The sheer number of comments at the main post ‘So I Won’t Be A Commission Official‘ has been causing problems, so all the old comments are here instead, and hence searchable.
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Dear All,
Please note that I have created the new blog site http://eu-exams.blogspot.com/.
You are more than welcome to “blog in” and discuss issues linked to my two books “Succeeding in the EU Oral Examinations” and “La voie de la réussite aux examens oraux de l’union européenne“.
Regards,
Christos Bezirtzoglou
Thanks @Stefano,
It was really useful to understand this part of the EU Commission.
Actually, what makes the salary attractive, is more the low level of the taxes, rather than its nominal value.
So, to complete the remark from @Ris:
… These jobs are:
1. only attractive to the people from New EU countries, where the salaries are comparatively small
2. And to the people from the countries with relatively high income taxes 🙂
Thanks again for all clarifications.
Jack
@Jack
Hi Jack,
yes it is correct.
I think you forgot the annual trip to home (in business class) for you and your wife.
Also remember relocation allowance (only first year, 2 Basic Salary).
Should be all 🙂
Stefano
PS: always a pleasure to give the other the possibility to understand the EU Commission!
@RIS
All the deduction (taxes, pension and so on) are around 15% of the total income.
Stefano
@Stefano,
Thanks for the valuable input.
Could you confirm, I have understood you well on this example:
Let’s assume that I am in the FIII/G9, first step with a basic salary of Euros 2564.27.
Assume also no kids, 100% coefficient.
Is this reasoning correct:
Household allowance = 2%2564.27 +149= 200.28
Exp Allowance =16% (2564.27+200.28)= 442.32
Total Yearly Revenues = 12 months * (2564.27+442+200.28) =38482
Net yearly income = 80 %*38482 = 30786 Euros (Assumed 20% taxes)
I will have these 30786 Euros available for me, or are there some OTHER taxes, charges…. ?
Many thanks.
Jack
Hi,
I have also taken the CAST27 the last day of July.
The R&V was quite tough – more than the tests you generally find in the textbooks. Also, the paragraphs are quite long, so you might find the time too short.
The numerical part was OK. The good thing is that in this Center they give you a small “Sharp” calculator, so no mental calculus is needed.
The EU knowledge test wasn’t very difficult either.
But the really difficult one was the Specialty test – ICT field.
I absolutely agree with the user (Breach) that the ICT test was overloaded with GIS questions as well with the questions from the programming field.
So, generally the exam is quite tough. And I wonder what motivates us to take these exams. The IT job in a private company offers much higher revenues and probably a longer-term contract.
Suppose you are engaged in the FIII/8 group first step, your basic salary is
2266.38, you will have some allowances and so on…
But there are some taxes to.
Could someone tell me how much are these taxes, and how much I could get at the end of the year, all taxes paid.
It looks like these jobs are only attractive to the people from New EU countries where the salaries are comparatively small.
Am I right?
@Lifenugget
Thanks Lifenugget. I guess we just have to wait until September then…
@Stefano
Sorry, I have to run!!! Maybe we talk another time. Bye….
@Stefano
My skype is kdanagno and I’m on right now. Can you call me?
It is obvious. You are an employee, so as basic seat is considered your own nation and not where the working place is offered.
Eg. I’m Italian, I move to Helsinki, I’m an expatriate because it is cosidered that I must have an house in Finland and one in Italy.
Otherways it could be a nightmare for them to calculate all!
Stefano
@Stefano
Whooow! All those money!!!! Are you sure all those allowances are also for someone who is getting a NEW job for EU? I am not currently working for EU, I work for Greek Government. If I get a temp agent contract in Germany (or Finland), why should they give me expatriation allowance? If I was working for ENISA in Crete and they had decided to move ENISA to England, OK, they should give me that allowance, but now?
@Kostas
Hi Kostas,
all EU Temp. Agents take the same allowances of the other agents.
So you have:moving from Greece to German:
Housohold allowance: 2% Basic Salary + 149 Euro
Child Allowance 326 Euro per Child
Education Allowance (depence on what are the costs)
Exp. Allowance (16% of (Basic Salary + HouseHold + Child Allowance)
This is your Salary.
After this.
Relocation is 2 salaries + the relocation of all your goods
You have 1 travel (roud trip) for you and your family every year to your official home.
Taxes are 15/20% and you are not subject to local taxation since you are an EU agent.
You have also a recalculation coefficient to apply and depence on the city/nation, for Germany is 100,1%
Stefano
PS: my E-Mail is braccos@usa.net
@Korvin
So the corrected version of the above text would look like this ( of course you would have to have used the symbols on the margins)
No, I haven’t got any copies of the papers as they couldn’t be taken. The corrections were made on the paper itself. It wasn’t like the mc questions which are answered on the answer sheet and the papers can be taken.
I can tell you what it was like, though. One was a past copy of the official newspaper, like the one where you can see the vacancy announcements, and it contained some law proposals. The manuscript was a similar text before it was typeset, in word format, and you had to make all the corrections, not only typographic, but also spelling, grammatical etc. That took me a long time to do because it contained too much “un-English” sounding syntax and I didn’t know if I had to do minimum or maximum correction, as this was not stated in the instructions. So I opted for maximum and it took me ages.
@Korvin
My reply above was sent accidentally before proofreading, so it’s not a good example :-)))) Use it as a sample of text for correction. Maximum.:-)))
@Korvin
No, I haven’t got any copies of the papers as they could don’t be taken. The corrections were made on the paper itself. It wasn’t like the mc questions which are answered on the answer sheet and the papars can be taken.
I can tell what it was, though. One was a past copy of the official newspaper, like the one where you can see the vacancy announcements, and it contained some law proposals. The manuscript was a similar text before it was typeset, in word format, and you had to make all the corrections, not only typygraphic, but also spelling, grammatical etc. That took me a long time to because it contained to much “un-English” sounding syntax and I didnt’ know if I had to do minimum or maximum correction, as this was not stated in the instructions. So I opted for maximum and it took me ages.
@ georgia,
Thank you for the information, have you got by the way some samples of that kind of these manuscripts and proofs ?
Thanks
Korvin
@Georgia
Dear Georgia. There were many vacancy notices asking for applications for temporary agents in ECHA, on January 2006. Some of the people applied for them, were placed in a short list and were invited for interview. The results are not out yet, and I HOPE they are going to publish them in August. There is a possibility that they also get some contract agents from the Cast 25 database. That’s why they have contacted you. But, since you have no news, I think the best you can do is try to ask them.
@Georgia
First of all, sorry because I have used my pseudo (Mark).
The interview at ECHA took around 30/40 minutes, plus an hour to check all the documents.
I have applied for IT AST Position. The intereview was very nice, I mean, they ask for what ECHA is (what is legal part, why we need ECHA and so on), what are your main skills, some organizational questions about the job, and a couple of cases to solve.
The procedure to be called is the usual one, you apply on the EPSO Web Site and then you receive the invitation for the interview for the reserve list. I have sent the CV during the selection procedure for temporary agents. Now they are loooking for CAs.
What they told me (and what I personally appreciated) is that they are really overloaded and they will go very fast calling the best candidates from CAST or Reserve List (I think reserve list has the priority at the time).
To give you how much people they need, they forsee to have 150 people by the end of the year.
Their plans have been dalayed, I hope they will recover time by the end of this summer.
If you give a look to the Web there is an interview of their director saying that they prefer to have people with similar experinces. So if you have been in this condition (a starting international/european agency/organization) you get the better chance to be called.
For any further question do not hesitate to use my e-mail (braccos@usa.net).
Anyway I must admit one of the most beautiful interview in the EU commission and people were really prepared, a think that sometimes is not so common.
Stefano
Does anyone KNOW what allowances are added to the basic salary when working as a temporary agent? I’m currently living in Greece, as a civil servant. Supposed I get a position in a EU agency in German, do I get expatriation allowance?
@Mark
Since you had an interview with ECHA and were pleased with them as you said on your 3rd July post, could you let me know how long it took to be asked for an interview? Having passed the EU Cast 25 for the post of Public Relations Conference Support, I had a mail from them asking me to send in my CV and when I was available in May and after sending them my CV and relevant mail, I’ve heard nothing since. I was wondering what the next step to expect might be. Do they call for an interview all the people they have e-mailed or do they make up a new short-list? Which post were you interviewed for?
@peter
@Korvin
I once sat an exam for editors-proofreaders for the EU Publishing Agency in Luxemburg. There was no multiple choice test. The competence test consisted of manuscripts and proofs you had to correct using the correction symbols etc. The texts given were far too long and it was impossible to do a good job in the time given. You could only do the minimum correction necessary.
Although I believe I had done very well at that test _ I was one of the very few who managed to finish all the texts for one thing as most people didn’t_ I never learnt how that would have been marked as I had failed on the EU knowledge test and because they were on the same date, only the ones that had passed were marked.
Still, I think that if you you have actual experience in proofreading for books or newspapers, you can do it.
I can’t imagine what the test might be if it had a multiple choice form.
Hello all,
First time in this place, so I am a newbie!! I was interviewed for ECHA IT AST. I was also expecting results in the 1st half of July, but there are no news. I don’t think I did well in the interview. Stefano, I would like to speak with you about your experience with the interview and also about your working experience. My email is anagno (at) epp.teiher.gr. I will try to contact you by skype, but because I don’t have enough bandwidth, it would be better to reach you by e-mail.
Thanks, Kostas
Hello everyone.
I noticed that for CAST 27 function IV the overall pass threshold is set at 60% with a minimum 50% for the 30 verbal and numerical skills questions. Are the two sections then taken together – can you do 15 in the verbal and one in the numerical and still pass? 🙂 I know this is an extreme example but I want to know how it’s done.
Thanks and good luck to everyone.
Hi Peter and U all,
I’m also looking for information about the proofreader tests and comptences in EU so if someone can help us ….
Korvin
anyone having some information about the proofreader tests and competences in EU?
@Maria: The delegations are looking for new people, as is Brussels HQ and other agencies.
@Lifenugget: As a COM delegation wannabe (not working as a contract agent), I can’t help wondering whether the delegations are actually looking for new people. Do you have any ideas about that?
Thanks,
Maria
The results of the CAST 27 will not be published until sometime in September I have been told. Just passing the threshold does not guarantee anything only that you will be entered into the CV database which is used to recruit CA’s when needed.
Thanks Jon, this is one of the few places worthwhile to discuss about the issues facing potential Commission Wannabes. Aren’t you going to retake the ordeal again?
Well I am finally back after the RELEX EPSO on the 13th, took a short trip around EU whilst I was there and lost one luggage on the way around 🙁
Opinion – EU25, a lot easier than was expected. Any of the MCQ books will give you enough to pass. Pretty sure I got a max score on this.
V&R – The English version was ok including the Math, however, doing it in French was a bitch. In the end I went for the ‘D’ methodology.
IT – What a bloody joke! It had nothing to do with the job. There are already requests to have the test pulled on the basis that the test was irrelevant, I think the Regional Security Officer test is also being considered. The test was geared to those who worked in a helpdesk environment which of course is NOT the work in the delegations.
Overall – Fun experience I guess because I had nothing to lose by doing it, guess I will see everyone again in 18 months time 🙂
Rumour – it has been suggested that some sitting the test had placed their main language as anything but English even though it was considered to be their mother tongue, a bit unfair on those that had been honest.
As a German colleague said ‘It would be far fairer if everyone did the test in English or their mother tongue’. And as I pointed out, if my 2nd language had been anything else other than the 4 languages given I would have been screwed.
As for a recommendation for change of the entry procedure into the Commission, I would suggest that everyone be allowed to sit the ESPO test in their mother tongue and then train the best in a 2nd/3rd or 4th language.
Bafta multa!
Felicitari !
sorry , I was confused , I taught that you pass the CAST27 , I’m tying to get more foe specialiast tests.
I failed the writen tests on AD47 , so ” la lutte continue” pour moi “
Dorina, I passed the tests for AST 15; my training is “bac+5” in foregin languages.
Well, good luck then to u all.
You are welcome, we are still waiting for th results of the ECHA competition. While for ITER the results are now public and for people (like me) who have passed the reserve list, they will not receive any call before Oct. 2007 (this info is into the result letter).
I wish you all the best.
Stefano
Maud, mai mail is nora.paduroiu@hotmail.com
Thank you Stefano, I’ll just sit and wait for now 🙂
Nora,
could happen, but it is really difficult in my opinion. I have several friend in Brussel and in the past they were temporary agents, now most of them have an unlimited contract with the EU Commission, when you understand how it works, it is difficult to loose the possibility to work in it.
People in the reserve lists are generally speaking (with few exceptions) really prepared, so it is obvious that they can be used insite the commission.
To give you another important info, if you belong to a reserve list of an EU Agency, in special cases, you can be called from other EU bodies. Again… the risk to receive no offer is very low. Be positive and always think to the fact that EU Commission is very slow, but they usually do the things.
Stefano
I know that the institutions are interested in the first place by those who already are temporary agents in brussels (I know someone on the same list as myself and same “groupe de mérite” who has already received several offers).
Do you mean to say you have already been on a reserve list and not received any offer?
I was spoken with a friend about reserve list.
Think to ECHA competition for example: there is a reserve list of 20 people with 8 posts before the end of the year.
It means at least 1/2 of the people (consider that some of them refuse, not all people who apply and win are also so convinced to accept). It means that you ahve 50% of possibilities to have a jopb before the end of the year. It is higher than to try a number of interviews in private companies. I’m not optimistic, but a reserve list means that there are seats available most of the times (remeber that it is a cost for the commission and it is a cost of the structure which asks the reserve list).
I guess I had several tests in my life and all of them were positive also without any result. The problem is to read the call for tender and to study what they ask there trying to avoid to study useless things that could be asked only in an ideal and perfect world.
Keep in mind that also referees are humans who works all the day!
Hi all,
it’s my first time here. I did the CAST27-FGIV Relex Good Governance. Tough but not as much as it wasn’t eliminatory (you just need to pass the thresholds to be in). Guess I’m in but would like to check results with other people. Anyone knows where to find results?
Did anyone take part in this competition for ‘Psychopedagogy Adviser’ Cast 25 or Cast 27?
Have you more information about the specific part?
Thanks , Anne
weel done nora!
do u have a mail, nora?
Thank you for your answer, Stefano. You sound optimistic:)
Any way, I also wated to say that I have’nt bought any book in order to pass the tests, I did all the research on the internet, (included the numerical tests ) and I have no connections (some people here think it’s the only way to make it). Now I’m curious about the actual employment offers.
Keep in touch.
I have been a couple of years in the ITER/EFDA Staff as AST.
You have chance to be selected, especially if you belong to a “join party” (as Romania is). There is a sort of “equilibrium” to be preserved into the Commission, so you are in a good position.
Now you must wait and hope someone will ask for you. There is an alternative way, as I remember: the Director of a EU DG/Office can ask for your specific profile. So you can decide: or to wait or to look for someone who could need you and in this cayse you must try to convince it to spend part of the budget to pay your salary.
Anyway the reserve lists are widely used in the EU commission. Trust me….
Stefano
For Nora :
Hi Nora , I’m Romanian too and I’m passing the tests in French too… wich profile you have ???
Hello everyone, I’m Romanian and just made the reserve list for assistants with Romanian citizenship (I passed the tests/interview in French). I’ve been surfing on the Internet for a whole year looking for any bit of EU information and I’ve just discovered you.
My question would be this: and know what? What are the chances we get employment offers ? Anyone who has already been offered something?
Multumesc 🙂
Hello all!
Can somebody tell me who has already done CAST27 if there are many question which also appear in the latest edition of the “250 MCQ on Europe” book?
I did CAST25 and could answer most questions successfully because I had learned using that book.
Hello,
I also took the CAST27 exam on Friday. It is my understanding that they are looking for a total of 600 CAs for RELEX. Since there are over 900 existing CAs taking thet test it seams like those of us that are not currently CAs stand absolutely no chance.. all the positions will be filled by current CAs…
Or is this wrong??
Marc,
HR people told me something like your director has to be OK when you would like to change. So in practise I do not really know how it works. I will see.
Anyway, the change of CA to stable post after obtaining a competition depend of unity budget. So sometime they cant change the status immediately.
Another problem you can have with long contracts as CA is that most of them do not have “mobility”, the possibility to ask for a different destination in the same DG or in another institution.
For people who have already worked in the EU Commission is not a big problem, for people who have the first experience seems to be a big obstacle, but most of them do not realize that you can always apply for other positions into the EU Commission and your previous experience will be an obvious advantage in the selection phase.
>Desavantige of long contract is that if u obtain a >competition during your CA contract u could have >problems to change the status or change the job.
Are you sure? I don’t see any problems to resign from a CA contract if you do it properly. It’s not that you are “stuck” with the job for 3 years.