"Anybody living in a small, isolated community has a risk of what the professionals will call 'accommodation syndrome' - sometimes known as 'going native'."
Applicants needed to be "flexible and self-sufficient" to adapt to life on the island. But most people who worked on Pitcairn were reluctant to leave the picturesque location by the time their contracts ended, said Ms Silva.
However, there are also challenges.
Power is switched on for just 10 hours a day, there is only one doctor, and it is extraordinarily isolated - supply ships bring goods every three months.
British deputy governor Kevin Lynch began his three-month immersion on the island last month. With a vegetable garden to tend, fish to catch, and social occasions aplenty he was never at a loss for things to do.
"It's a beautiful little island in a sea of blue. The people have been very welcoming, the climate is superb. It's a big small island, if I can put it that way - I haven't got bored."
Most of Pitcairn's inhabitants are directly descended from Bounty mutineers led by Fletcher Christian who abandoned William Bligh's fateful voyage to Tahiti before settling Pitcairn in 1790 with Tahitian natives.
The founding family surnames Christian, Brown, Young and Warren are still prevalent among the islanders, preserving the mutineers' legacy, and most Pitcairn Islanders are related, said Ms Silva.
The island is also home to a dark history, its remoteness shielding generations of sex abuse among its tight-knit community. Four of six Pitcairn men charged with sex crimes in 2004 are paroled on the island, living under the supervision of its sole police officer.
Ms Silva said that to the best of her knowledge the men had blended "seamlessly" into island life since the last prisoner's release in 2009.
At present, the Bob's Valley prison the men built for their own incarceration is empty.
But despite their demons, tourism is welcomed by Pitcairn Islanders - although their shores would prove a far-flung holiday destination for most travellers.
Visitors to Pitcairn Island must fly from Auckland to Papeete in Tahiti. From there it is a flight to the Gambier Islands, before a 36-hour trip on a chartered boat. Pitcairn has no airstrip, and visitors must disembark at sea and take a longboat ashore.
An Anglo-Tahitian dialect called "pitkern" is spoken on the island. Ms Silva said successful candidates for the positions may find themselves swapping words like "food" for "wekle".
Applications for the jobs close at the end of the month.
PERKS
* Free accommodation
* Tax haven
* Quad bike
* Spouses welcome
* $80,000 pay
* Tropical climate
* South sea scenery
* Only 10 students
* Close-knit community
PITFALLS
* 6 days' travel from New Zealand
* Seedy history
* Population: 56
* Slow internet
* Two TV channels
* Electricity on 10 hours a day
* No airstrip
