if accommodation is offered and what it costs. Everything the employer promised in the interview should be on that paper. If the contract and the interview disagree, the contract wins in Malta. Before you sign, read the fee clawbacks and other contract traps.

Nobody may ask you for money at any point in this process. If they do, read the guide on never paying an agent, and walk away.

Check this at the source

• Identità, working and residing in Malta: the employer applies and pays. https://identita.gov.mt/working-residing-in-malta/
• Jobsplus, employing third-country nationals: advertising and the suitability check. https://jobsplus.gov.mt/employers-mt-MT-en-GB/employing-persons/third-country-nationals
• DIER, probation period: six months by default. https://dier.gov.mt/en/services/employment-conditions/starting-a-new-job/probation-period/
• Skills Pass FAQ: the pre-departure course and hospitality pass. https://tourism.skillspass.org.mt/faqs