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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@AD 46-47/06 – EPA laureates
Hi! Have you all written to EPSO to ask what happened to the publication of our section’s reserve list? I wrote them about two weeks ago, but no reply as yet. Perhaps if more of us write to them, as happened in the case of the CAST 27 Relex results, maybe they’ll do something about it. I know that the reserve list is available for the institutions to check, but that is not the point. Since there is so little information available publicly, at least that that is to be made public should be done so properly!
@Bogus,
That is what I wonder as well, whether the vacancies appear come over time or whether they are all straight away. I would guess that they are spread out over the next three years.
I looked at the CAST 25 info (from 2005), which stated that the contracts were allowed for max 3 years, so any contract would expire during the time that the reserve list is valid.
@ RIV
I had to reply to your posting. I am in exactly the same situation: (i) a lawyer, (ii) took & passed Pol. Advisors RELEX for a change and (iii) didn’t think I would make it but did at the end.
I didn’t remember that the positions were only 13, but if true, then obviously that says it all especially for those who have a more “uncommon” profile.
But working in a delegation is something I would really like. I just have not yet found the right path to it. Cast 27 seems a dead end.
@ Breach
Hi Breach,
I saw it too, oh, I don’t understand what is going on. What is clear is that published or not, the reserve list is already working. Any news from Luxembourg?
I sent a couple of CVs but I don’t really think that I’ll have any news before Christmas. We shall keep waiting…
CION is short for Commission. Yes it’s true that they say there are 15 vacancies. But do they mean there are fifteen immediate vacancies or there will be 15 vacancies in a span of three years? I mean the reserve list is valid for three years for some reason. I hope that in the next three years they will need far more than 15 political advisors. I also heard that the pass mark was lowered for CAST 27 RELEX and that is why there are so many successful candidates. But once again I think that the pass mark was lowered because they needed a longer reserve list meaning they needed to employ more people. We’ll see.
Dear Bogus:
What is CION ?
Also, I too (to my surprise) passed the Pol Matts Adv. tests of Cast 27 – I am afraid there are 265 of us who did so….. From memory they said some time ago there would be approx 13 vacancies to fill. Do the math! You’ve got no chance lad !
I certainly have not been called for i/v for one !
One thing which I do wonder about is – can one be considered for vacancies other than those in which one passed the exams? EG in my case I am a lawyer really but took the exams in Pol Matters to make a change – but I would be quite happy to work in a legal capacity in a delegation, if indeed such posts exist……
Riv
@ Bogus,
I think if you take a look at the CAST call there is an estimation of how many posts they expect. If I remember correctly it was about 15 for the political adviser, but it could be worth to take a look at the EPSO site again.
About interviews; somebody else on this site had heard that interviews had started, but I don’t know anything about it…
Hi everyone. Very informative forum.Congrats.
I am lucky enough to have passed the CAST 27 RELEX Political Matters Advisor. I understand that my name has been put on a 100-something-long list of successful candidates for this position. Does anyone know how many poltical matters advisor CION needs, if any?! And do you know of anyone from CAST27 RELEX who has been called for an interview? Thanks
@EPSO/AD/46-47 EPA laureates: Guys, guess what. They totally forgot EPA for sure — the reserve list was just published in the OJ and it’s the same on they have on EPSO site — no mention of EPA whatsoever… Fun!
http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:C:2007:294A:SOM:EN:HTML
Jon, best regards from one of the anciens (von Humboldt 😉 and congratulations for the site: it’s great! I wish I had seen it sooner.
I have passed the EPSO/AD/47/06 and I think it is appropriate to better know the colleagues from the “country we know best†even before we are being employed by EU institutions.
I have set up a group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Laureati_EPSOAD4706 only for Romanian laureates and I would be thankful if it can appear on your site.
Thank you indeed,
With best regards,
Victor
Hi everybody and many thanks to Jon for this forum, where I have found some usefull info concerning EU competitions.
Have been preparing for the MCQ competency tests of CAST 27 on December and would like to ask, if there is anyone (maybe from the competition CAST 25) to help me with some sources for study for the position “Project Advisor.” Unlike the more specific areas, this one is quite “large” and can include questions from various fields.
Thanks a lot and my best wishes to the applicants and congratulations to those who succeded already!
By the way, are there any applicants from Greece? Would be pleased to talk to them, while having good friends in this country 😉
@Tiptop:
Most of it will be in your second language. The last five minutes or so are in your first language and the questions there are much easier (eg. what does the commission do, what do you think about european identity).
You will present your CV for 2-3 minutes, so practice that very well. And spend enough time editing and improving the content of your CV. It matters.
Then they will ask you some questions about your CV and why you want to work for the EU etc. Be prepared by rehearsing this by yourself.
Then they will ask you general EU questions and specific questions in your field. As a first step, prepare for these substantive questions the way you prepared for the written exams. In addition, keep up to date with the news by reading for ex. EU Observer online, Economist etc. They asked about new policy developments, the role of the EU in world economy…
They also may ask competency and HR questions (eg. what would you react if your colleague/boss …).
Also, I would consult this website:
http://eu-exams.blogspot.com, and EPSO Forum.
Don’t rely *too* much on the specific questions that were asked in other competitions (or in other fields of your same competition) because it really varies a lot depending on the jury (the ideal thing to do – whichever way you can – is to find out questions from other candidates who have the same jury as yours!).
Nevertheless, the basic structure has remained constant (CV presentation and questions –> general EU –> specific field (public admin in your case) –> perhaps competency/hr questions –> finally, a few minutes conversing in your first language.
Good luck!
@hamlet: there were never 60,70% of Germans, Italians and French only, at least not for the last 35 years or so. And Germany is still very much underrepresented for a number of reasons. And I don’t see anyone angry at EU-12 laureates, I just see frustration concerning the whole ordeal and the absolute lack of any form of transparency on behalf of the Institutions. And if you are told off th record that certain DGs are still blocked per se for EU-15 nationals because the target rates have yet not been met, you feel discriminated against. Not the fault of EU-12 laureates but of a problematic system. And concerning qualification, I can only say that I have met a lot of highly motivated and qualified candidates from EU-12, but only the first open EU-27 competitions will tell the whole truth. You simply cannot compare a purely national competition to a EU-wide competition. Has something to do with apples and pears …
Hello everyone,
I m currently preparing the oral part of the EPSO/AD/53-60/06 exam (Administrator – Public Administration and Humna Resources).
I d be very glad to get some tips from candidates that already went through the oral part of this exam.
Thanks in advance !!!!
@ Hamlet,
You do not get the main point(s):
1) epso itself is pretty undecided about this
“There is no national quota system for European civil servants, but the Institutions aim to recruit a broad geographical balance among the different Member States.”
But one thing is for sure: prior to the AD/05 competitions it didnot mention it would block the (ongoing) recruitment of EU15 candidates. This is playing with people’s lives/career perspectives/… Be fair and clearly state your policy; do not apply radical measures in an unannounced way.
2) This still doesnot excuse epso for the lack of transparency in its recruitment procedures:
Why can’t they post internal vacancies open to laureates publicly?
Why can’t they automatically inform a laureate whether (s)he has been flagged. The whole process of flagging is dealt with through the e-RL application. Then why should people at epso spend their days answering mails/phones from laureates on the topic of their (non-)assignment?
3) Sorry to say this, but I know a guy who was working at the commission with a string of contracts until he finally made it through a competition after which a “mock interview” (his own words) was staged to formalize his recruitment; another person got in with the support of a local politician. After a string of short-term contracts she manages to pass one of the (internal) selection exams and hay presto… an official recruit.
Talk to people working there (do not think to have them go on record of course) and they will gladly admit to this mucky way of doing business… not for all laureates, but certainly for a considerable stake.
Again, I would like some statistics on the average time it takes a laureate to be hired going by nationality/gender/whether they worked at the commission before/whether they attended the Europa College/… DG admin surely has these pieces of info, I’m very curious about it.
Their intransparent procedures raise questions and suspicions. For the EU 12 people things can work out nicely now and for all previous enlargements special breaks were given.But they too should think of the long-term perspective. Would you like people in your home country to think 10 years from now that getting in with the commission is based mainly on knowing some-one there? I’m sure you people wouldnot agree with that. So even if I won’t become an official, I would like to know of these doubts/questions and objections. I should hope you would help to make the EU a better place in the future, despite my scepsis.
Breach, thanks a lot for the info. Keep in touch and good luck!
Hey guys,
It’s ridiculous how people start getting angry at “EU-12” new laureates of open competitions. The main argument is that they cannot stand competition from the other, more wise and well prepared “EU-15” candidates.
This is just crap. I have a lot of experience of working with people either from EU15 or EU12 and all I can say is that there is no difference in their professional levels, personality, EU knowledge and so on. On the contrary, I often found out that, due to motivation, people from the EU-12 are often better prepared to cope with a work at the EU than others.
This is just the system. Some nationalities are under- represented and moreover, the EU is in deep need of native speakers of those new EU languages. So, it’s quite reasonable to have competitions targeted at specific nationalities and languages.
My friends, the days when Italians, French, and Germans were 60%, 70% percentage of all EU officers are over. Just try to face that.
@ piente
btw… never mind the timing epso gives you. Those people are used to tell you you should get back to them in three months’ time. There’s no logic in there related to scheduled events/meetings… just brushing you off. Instead of posting vacancies publicly and informing laureates right away in their mailboxes when they are flagged they choose to keep everything intransparant and inefficient.
@ piente
It’s always been somewhat like that. People with connections (or benefiting from some temporary quota system) will get in almost right away after a mock interview has been staged for them. For others it can be a very long wait, possibly without any reward at the end.
@student: It’s been a while back, plus my profile was ICT. But I do remember being asked to choose the correct definition for the ‘critical path’ (look up critical path method), and also there was a question on Gantt charts. Nothing too deep, think Wikipedia-grade knowledge suffices. Good luck!
hi student,
same for AD25/05: come back in March as it is an ongoing process. funny because my reserve list is only valid until end 2007… and the formal decision to prolong has not been taken yet.
I hear more and more stories that you have to know somebdoy that can introduce you, even better is to know a head of unit personally.
If this turns out to be true, I am very disappointed in the European civil servants.
@ lia, breach and other AD 46-47 laureates
Hi guys,
I’m back… I’ve been waiting for EPSO’s reply about earmarking and yesterday they told me that I haven’t been assigned (earmarked, booked or whatever) yet and that since this is an ongoing process, I should better contact them in March 2008. It’s quite optimistic 🙂 I think they don’t find my CV interesting 🙁
Breach, congratulations for the interview! I hope it will work and you will like living in Lux. I have some friends living there and I know that if in Brussels the rent of a one-bedroom apt is about 650 – 700 eur/mo, in Lux it is 900 – 1000. There is only one big supermarket called Auchan, not that expensive, but people usually goes to Germany for shopping. In general the AD salary – taxes (about 15%) + your expatriation allowance (16%) + the allowance for your wife-to-be (the day she becomes your wife, not before) should be more than enough. In addition you have some daily allowance during the first 4 months I think, it is about 1000 eur/mo extra.
I also have some questions about CAST27: my husband is going for project adviser (general profile), FGIV. He will have a specialised test. You mentioned that in your specialised test you had some project management questions. Would you share that info please because we are really wondering what he should study… Thanks a lot.
Hi everyone! My name is Dana and I have to sit the competence test on Dec 14th for the Social Sciences Advisor profile (FGIV).
I was expecting this exam to be exclusively multiply choice. This is why I was somewhat appalled at seeing epso’s latest letter and “form of testing†table according to which, for my profile, there seem to be only 10 questions in a multiple choice-form and another 8 in longhand. Now, does any of you have an idea of what I should expect for the written part?
I am a bit disappointed because I have been studying quite a lot lately, but only “theoretical†stuff, nothing related to data interpreting and analysis or whatever it is these “questions requiring very brief longhand answers†will be about:-S.
Thanks!
@ breach
well, i have already bragged to most of my friends i believe. what i would be interested in is how many of those on the list i know. i expect there should be a number. pure curiosity… 🙂
in any case, as soon as i get a reply back from epso, i’ll let you all know what that was.
Thanks, Breach! the only thing that was difficult to explain was why wait so much to publish the list, and then publish it incomplete.
From what I see on the Reserve Lists page, it’s not uncommon to publish a reserve list per domain(s). So I’d expect them to come out with an EPSO/AD/46-47 (Field 1: EPA Only) addendum in the days to come. Why this hasn’t happened considering that the people on the EPA lists are already on the internally-published list beats me. It is very much possible that there was a disconnect of some sort (which is far from being an uncommon practice). At any rate I wouldn’t worry too much about that, anyway, as this is ‘simply a formality’. That is, unless you want to print it out from the OJ and brag to friends and colleagues :-] Cheers.
Ah! only now I noticed that Breach was EPA- AD46-47. So my question is half-answered. The list thing is still curious, though.
@lia & other AD46-47 EPA laureates. Please let me know what they answer to you inquiry. Have you heard of anyone being contacted yet? tnx.
that’d be becoming pathological… as i was noting earlier then, their ranks need refreshing, or reinforcement.. 😉
but, to give them the benefit of the doubt, maybe it’s because someone who did not make it after the oral challenged the decision in his/her case, so they had to postpone publishing that particular list until the case(s) is solved. i’ve just checked the call for competition again, on the complaint part, and it seems one has max 20 days since the date of receiving the letter informing him/her to send a complaint. now, it does not say how long the selection committee has until it gives a reply (it simply says asap), but i believe it needs to be within the usual 30 days the institutions have in order to reply back to a request.
anyway, i sent a letter to EPSO in this regard, so i take i’ll have a reply next week.
cheers everyone!
Uninformed guess: they forgot 🙂
A friend of mine asked his name not to be included in the published reserve list, they said ok, and his name nevertheless appears there. Just another mistake.
@AD 46-47/07 laureates
the reserve list for our competition is out finally, on the epso webpage. BUT no mention of EPA. it’s just audit, law and economics. it’s most weired, as i thought they would be waiting to publish the reserve list in order to include the EPA results too, since it’s been a single competition. else why wait so long?!! anyone any informed guess?!!
Hello everybody. Thank you to Jon for hosting the debate and to all for the information shared I found very helpful.
I’m sitting the competency test on Dec 14th for the FG IV profile Fisheries Adviser.
Now I know that I can’t easily find someone who’s running for the same profile, nevertheless I would like to read some general opinion from you, if you want, about the material I’ve chosen to prepare the test.
My main source of course is DG FISH and Europa web site, where I picked:
– Factsheets on the Common Fishery Policy
– A Green Paper on the Common Fishery Policy (2001)
– A Green Paper on the Maritime Policy (2006)
– A review over the Legislation from the SCADPLUS site of UE
– A paper on the common organisation of the markets
– A paper on the European Fishery Fund
– All the recent press releases I check everyday
– Some paper on miscellaneous topics that just look like they could be subject in some question (bluefin tuna, ghost fishing, illegal fishing and so on).
It seems to me I covered a sufficiently wide range of possibilities, but I look forward to hearin grom you too.
Thank you very much and good luck to everyone.
@All Concerned: So I went to the interview. It was done via a video conference, and that’s kind of, um, inconvenient (as in unnatural) if you haven’t done this before. They have absolutely chosen me because of my IT profile :-). There were about 2 or 3 head of units from the Parliament’s IT Secretariat and a representative from DG Personnel. I was drilled all over on my resume, it was sort of like I was being interviewed for a private sector IT company (down to very specific questions such as ‘how do you do traffic shaping’). Then, it turned out, I wasn’t being interviewed for any position in particular, bur rather for ‘several’ as I was told. Now, what’s funny with that. I was specifically told they have a number of open ICT positions, that they couldn’t fill, so they resorted to the AD/46 reserve list and found me. Really made me wonder why they didn’t consult the huge CAST27 lists for stuff like that? I was about to ask, but was interrupted, and forgot to ask at the end. But anyway. So, CAST27 people might do well to lobby, as perhaps there’s no visibility on who’s available for what. Now, my case is a bit different, as the AD concourse list I am on is pure EPA (and honestly, I am a bit tired of doing IT). So it was more like a general let’s see what you can do and find a place for you sort of thing. They didn’t say they had me earmarked or anything. Let’s see how things turn out. Hope this helps somebody out here. Cheers.
@ft
Congratulations for your CAST27 results.
I understand your hesitation regarding the short term positions. It requires a lot of effort moving to a different country for a temporary job that is not really overpaid in comparison with the average European IT salaries.
The good thing about it is the tax-exemption.
I haven’t realized that there is no IT specific section of the test in the pre-selection phase.
Thanks for the information. Should have been more concentrated reading the Epso notice.
@ Ris: do you mean the pre-selection tests? They don’t have ICT specific questions but only EU and verbal/numerical reasoning questions. I took the pre-selection test (currently have been selected for a job offer after CAST27 ICT, but the short length of contracts makes me hesitate so I am practicing competitions at least in that way, and anyway it can take months before the offer materialises). I found it way easier than the CAST 27 FG IV one on verbal/numerical reasoning. Can’t speak to FG III unfortunately.
Hi All,
Dear future IT-Eurocrats :- )
Has somebody already taken EPSO/AST/41/07 test for ICT assistants.
Could it be compared to the CAST 27/FGIII.
Is the level similar? Are there still broad and general IT questions in the specialization part (like GIS questions in Cast 27)?
Many thanks for any input.
Ris
Hi all,
Just wanted to share some information with those who thinks that its very difficult to enter into EU institutions without any help of insiders… I know nobody inside, but was offered the job and now waiting only for employment procedure to be finished… So it’s possible, just you need to believe and don’t have negative prejudice…
Hello to All
I am looking info on the competency tests content, I am sitting the tests – profile Graduate Enginner – FGIV in December
Breach, would you like contact with me, kalin_galin at yahoo
I am Bulgarian, placed in the reserve list in one of the agencies, and have some questions 🙂
@Breach
wow! that was quick. getting the invitation and the interview within less than a month. i guess you’re not complaining, and I wouldn’t if i were you either, but what bothers me a bit is the manner in which they treat us. as if to make the whole thing as anxiety-laden as possible. Total obscurity about the process of recruitment, almost no two-way communication whatsoever, and now even no information about the offer they are making. As if we are supposed to be tested for our determination, step into the thing blindfolded, take the leap of faith. 🙂
having made it so far, and knowing that i have quite good chances to be among the “chosen ones”, i should not be complaining.but i just wish they changed a bit their manners. you may be all, and rightfully so, high and mighty, but you may also show some consideration to those knocking on your doors, seeking to join your ranks. :), unless, indeed, it’s a sort of an initiation rite..
good luck again breach with your interview tomorrow! really, fingers crossed! don’t know you, but the exchanges on this forum gives me a sense of solidarity of fate of us all… 🙂 the foundations of the eu project after all..
@Lia, Yep, I do have a strong IT background. No idea what the job’s about, and whether it has anything to do with my prior experience — they just said they have an open position in DG Presidency. I’ll find out more tomorrow at the interview (probably, as they didn’t confirm back yet :P). They just contacted me out of the blue. The only place I did contact was DG DIGIT of the Commission and got total radio silence from them. Thanks, cheers, and good luck.
Breach,
congratulations! you’ve really made the break-through! 🙂
i’m afraid i cannot help you on your question concerning living standards in luxemburg, but i hope others can and will. instead, i have some questions for you, seen you are among the first AD 46-47/07 laureates to receive an invitation:
1) what is your profile (IT? if i remember correctly from your previous comments) and what is the job being offered?
2) have you just been picked up from the list, or had contacted them before?
thanks, and good luck with the interview!
@student
hi! any news on the earmarking issue?
@ student & all other laureates of AD 46-47/07
check this out, it contains some interesting information
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getAllAnswers.do?reference=E-2007-3115&language=SV
I’ve been contacted by the EU Parliament for a position at the Luxembourg secretariat. That’s great, as I never did expect this to happen only a month after the results were published, but I am worried about living costs in LU, as I hear it’s way more expensive than Brussels (and given the 46% tax ceiling I reckon the EU tax is really a blessing :-). That’s for an AD5 position btw, which is about 4k EUR – tax + allowances/mo. So can anyone provide any clues on living standards? Is that good enough for a family man (my wife-to-be won’t be able to work for at least a couple of months). How much more expensive is say, rent, in comparison to Brussels? I’ll probably be looking for a decent 2 bedrooms place… Anyhow, mucho thanks in advance.
Hello everyone,
Does anybody know what to study for the Oral for AST1 competition?
I don’t have work before as Secretary, do you think it is primordial (Tourist Office Experience is valuable?)
If you haven’t worked neither lived in foreign country, can you be in the reserve list?
I’m 28, do you think it is too old or too young or Am i in the average for that kind of competition?
What’s the most important thing (degree or experience in the field) because I mean if you can take the competetion and go to the oral, have you the same probability to pass it?
Finally, for those who have already been on Oral, what the percentage of your second language used during the examination?
Thank you a lot for all the ones who might be useful for the many candidates who attend AST1 competition and do not have many informations about it !!!
Kind regards !!!
Fab
@ lizzie
I passed a EPA/HR concour (25/05) and I do not know any MCQ-books with HR related questions.
I would suggest that you read one or two books about the HR-theory. The HR questions are usually simple if you have some systematic knowledge of this field.
hello there
is there anyone out there preparing for the competence test for “translator” for CAST27? I was wondering about the length of the text we will be getting…they do not say anything about it in the instructions we got yesterday. Anyone has an idea?
thank you and good luck to everybody! 🙂
ps: Jon: thank you for letting us rant on your blog AND for splitting the page! 😉
@ lizzie
You’ll find a great deal of stuff here for HR questions. Past exams (MCQ) contain a lot of questions that have answers here. http://ec.europa.eu/reform/2002/documents/staff_reform_2002_en.pdf
@Lizzie,
Sorry, I misunderstood your question.
What I am interested in is preparation for HR questions in the EPA/HR exam (didnt mean oral or interview)…I have all the books with EU MCQs, but i havent managed to find such book for the HR questions..Can you recommend one, pls?
Kalin, Lizzie,
I sent the files to Jon.