The results of the concours for administrators are now out, and – surprise, surprise – I did not manage to pass. Here’s the extract of the letter:
The selection board for the above competition has now finished marking the pre-selection tests in which you participated. I regret to inform you that although the marks you obtained in these tests were above or equal to the pass mark, you were not amongst the top 630 candidates.
Point B.1 of the competition notice stipulates that only those candidates with the 630 highest marks in the pre-selection tests would be asked to submit a full application with a view to their possible admission to the competition.
Your marks are as follows (1):
Test a): 38.333 /60 (pass mark 30)
Test b): 15.263 /20 (pass mark 10)
Test c): 30.769 /40 (pass mark 20)Total: 84.365/ 120
For your information, the candidates who obtained the 630 highest combined scores had at least 92.611 points.
I would add that the Selection Board’s decision does not preclude you from taking part in any future competitions organised by the European Personnel Selection Office.
It’s beyond me how one can get 15.263 / 20 when there were 40 questions, but anyway, c’est la vie. All the best to all the geeks who know who won the Sakharov prize in the year X or other equally useful everyday facts.
FILE DOWNLOADS
Blog commenter ‘viking’ has made some new test files available for download, and he had also supplied the manual for electronic Reserve Lists. Some additional test files have been provided by Sorina (see comment #1003) – download 342kb, ZIPped. Enjoy!
SOCIAL NETWORKS
If anyone is a member of Facebook there’s the ‘So I won’t be a Commission official’ Facebook Group, and the EU Integration Traveler IQ challenge (you need to add the Traveler IQ Facebook application) – a more fun way to revise for the concours…
NOTE
Due to such an enormous number of comments here I have had to divide the comments function. The latest few hundred comments are below, and all the older comments are archived here. All should work technically now.
Hi
I am also invited to the oral exam for AD 126/08 Audit which should be held mid-may.
My questions: at which stage are we supposed to fill our CVs on our EPSO accounts?
Thanks in advance for your reply.
I have passed for the oral exam for the Audit one too (126/08). Thanks for the advices published here and if anyone wants to share the preparation will be wellcome:
daniel_amoros at yahoo.com
Anyone still in the fight for Spanish translators (EPSO/AD/142/08/opt 1)??
Don’t you think the pass mark has been very high?? (23,33).
I´ve got 24,66, I hope it will be enough to pass to the written test.
@Wendy
There is a calculatur to do that on the so called “IntraComm”, the internal Intranet of the EU Commission. You are right, the rules are very unclear, this is the reason why it takes so much time to get information about your first salary.
There is another point on which you should focus: basically the interpretation of the Staff Regulation is sometimes different between you and the Pay Master Office (also called PMO), but PMO decides and to change the decision you must move on the legal field.
About the expat. allowance, it is 16% of your salary (in this case the calculation must be done not on the basic salary but on the basic salary+household allowance+child allowance).
To be entitled you must not be national of the state where you will be moved and you have never worked for more than 5 years in the same state and your residence was outside the state in the period of 10 years before entering into service.
In principle here a sample calculation calculation for an agent married, 1 child, AD6, living in Finland, this explains more than my words, the Expat Allowance is there, and you can verify the rule I just told you, obviosly we are speaking of PROVISIONAL NUMBERS, final decision must come from PMO, so also the calculator has no legal value:
Basic Pay 4,740.94
Household allowance 259.09
Dependent child allowance (6 years transition) 358.96
Expatriation allowance 857.44
Correction Coefficient 119.8% posted in FI 1,100.54
Pension contribution 10.90% -516.76
Sickness insurance contribution -80.60
Accident insurance contribution -4.74
Tax -309.34
Correction Coefficient others 119.8%
Special Levy 4.64% (8 years transition) -56.05
Pay calculated 6,349.48
Net pay € 6,349.48
This blog is amazing, however http://epsoforum.com is specially created to discuss about such topics. We need you too there, you will find a lot of information, questions/answers and lot of extras.
@Michel
Some years ago I requested a review of a written exam I did – I received a copy of it with my marks clearly indicated but no corrections or otherwise made on the paper i.e. it was a ‘clean version’ with just the marks showing at the end of each question. Thus, you won’t be able to see where and why they took away or gave you marks. Also it is my understanding, but I could be wrong, that they recalculate the scores per question to ensure the total they gave you was correct thus they do not do a review of the substance of your written exam.
On another point, I have been invited to an interview at the ERC for Legal Officer position- has anyone been there for interview for like positions or others? Is the interview/oral test very rigorous? Any advice would be most welcome. Thank you
Hi there,
I have a question concerning the employment terms, in particular: the expatriation allowance.
I’m trying to figure out my potential net salary at the EC and I wonder if there is anybody here who works for the commission or just knows well the rules?
I’ve lived in Belgium for 7 months. Am I then entitled to the expat allowance when entering into the service in Brussels? The related staff regulation part is very badly formulated and it’s not clear if the limit for this is 6 months or 5 years leaving in the same country.
Thanks a lot in advance,
Wendy
Hello,
Is there anybody following this forum who has some experience with asking for a revision of the correction of a written exam? I’ve asked for my copy following the results of competition EPSO/AD/126/08 as I was quite satisfied of my work when I did the exam and I didn’t expect the grade I obtained for test b). I know that there are little chances (if any) for my claim to be successful and I won’t do anything if, once I receive my copy, I think my grade is justified, but I would appreciate any feedback from somebody in a similar case in another competition…
Thank you very much,
Michel
@Lil Fatboy
In my interview they did ask a lot of questions about my field (translation), like what makes a good translator, what I knew about computer tools for translation and their advantages and potential pitfalls, the tradeoff between being close to original text or making a readable text in the language you’re translating into. So you do need to know your field but for me it was more about my approach than testing actual info (though I suspect this depends a lot on the selection board and perhaps also the subject).
The EU knowledge was similar – they asked what I knew about the Lisbon treaty, where it had come from, purpose, issues surrounding it etc, and then that led on to the EU’s relevance to citizens and how citizens feel about it etc etc. So issues rather than knowledge, but having the knowledge helps one to talk about the issues coherently. And in fact they said at the beginning of the i/v that they weren’t wanting to test my knowledge of facts but rather my understanding of the issues.
The book I mentioned had sections on the different subjects, I presume it had one for audit as well. Maybe someone else can enlighten you?
last comment leave=live, cause of the mistake bad fingers and down syndrome :).
@Kiwi
Thanks for answering.
The stuff you are talking about applies to every job interview (motivation, other HR related stuff, etc). Subject of my concours is audit. I have some experience in it (plenty for entry level position I would say, so I`m not really worried about that). At the same time I know nothing about EU and its institutions (got 60% from computer based exams which was quite good considering my knowledge :)).
So basically I don`t think I should study for the auditing part but perhaps I should study some stuff about EU (since someone in tne oral test commission might be real “EU fan” and would not understand that knowing facts about EU does not make me less comepetent in that field (I could leave with let`s say 5% less competent assessment :)).
RELEX
In order to change the countries, just post a message to Epso after having logged in to your Epso account. But I don’t think changing these countries will make much sense …
For CAST Relex, I assume if you don’t speak the native language (spanish/portugese) you probably won’t be selected? Because I have heard they shouldn’t take this in account during the selection process.
@ Lil Fatboy
Not sure what the subject of your concours is but you should DEFINITELY prepare for the oral test. I’d recommend getting the book on Succeeding in the EU Oral Examination by Christos Bezirtzoglou, which will give you a good idea of how it works.
I revised by going over all the EU knowledge again from the computer-based testing, but focusing also on broad issues, and also thought about all the translation-related and human resource questions in that book so that I was very clear on my own motivations, strengths etc. Also look at your cv in detail and envisage anything that may stand out that you could be asked about – eg I had some odd career changes, which they naturally asked about. Be prepared to back up every statement (eg about strengths, experiences, etc.) with examples. For example, I said one of my strengths was an ability to cope with pressure and work to deadlines, and had a specific anecdote to tell that illustrated that.
Good luck!
Re: choice of countries
Where can I find the new list of countries? I do not know were to look for it, so I do not know what changes to make? Someone mentioned that there is a modified list…
Thanks for your help!
Ps. They ask us to change, so I will change politely without losing any time to ask anybody (who knows whom to ask anyways?) about the purpose of this whole activity… But of course this changing exersice does not seem clear…
AD126/08–> I also got invited (a great success).
Is it worth preparing for the oral exam and if yes then how? Please feel free to share your ideas on that matter.
@giango
When you choose a different choice of countries in the list of countries it works, but it takes time to get “refreshed”. After one of two days you will see the list updated with the new changes you have made.
Of course it’s a pity you can not see the changes you have made at once.
@ergo
The list of countries is not the same, some of the countries which previously were on the 3rd group are now in the 2nd, and some coutries belonging to the 2nd are now in the first.
So they have classified the countries in a different way, so we have to change the list to have at least 2 of the 2nd and 2 of the 3rd group.
But it’s just a little discorageous when they tell you to change the choice of countries again on October, and so on… 🙁
AD126/08. I am also invited to the oral test.
Anyone based in Paris willing to prepare with me?
Thks
JF
AD126/08
Results are out, I am invited to the oral test (“I can already inform you that these tests will most likely take place as of mid-May 2009 and will be held in Luxembourg and in Brussels.”)
Good luck everyone
@ergo
If you would to improve your chances to be contacted, you can choose 8 countries of group 3.
@ all the Cast Relex candidates
I tried to modify the choice of the countries, and to save it and to refresh it, but it does not work. The previous countries are still on the list. I tried with explorer and firefox, but the result is the same.
We can now change the list of countries of choice for the CAST Relex competition. But honestly, what’s the purpose if they don’t provide a selection of countries that are in need of staff according to your profile? It’s just the same global list as previously. Useless…
@caro
Hi Caro, I am sorry for not replying earlier. Thank you for your kind words about my English. You are right saying that a new competition for English translators might be expected. I have studied the new epso website more carefully. I draw a conclusion that there will probably be a new competition announced within the framework of their new scheme, i.e. their annual cycle method (“From March 2010, competitions will be organised in annual cycles: beginning each March for linguists…”). Indeed no English translation competition is included in the forward planning, but that only means that no competition based on the old method is planned. However, taking into consideration all they say about the shortage of English translators, it is very likely that they will start with a new selection in March next year and – if I understand correctly – repeat it on annual basis. They say they want to make the process shorter, more efficient, and more attractive. We will see what this ‘revolution’ will bring. The website is new or perhaps just designed in a new way. Besides that there seems to be little substance to the new plans. Maybe the new competitions will be faster, but if they are organized according to the needs, and we can’t imagine that the needs would grow (no one is talking about a significant increase of the civil service in terms of the number of the officials even in time of prosperity, not to mention in time of the crisis), perhaps the result will be “selecting less people”. And one more thing, you can have the best selection method run by epso, if other people in other services make the recruitment decisions which are not always compatible with the envisaged goals….
Coming back to my country… I have said already that I am from one of the new member states. Please forgive me that – when on this blog – I will add only that I am from those new member states that used to have a communist system of government.
Best regards,
A
hi,
i passed the admission tests for EPSO/AST/72/08. however i am 44 years old, has any one knowledge of the maximum recruitment age?
tx
Is it not strange that the result of the written test for Auditors 126/08 has not been published yet, seeing that the oral tests will take place in May. I never took a concours before this one so I don’t know how much time they offer you to prepare for the oral test.
I also took the AD/142/08. I think the EU part was difficult, but just as I expected. The subject is immense and you just get thirty questions, a lottery indeed. I found the verbal part very easy but I got stuck with the numerical part (I’m very bad at that).
Thanks for your reply IA!
You participated in the Cast 27 too? That’s the only exam that I’ve done before this one for Spanish translators.
Anyway, given the number of candidates and the quota to go to the second round I think there’re more chances of winning the lotto than passing this test…
Good luck to you!
@ Ana
I’ve taken the exam and I ‘ve to say that the Institution part I found it more difficult that previous exams. The N&V I manage to finish.
@Nova
It’s actually for the Parliament rather than the Commission and they do say 2 offers rather than 3. It’s also in Luxembourg – so with housing costs of around 2000/month, 2 or even 3 months’ deposit, 1 month for the agency plus an extra month to be able to move in before starting work and a month in advance that’s already 10-12,000, plus the cost of the removals.
I still don’t see how I can wait until after starting work to do the removals unless we put our houseful of stuff in storage and rent a furnished place, which probably isn’t what we want to do – especially as there are very few furnished places available. I think in the end we’ll probably pay for the removals ourselves and cover it with the daily allowance.
@Kiwi
Actually, you have to submit 3 offers from different transposrt companies, and of course after the start of your work. You can be sure they will choose the cheapest offer. Attention, do not apply before your probationery period is over, otherwise you will lose the daily allowance!
If you work for the Commission, you can expect to receive your installation allowance at the begining, with your second or third salary. Other institusions, like the CoR, wait until your probationery period is successfully completed.
You don’t really need 15.000 euros to get established in Brussels with your family. Just 2 monthly rents for your house or apartment, plus a certain amount for everyday needs until you get your first salary. And keep in mind you’ll receive the first month an advance payment that can go up to 5.000 euros according to the institution. So, the picture is not as bad as one can imagine.
Hi everybody,
I was wondering if any of you has already taken the selection test for Spanish translators (AD/142/08). What was your impression about the exam? Were the questions more difficult than what you had expected? Did you manage to answer all the questions on time?
Many thanks in advance for your feedback.
@Kiwi
ogomez2 at gmail dot com
@Kiwi
Please drop me an e-mail and I’ll answer your question.
Best,
Oscar
Hi there, does anyone know which jobs are NOT published by EPSO? I came across
https://ec.europa.eu/dgs/personnel_administration/seniormanagementvacancies/
and/or
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/personnel_administration/working_senior_mgt_en.htm
are not advertised here:
http://europa.eu/epso/apply/today/adm_en.htm
or here
http://europa.eu/epso/apply/today/hou_en.htm
Anyone who already works for the EU, can you help re removal expenses?
Apparently you can’t be reimbursed if you move before you start work?!!! I have two small children and we will need to move a few weeks before I start, but apparently if we do I won’t be entitled to have the expenses reimbursed as you have to submit two quotes and have one approved, and they can’t start this process (which takes several weeks) until the day I start work. This seems utterly unbelievable… And apparently they don’t pay the installation allowance until the end of the probation period? Is one supposed to have a spare 15,000 euros to cover all these expenses until then?
Well there was quite a bit of waiting around in between, but as I remember: a big form to fill out, blood and urine tests, electrocardiogram, hearing test, eye test, visual field test, general physical examination and then the chest x-ray later. I think that was all!
@ Kiwi
3 hours! What did they do to you?
@ Doc
Mine was closer to 3 hours… it was a bit weird having to go on an empty stomach (although they did provide a croissant after the blood/urine tests) and then get changed in and out of interview clothes several times before actually having the interview! I then had to go and get a chest x-ray after the i/v in a clinic across the city.
@ Caro
Yes I think the language combination seems to be a real hit and miss thing. I had actually started learning Romanian when this concours was announced as I knew that the previous one had required central or east European languages. Then suddenly this was announced and the “old” languages were back in so I set to work on my Italian instead. Obviously there are some steps one can take to find out the languages they need, but it changes over time – and one is probably best to do the languages one is most competent at and hope for the best. Though any extra languages would obviously come in handy – not an option for me prior to concours though as it was enough of a struggle getting the Italian up to speed. I actually expected it to count against me as a language combination, so it just goes to show you never can tell.
How long does the compulsory medical exam last? Some say up to 2 hours…
Hello people!
I’ve made yesterday a blog: http://www.auris-epso.blogspot.com/.
There we can discuss informations about preselection, eu-knowledge, vnr … I added also eu-mcq.
The problem is that the search machines doesn’t recognize my blog. Why?
Should I wait for google to approve my blog?
Where am I wrong? I’ve cheked everything necessary for publishing the blog.
Thank you in advance!
Hello,
I will be sitting for the written test AST 3 financial management and am so confused with what to study / how to prepare. My main concern is the essay and the memo. Multiple questions are ok.
If you have any samples or experience would love some feedback. Thank you
@ everyone
I have a few questions on how to behave after being included in the reserve list:
it is advisable to contact the different insitutions/bodies? now on EPSO there are the links to the different recruitment services, indeed actually only the EESC and the CoR suggest an email address to contact (also the Council, but seems only for general inquiries). Parliament and Commission…refer back to EPSO! Maybe contacting the entities more “interesting” (relevant to the profile of the competition) is an option? Or you can bother them that way, especially if you are a complete outsider and have no connection into the entities?
Thank you for your suggestions-to-be and apologies if these questions are naive, but it is the very first time I approach this issue and don’t wanna blow my chances.
PS I didn’t mention the Courts and Ombudsman as they are not relevant at all for me…by the way is anybody who has experience in less characteristics competition (e.g. for engineers/architects)? Clearly there is much more need for translators/lawyers/auditors etc., and I was wondering if people in the “uncommon” reserve lists get recruited relatively quickly (since there is one competition of that kind once every few years) or the other way around, i.e. you can stay in the reserve list without an interview since it expires, since the profile is not so useful for EU institutions/bodies…
Thanks again!
@ A
You make some valid points in what you say and you cite the figures correctly, and it is true that epso has not given any indication of a new EN translator concours for this year. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if there were to be a new English translator concours at some time in the next , say, 24 months – the last one was announced in 2007 and they have a normal cycle of 3 to 5 years anyway. Bear in mind as well that the process from announcement of the concours to recruitment of a translator has taken, at least in the concrete example of Kiwi, a good 18 months, and she is one of the lucky first ones to be recruited from the list. I know they’re trying to speed things up at epso but there is probably a limit to how much more they can shorten the duration of a concours given that there have to be several stages of competition, plus notice to candidates.
Another point that struck me concerning the number of translators needed on a reserve list to replace staff going into retirement is that the languages don’t necessarily match up – as a concours is based purely on merit regardless of language combination (although sometimes with a stipulation concerning one of the langugages), you could therefore have some languages overrepresented on a reserve list and be unable to replace the languages needed for a given position without a fair amount of retraining. As far as I can see, a reserve list would ideally be long enough to give the institution in question the possibility of recruiting someone with an appropriate language combination relatively quickly when an actual vacancy arises – so you would need to have enough options represented on that list. Given the possible number of language combinations nowaday, the list would probably have to be pretty long to offer enough flexibility.
Also… the figure of 111 translators only accounts for the Commission, but translators are also employed by the Parliament, the Council, etc. – and the reserve lists are for all the institutions nowadays. So there will presumably be more vacancies in the next 5 years than 25.
Re: your last point … I am from the UK but I don’t necessarily feel representative of the British in general, especially after having lived in Germany for the last 13 years and having studied languages anyway. So I can only speak for myself. But I think the British are quite reticent about working for the EU because there is still quite a strong eurosceptic feeling in Britain – unfortunately – and successive governments have, for many years, not had a favourable towards the EU. Added to which the Brits are not so good at languages (again, partly down to a failure by successive governments to promote language learning in schools), and to cap it all, I am sure you are right, A, about the working conditions etc. appearing less attractive to Brits. What do other Brits have to say about this?
Finally … what is your home country, A? (if it’s not too indiscreet to ask!). And what is your native language? Your English is excellent, as I said in an earlier post, and gives nothing away!
I would not draw too quick conclusions from this Commission press release “Wanted: English–language translators”.
It just says that about 25 people will retire by 2015. 25 people in the next 5 years!!! Come on, we are not talking about huge numbers here. On the other hand we are talking about a huge time period. Recruiting 25 new people in 5 years can be easily done even if we are struggling with attracting the skilled translators.
Read here:
“Three decades later, the department that ensures translation into English is facing a major generational change: it is expected to lose at least 20 % of its staff by 2015.
The English language department currently employs 111 translators.”
This is no sensation, really!
So the action will be not a competition (anyways I do not see anything new for EN translators in the epso indicative planning), but just some campaign, language learning promotion etc. In their words: “The Commission has therefore decided to launch a campaign centred on the career opportunities it has to offer to skilled translators.”
And the fact that there is a shortage of EN people on the reserve lists for EU translators due to less young British (or Irish or I don’t know who else) students learning foreign languages is no news. You can read about it in magazines and newspapers, especially those that follow EU affairs.
Do not forget that there is another banal element in the recruitment of British people by the EU institutions. I remember reading an article about how attractive it is to work in the EU structures when my country was joining the EU just a few years ago. It said more or less that working in Brussels (Luxembourg etc.) will be of course great for young people from New Member States (very attractive salaries + better living conditions). It also said that the French, Germans and Italians are very interested and coming in big numbers (similar reasons, perhaps without the stress on living conditions, and other political reasons). Then it gave examples of people who are less willing to come to Brussels. These are people from Scandinavian countries (high standards and salaries at home). The same about Brits. EU salaries – compared to British salaries – would not attract Brits as is the case with others (Slovaks, Estonians, Poles, but also French etc.). The article was talking about Brits in general, but of course EN translators are included.
It would be nice to see what a British person would say about this. Is there anyone from UK on the forum?
Translators, etc., check out this Commission link:
http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/09/76&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en
They urgently need more English translators (Danish, too) – especially people with rarer source languages. Expect a new concours soon.
@ Kiwi and others (re translator jobs / language combinations etc.)
I seem to recall that Kiwi has French/Italian combination and it appears she has been snapped up pretty quickly after the reserve list for her competition was drawn up (congratulations again on that!).
Interestingly, I was talking to a professional translator (a tutor of mine) a few days ago who has the same language combination and passed a previous concours quite a few years ago, but never made it off the reserve list. The person in question applied when the Eastern European languages were particularly sought after and there was not much call for the “old” EU languages – it appears that the current wave of translators approaching retirement has changed things again.
All I can infer from this is that getting a job in the European instititions is pretty arbitrary in the sense that you just have to be in the right place at the right time – recruitment policy (at least for translators) appears to change constantly, as evidenced by the changing requirements for successive concours. I guess this is inevitable given that a reserve list is drawn up in anticipation of future need which may change at any time.
@cosnic
Hi Cosnic, I would be interested if you want to share the written tests for the EPSO AD/99/07 competition. I am preparing for an EPSO competition (building security) and would like to see some examples of written questions: MCQs and essays / case studies. Would be possible for you to forward me the tests to coralia_ana@yahoo.co.uk? Very much appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Being on a reserve list for 3 years, and never being contacted, it was very disappointing hearing that lists will expire in 2009 (exception of the ones that already have an expiration date in 2010).
In any case, I think it was not EPSO procedure to be untransparent, but Institution recruitment….
…the concept that the recruitment is based on matching between candidate profile and vacancy is so untransparent…
1) candidate should be recruited on merit and merit should be judged based on competition results (not CV…you may have a very good cv and still do not have merits…if your surname is merkel or berlusconi or sarkozy… for example….)
2) sometimes they have posts that would require just some skills with a text editor and mail, and they requires years and years of experience…in a european institution …
@ kirri
yes, I know a person who succeeded for sure. Same case like you.
contact me at amiartro@yahoo.com and leave your e-mail address for more details.
@ gian_petr2
What about the recently published competitions (AD147-151)? The OJ notice use/ follow the “old system” , do you think it will be changes for the written tests maybe ?
Personnally, I have understood that the new procedures will start only in 2010 and this year it’s a kind of preparedeness…”passage” , but what ???
What I found very strange it that last years it passed maximum 6 months between preselection and written tests and now they have announced for this exams 9 months delay , from April till December !!!! incredible when they say they will reduce the competition delays… 9 months for administrators , with this rythme they wil “reduce” from 12 to 18 months …