The typical hiring loop
Most employers run a screening call, one substantive interview (technical, case or domain) and a final conversation with the hiring manager or a director, inside one to two weeks. Video first rounds are standard for candidates abroad; final rounds for senior roles are sometimes in person with flights covered. Agencies add a step at the start and often negotiate on your behalf at the end. References are checked after the offer, not before.
Interview style and what gets asked
Expect practical questions about what you have actually done, a short task or live exercise for technical and analytical roles, and a frank conversation about relocation, availability and salary expectations early on. Language levels are tested in the language itself. Interviewers are informal and first names are used from the start; dress is smart casual outside banking and law.
Have a number ready when asked about salary, quoted gross per year, and know your earliest start date including the permit timeline if you need one. Employers here decide quickly and expect candidates to do the same.
What the contract must contain
Maltese law requires a written contract or statement of conditions covering the job, salary and pay cycle, working hours, leave, probation and notice. The standard full-time week is 40 hours. Annual leave is 24 working days plus the public holidays, and public holidays that fall on a weekend are added back as leave. Sick leave and the statutory bonuses are set by the applicable wage regulation order.
Probation is six months by default (up to twelve for some technical and managerial roles); during probation either side can end the contract with one week's notice after the first month. After probation, notice depends on length of service: one week up to six months, two weeks up to two years, four weeks up to four years, eight weeks up to seven years, then one extra week per year up to twelve weeks. The same notice applies to both sides unless the contract says otherwise.
Negotiating an offer
Base salary is negotiable; the statutory items are not. The levers that move most easily are the start date, relocation support, remote or hybrid days, a review after probation and health insurance. Ask whether quoted figures include the statutory bonuses and allowances, and get the final package in writing before resigning elsewhere.
After you accept
EU citizens can start on the agreed date. Non-EU citizens start once the permit is approved, so agree a flexible start date and ask the employer which route (single permit, KEI, SEI) they are using. On day one your employer files the Jobsplus engagement form and you provide your social security and tax numbers. Keep your contract, payslips and the Housing Authority rental registration: they are the documents every later process asks for.