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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Sorry…
I’m taking part for teh AST1 (secretary) competition for Italian mothertongue.
I passed the MCQ studying on 250 MCQ’s Book and surfing the EU’ websites.
For the written test we’ll have to write two-three pages in word (full of formatting) and to write an essay.
On the EPSO website there are some examples for the word test, but no one on the essay…
I’d like to know if somebody has any idea on the essay topics!
Once upon a time, there was a saying “Do not ask what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country”.
Dear readers of this blog and future colleagues, allow me to paraphrase the above dicta and make a suggestion:
The new dicta: “Do not ask what others can do for you, but what you can do for the others”
Suggestion: Explain what you are currently studying on your domain 🙂
Remember that only the strong one’s affort to share their knowledge.
It looks like no one wants to share experience from tests. Maybe the ones who passed the tests, don’t have enough time now to surf on Jon’s blog!!!!
Hello everyone,
Could anyone tell me what the competence test for FG IV – translators is supposed to be like? Should I expect another QCM or actual translation tasks?
Thanks and good luck to you all!
Hi everyone,
I am going to take my practical test for AST/33/06 on 26 of September…
I’d like to know if someone have any hints on the essay topics!
Thank you!
Hello everyone,
I would like to ask if any of you know how the specific competence tests for CAST27 look like, apart from being in a multiple choice format? I am taking the Social Science Adviser test and don’t know what to expect or even where to start preparing. Any CAST25 survovirs amongst you who can give us a clue?
Many thanks!
Tests for AST position with a political group:
Apart the MCQ, the notice states also: computer test: “correction of a text; preparation of a file; work planning” Does anyone know what the file preparation and working planning are exactly, what these consist of? Many thanks in advance
@riv
I looked at the EPSO site today – apparently we can expect the RELEX results in the coming weeks… …whatever that means…
Hello again
Congrats to those who passed Cast 27: you clever boys and girls.
I am not expecting to and have not yet received any e-mail on the subj so presumably RELEX candidates’ results are not out yet? If so anyone know when they can be expected ?
RIV
Hi guys,
I have come up with a Word 2003 document with direct links to most EU agencies’ open positions/current vacancies/jobs web pages. Took me a while :-} Note, that some of these do not allow direct linking, but in these cases the appropriate link is still directly visible. This will personally help me a lot in tracking current positions so I decided it will help others too. Here’s the link (note, it’s temporary until I get it hosted at my site):
http://www.deviantart.com/download/65202055/EU_by_Br3ach.doc
If you have ideas about other agencies or institutions you think should be included, please let me know.
Hope this helps. Cheers,
Alexander
@Jon
Thanks for your reply, Jon.
Just a quick question. How difficult was it to get into the European Fast Stream? I always considered Fast Stream tests/recruitment harder than the EU. I’ve just looked at the Fast Stream report for 2005/6. There were about 7 vacancies and 158 candidates for the Euro Fast Stream. So that’s no mean feat! If you were one of these 7 people, that’s quite impressive. And could you not transfer to another/more exciting dept.(http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/publications/reports/faststream/2006/fast_stream_report.pdf)
@Kostas:
I have the following list. I guess it could be a bit old (Romania and Bulgaria are not in), and of course not official:
BE 100,0
LU 100,0
CZ 90,6
DK 135,9
DE 100,2
Bonn 96,0
Karlsruhe 95,0
Münich 106,4
EE 80,3
GR 93,0
ES 101,2
FR 119,0
IE 122,4
IT 111,8
Varese 99,0
CY 92,0
LV 76,1
LT 77,1
HU 90,0
MT 89,6
NL 109,7
AT 107,1
PL 81,4
PT 91,5
SI 83,0
SK 92,9
FI 117,7
SE 112,4
UK 143,8
Culham 115,4
Many thanks to @Stefano and Dorina who answered my previous post, which was lost and found 🙂
Congratulations to all that passed the CAST27, and chin up to all those who didn’t. Does anybody have any information on the subjects required for writte tests on economics at the AD level? Econometrics i believe, will be highly needed, as well as EU economic policy making.
I am planning to sit for the next AD exams for OLAF.
Do you think that relevant experience will be among the prerequisites?
@Jon
Dear Jon, can you please change the name of my last post, from “@Oscar” to “Kostas”?
Thanks a lot,
Kostas
A few months ago, I run across an Excel file on the Internet with all countries of EU, all allowances and all basic salaries. I could give the country, the grade and the the family condition and the file calculated the final salary including tax and allowances. Unfortunately, I lost it and have never found it again.
What I am most interested, is the coefficient allowance for any of the EU countries. How much it is for Greece, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania etc.
Can anyone help?
Kostas
@Kostas
Yes I have a University degree. Of course it’s OK applying for a FG III if you meet the minimum requirements.
I had no other option, since GIS was only mentioned in FG III – ICT. I would have preferred a FG IV, but nobody’s perfect.
Best,
Oscar
I have been invited to an interview, in Luxembourg (AST 15 competition). Once I come back, I’ll share the experince.
In reply to Sasha: I am actually on the European Fast Stream scheme of the UK Civil Service at the moment, and am leaving the civil service altogether on 5th October this year. I won’t actually be taking another concours – I just don’t think I fit an civil service style administrative culture. I’m too keen to speak my mind.
In reply to Mik – you can live very well of 2700 Euro net in Brussels. The city is one of the cheaper capitals in western Europe. You can rent an excellent 2 bedroom flat for about 800 or 900 Euro a month, food and local transport are cheap. Don’t let the wage put you off. Ask more if you are sure you want to work for an EU institution.
Hi everybody,
I was wondering if it is worth starting work as a CA at all. If there are no chances for development and the salaries are only about 2700 EUR net. Can one live nornally with such a salary in Brussels?
I have passed the exams for FIII .
Hello Jon,
Must say – a really cool website/blog! And an impressive EuroCV. If you did pass the Fast Stream, why are you bothering with the EU or why didn’t you go for the Euro Fast Stream. Coincidentally, the 2008 Fast Stream opens today. It seems nails. In fact harder than the EU tests.
As I’m also doing the CAST27 selection, I wanted to say hi to all fellow CAST27-ers! I also got some good news last Friday saying that I’ve passed the verbal and numerical test. By the way there was another typo in that letter. I think the word ‘administered’ was spelled wrong.
Anyhow, just realised that despite passing the Verbal & Numerical test, I may very well have only got 2 questions right on the EU test. I hope I got more than that but I have no way of knowing how well I did on the EU knowledge. Is there a minimum requirement on the EU knowledge at this stage? I think it would be stupid for EPSO to let candidates sit the specific competence tests without evaluating their EU knowledge results? Or is it?
Please, someone tell me, that I must have more than 2 questions right in order to be going to the specific competence tests. Or is there no way of knowing at this stage?
By the way I’ve applied for FG IV Project Adviser.
take care,
Sasha
Do you have a University degree? Is it OK to apply for assistant when having a University degree?
Kostas
@Breach
No, I meant FG III, ICT.
Unluckily, there was no ‘GIS’ (my profile) under FG IV.
Best,
Oscar
@Oscar,
Um 252? Are you referring to ICT Adviser/FGIV? From what I gather 327 people attended the test, and of them 148 passed all exam stages.
@Kostas, @everybody
I have just realized that the statistics for the tests are already published in the EPSO website.
http://www.europa.eu/epso/cast27/pdf/CBT-Results-LN-14Sept2007.pdf
Kostas, in our case there are 252 succesful candidates.
@Oscar
I have to admit that I am networking oriented. Anyway, there were about 750 applied for the test, but not all of them appeared. We shall see the statistics, but I believe it was less than 600 that actually took the test. And there must be more than 250 successful letters, if they need 144 (according to the vacancy notice). I agree about the test, they should create 2-3 subprofiles for IT assistants. Developing, administration, Web, Networking.
@Kostas:
I have passed the same test too. My case is just the opposite: I have GIS and programming knowledge, but only a little about networking.
I also answered some questions randomly, but in general I was quite confident in passing the test.
And there were about 750 candidates for less than 150 posts. So I don’t think they have lowered the base.
From my point of view, there were too many different kind of knowledges in just one test. And I’m quite sure that they are not looking for 150 jack-for-all-trades roles. So maybe splitting the test in 2 or 3 different tests would have been a good idea.
Has anyone applied for EPSO/AST/41/07? Are the successful candidates going to be permanent (infinitive contract)? Are there any news about that competition?
I succeeded in CAST27, FG III, IT assistant, with the special test full of GIS and programming questions. I knew nothing about programming and very few things about GIS. So, I answered most of the IT questions randomly. This means, either I was very lucky and most of the questions I answered randomly were right, or EPSO couldn’t find enough real successful candidates and they lowered the base. Anyone else agree with me?
Kostas
@KOSTAS
Thanks a lot!!!! your advice was helpful enough.
hopefully things will get better……
@Christos
I would love to talk to you live. Can you contact me at msn: kdanagno@hotmail.com ??
Dear Christos
I think you will soon get answers for all your questions. Many vacancies for temporary agents are posted in EPSO (http://europa.eu/epso/temp-staff_en.htm). But not all of them. For example, I have never seen EUROPOL to post anything in EPSO. Sometimes I also find posts for Contract Agents in EPSO site, although there was CAST25 before CAST27.
So, the CAST27 database is for filling posts of European institutions manly, like Parliament, Commission etc.
Of course it would be better to have experience in your profile, and you still have some time to do it, as the database will be valid for 3 years.
Don’t dream of very “clear” procedures from EU. I am sure it easier to get a job as a Greek public servant than it is in EU. I’ll give you an example:
There is a post for temporary agent in a European Agency. You apply for it and you never find out how many people also applied. If you are lucky enough, you get a letter to invite you for an interview or to give you a negative answer. But not always! For example, ENISA doesn’t send any notice if you are not chosen for interview. Complete darkness!!!
And, then, going to the interview, you never know how many others are also invited. And you never get a final list with grade for everyone, indicating what your grade was and what your final position in the list was. And this, because the General Director can always hire someone else because of some “unwritten” policies: For example, in ENISA, located in Crete, Greece, the General Director has probably decided they have enough Greeks, and they are not hiring any others (it seems like racial discrimination to me)!
But if you don’t have this information, how can you raise a petition? The petition is very important in democracy, but not for EU agencies!!!!!
Anyway, I have a wish and an advice for you:
I wish you get a job and be happy (I am not sure you’ll be happy if you get a job in Brussels. It is a very depressing city for a Greek. Have you ever been there??).
I advise you not to dream a lot, because when we dream, we always have to wake up after sometime!!!!
Kostas Anagnostakis
Hello everybody!!! I also passed the test fo FGIII – Administrative Officer,
I would like to ask if we just have to wait for them to choose us from the list or we can also apply on our own! Also do you know any sites that have list of jobs that I could apply for. Finally I do not have any working experience on the chosen profile, can I still hope for a job?
thank you in advance!
Christos
Congrats!
I have passed the test too.
Read carefully the letter:
1st action: complete the CV. You can do it over the weekend, nobody will be working on the EC during the weekend.
2nd action: collect all the documentation that demonstrates what you have written in your CV
During 3 years, you can be invited to interviews in any EU body. You should bring all those documents with you to be checked during the interview.
Best,
Oscar
(Re-posting in the right place)
Well, what do you know: “The marking of the selection tests for EPSO/CAST27/4/07 in which you recently took part has now been completed and I am pleased to inform you that your were successful in the tests.†(note the ‘your’ typo, cute ain’t it :P). That’s for FG IV, ICT (Information and Communications Technology) Adviser btw. So, I did make it! Guess I’ll stay up late tonight and work on my CV 🙂 Do you guys know what’s next? I mean, for CAST, I shouldn’t contact any institution myself, but just wait for agencies which expressed interest to contact me, right? Thanks.
I heard that the CAST 27 results are out for those that did the computer based tests. Anybody hear anything about when the RELEX profiles will hear about their results?
Good evening all,
A very attentive reader of this blog noticed that some comments from this post were lost – probably because my website hosting firm has been upgrading its servers and some data was lost. Here are all the latest comments – newest first – I have from my backup. If the comment is not here it’s really lost. Apologies!
J
Comment:
@dorina
Yes, seems that eng. people have less change than generic people, the problem is that there is already a generation of engineers into the EU Commission and there is no reason to leave, so the number of available places during 1/2 years is really reduced.
It is also true that if you check on the ITER page, they are looking for a lot of engineers (also specialized in remote handling) but there are a lot of difficulties to find specialized people which can start a job tomorrow morning.
General positions are sometimes better, I must admit they pay not so much, but for some of us is more than you can earn in your country.
Let’s hope anybody will get in… 🙂
Comment:
Haris,
nothig is impossible, I have seen people to pass examination at the European Central Bank (and I must admint they are more difficult than EPSO exams) without any International experience in their background. If you are prepared you are prepared with or without experience, what you can have difficulties to understand is how to live in an international environment, but there are some books which explain it if you want.
So, try it, it will be at least another thing you have done in your life, time to study is not lost time IMHO. Good luck.
Stefano
Comment:
Hello everyone, i’m planning to prepare for the next epso exam for AST for OLAF and for finance/economics. Just one question i have that i would like to share with you, do you think that without any work or study experience abroad and can somebody succeed in the epso exams?
Comment:
@Stefano
Thanks .
Do you have some scientific profile ?
Comment:
@dorina
Yes, it was the same examination I had in Munich, if they want anyway it takes also 2 weeks to complete all the procedure. Some years ago it took around 2 weeks with all signatures and medical examination in the middle. If they need they can find the way to speed up the procedures.
I wish you can start on the 1st Oct. 2007.
Comment:
@Dorina
May ask you what DG or Agency you were recuited by? I spoke with ECHA last week and the answer to start to offer positions was… “Unpredictable”… Which it can be true, but it is also strange, I mean, they should know what is the planning and how many people they need in the next few months/weeks…
Thanks a lot and good luck with your starting job!
Stefano
Comment:
I received the request to fill the CV before the tests, and I don’t have the results yet. But I suppose, for that 10 profiles, immediately after the tests , they will start to hire contract agents .. I think that for the other profiles they will ask the CV after the results of presection tests, or after the specialist tests. The CV is always asked before an oral examination or recruitment.
I know for sure from inside that they need a lot of people for administration and finance. Anyhow , I’m not interested anymore for that jobs (just for knowing my results), because I have already one, as temporary agent. I paased already the medical tests and I’m waiting for the odfficial offer. I hope to start on 1st october…
Comment:
@Kostas
I asked to ITER and EPSO the same question. The reserve list for temporary agents are available only to HR internal staff or the agency or DG and the result is available to you thru EPSO Web Site. No one else can see the list, and you do not have access to the list.
I don’t know why and no one was so nice to explain what was the reason for this fact.
This is the official answer from EPSO. I cut and paste it:
“Further to your question, the temporary agent reserve lists are only available
for Human Ressources Departement, they are not published on the
Internet/Official Journal. ”
As a made of fact I know I won the ECHA competition only from EPSO, then I sent an E-Mail to the HR of echa who confirmed the fact. Same story for ITER.
If it is a competition published, then the result is also published on the EU Official Journal, this is not the case.
HTH
Stefano
Comment:
Has anyone ever seen a reserve list been published? I had applied for ECHA, I’d failed in the interview, and I’ve got an e-mail informing me about that. I also know that our friend Stefano has succeeded and is included in the list. But I would still like to see the final reserve list, all the names and nationalities. Isn’t that fair enough?
Comment:
@riviere and @Dorina
I’ ve got the e-mail to fill in my CV, even BEFORE I went to the tests. So, no, there is no connection with the results.
Comment:
DORINA – GRATEFUL if you could advise: are you saying that if one has received an email saying to fill in the online CV that therefore this means one has actually PASSED the CAST 27 tests??
I would be most surprised (as well as pleased) if this were the case and would appreciate knowing what is your evidence for this proposition ??
Does anyone else support Dorina’s view? Why would they not just advise as to one’s having passed, if indeed one has ?
Riv.
Comment:
@Breach – I’m (you’re) not alone!!! Please tell us if anything comes out of your complaint!
Comment:
@Breach – I’m (you’re) not alone!!! Please tell us if anything comes out of your complaint!
Comment:
The request for filling the CV was received just for the 10 types of profiles who passed the specialist test in the same time with the RVN and UE knowledge . I received that request, but not my husband who passed just the presectioon tests. for another profile.
I suppose that for the 10 profiles they need more people, urgently, and they want to have very quick the reserve list for hire ( secretaries and acountants they need a lot for example, for others I don’t know)
Comment:
@riviere
I have received the request to fill the CV also if I didn’t partecipate to the competition, so don’t worry, they are just trying to reduce time asking all the possible data in advance.
In the last days I guess they had some problems with robomail, ECHA results came out early and the mail was sended after a couple of days….
If the majority fails they really do not care, there are different ways to fill the specific posts, CAST is not the only way to do it, they could think to ask for other reserve list, I do not see any problem, anyway I guess the exam cannot obblige the EU commission to recruit you. Also because some posts are general and some specific skills are compulsory for some specific posts, so they can recruit people who are not in the first position of the list if they think that he/she better fit the role.
There are a lot of variables, anyway reserve lists and CAST have always the priority, and the 10% who passed the exams have a chance more to be recruited by the EU commission.
No one is irrespective against the exam results, it just takes time to work on it, and many times there are time frames which are really short to fill the positions at EU Commission.
Stefano
Comment:
@riviere
I believe they ask for the CV in order to be ready, by the time the results come out. Nobody is going to look at our CVs, except maybe the case we are really specialists in a specific field.
Comment:
FILLING IN THE ON-LINE CV THING:
Does anyone know why all candidates (I assume) for CAST 27 have received e-mails advising them to fill in now (rather than wait for the results) the online CV ?
What is the point of doing that for the great majority (over 90% ?) of us who will fail ? Is there still some possibility of recruitment if someone somewhere doing the recruiting likes the look of your CV, irrespective of the exam result ?
Riv.
Comment:
FILLING IN THE ON-LINE CV THING:
Does anyone know why all candidates (I assume) for CAST 27 have received e-mails advising them to fill in now (rather than wait for the results) the online CV ?
What is the point of doing that for the great majority (over 90% ?) of us who will fail ? Is there still some possibility of recruitment if someone somewhere doing the recruiting likes the look of your CV, irrespective of the exam result ?
Riv.
Comment:
Hi everybody!
I’m having my oral exam for the “AD-new member states-econ” on the 5th of september. Unfortunately i had no time to prepare in these last few weeks. So i’d be very grateful for any pointers any of u can give me, or possible topics… I’m trying to get a hold of this “Succeeding in the EU Oral Examinations” book that is being so heavily advertised ;))) but am kind of running out of time to order it by post…
Anyhow… any pointers are helpful..
cheers and all the best to all the others that are having the oral over the next few weeks…
ToMaZiO
The request for filling the CV was received just for the 10 types of profiles who passed the specialist test in the same time with the RVN and UE knowledge . I received that request, but not my husband who passed just the presectioon tests. for another profile.
I suppose that for the 10 profiles they need more people, urgently, and they want to have very quick the reserve list for hire ( secretaries and acountants they need a lot for example, for others I don’t know)
@riviere
I have received the request to fill the CV also if I didn’t partecipate to the competition, so don’t worry, they are just trying to reduce time asking all the possible data in advance.
In the last days I guess they had some problems with robomail, ECHA results came out early and the mail was sended after a couple of days….
If the majority fails they really do not care, there are different ways to fill the specific posts, CAST is not the only way to do it, they could think to ask for other reserve list, I do not see any problem, anyway I guess the exam cannot obblige the EU commission to recruit you. Also because some posts are general and some specific skills are compulsory for some specific posts, so they can recruit people who are not in the first position of the list if they think that he/she better fit the role.
There are a lot of variables, anyway reserve lists and CAST have always the priority, and the 10% who passed the exams have a chance more to be recruited by the EU commission.
No one is irrespective against the exam results, it just takes time to work on it, and many times there are time frames which are really short to fill the positions at EU Commission.
Stefano
@riviere
I believe they ask for the CV in order to be ready, by the time the results come out. Nobody is going to look at our CVs, except maybe the case we are really specialists in a specific field.
FILLING IN THE ON-LINE CV THING:
Does anyone know why all candidates (I assume) for CAST 27 have received e-mails advising them to fill in now (rather than wait for the results) the online CV ?
What is the point of doing that for the great majority (over 90% ?) of us who will fail ? Is there still some possibility of recruitment if someone somewhere doing the recruiting likes the look of your CV, irrespective of the exam result ?
Riv.
Hi everybody!
I’m having my oral exam for the “AD-new member states-econ” on the 5th of september. Unfortunately i had no time to prepare in these last few weeks. So i’d be very grateful for any pointers any of u can give me, or possible topics… I’m trying to get a hold of this “Succeeding in the EU Oral Examinations” book that is being so heavily advertised ;))) but am kind of running out of time to order it by post…
Anyhow… any pointers are helpful..
cheers and all the best to all the others that are having the oral over the next few weeks…
ToMaZiO
@Breach – I wish you good luck with your complaint.
I think you are completely right. For each different specific test, we should have received at least the topics included for that area, so you can prepare the test accordingly to them. When I was preparing the test, I was a bit surprised not to have that.
On the other hand, I realized there would be IT questions, because I only found GIS inside ICT category. But that’s because I had to ‘dive’ into the CAST27 ToR to find GIS somewhere.
@Oscar — sometime in September. Go ahead and submit your CV if you haven’t done so already, and good luck.
About the GIS questions — nobody’s perfect, and I never claimed proficiency in GIS, quantum mechanics, or molecular biology :-]. If I knew about the GIS part I would have gone straight for a RELEX profile where my chances would have been far better as it seems. ‘What-ifs’ aside. That’s where the problem with this examination was — mal and mis information and this was a blatant EPSO fault and nobody else’s. I am still waiting for their formal reply to my complaint.
I also took the CAST27 ICT test at the end of July.
I agree, it was overloaded with GIS questions. I’m a GIS-guy , so I’m quite happy 🙂 . But it was also difficult for me because of the network questions.
Maybe they should have splitted IT and GIS in two different tests.
Anyway, I think I’ve passed. As a conclussion, I would say that passing the test was not too difficult, but getting a good mark was difficult because of this ‘blend’ of different fields. Nobody is perfect!
Does anyone know when will the results be available?
Best Regards,
Oscar
Hello JWbloggers,
I will be having an oral exam for new member states in Economics on September 17th and would be very grateful for any advice on how to prepare, what to expect etc. Would be great if you could share your experience and questions. Thanks a lot.
Ola
@dizzy
Thank you for your comments. Please allow me to answer some of your remarks.
As you have realised I have just started my journey in the blogosphere. The blog is going to be updated on a regular basis. However the notion of regular is different for “reuters”, for Jon, for you or for me. Specific comments are welcomed.
The list of other blogs is being compilied. Of course since I am a person you keep his promises, Jon’s blog is being mentioned in the next edition of my book.
I have opted for a non-moderated but registration option in my blog, in order to avoid spam. Again I am free for suggestions.
I believe that you are over-reacting or you have not read my book when you claim that comments are not related to my book.
The blog was created because people who bought the book asked for something more.
Glad to discuss further.
@Christos Bezirtzoglou
Aren’t you going to put Jon’s blog in your “favorite links”???
And why do you only allow comments from people with google registraton?
Are you planning to write something on this “blog” of yours or you’ll just reply to comments most of which are not related to your book? If so, then give it up- here is a much better place
Vladia,
That would be great. Thanks!
George
George,
normally it must be your first job for the Commission or to not live in the country for more than 5 last years.
I think if the new job as officials follow exactly the contractual job u will still receive allowance. But I am not sure. I am just now in the position of CA and I was just asking me this question, the best way to know exactly is to ask HR. I will do it and will come with the answer later then 🙂
@Stefano
Say an EU institution hires you as contract agent, you move from your home country to Brussels, you’re an expatriate and get the respective allowance.
If during your time as contract agent, you get an offer for a permanent official position (having passed the exam), would they still consider you to be an expatriate for that job? Or would your new home country be Belgium, because you have been living there for several years?
Any input is much appreciated.
George