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.
Laureates respond to those vacancies (this assumes they have access, which some HoU also assume). Sometimes HoU anticipate no suitable internal candidate is likely to emerge and informal meetings are arranged. Not living in/around Brussels or Luxemburg is a handicap in this sense.
I spent 2.5 years on a list (EU15, might be part of the explanation). Only when I shook things up and started requesting for informal meetings things got moving.
My advice: get those vacancies; react to them (this may mean a lot of negative replies/neutral replies). When you come across a vacancy from a unit with a Lituanian HoU, why wouldn’t you suggest a meeting next time they’re in Vilnius. That’s how the game is played… can’t say I agree to this, but for now you’ll have to live (with) it.
Good luck
Hello Elated, I am from Lithuania. I have no access to internal vacancies since I am not working for the European institutions so far. I just know about internal procedures and know that there are internal vacancies. It is fine, no problem with existence of internal vacancies, since it is legal. But what happens when person moves within from one vacancy to another? The place from which person moves should become vacant and should be filled by candidates from reserve lists. This is general logic. But what really happens I have no idea. I do not get any proposals so far.
Ina,
Nationality?
Are you in or around Brussels/Luxembourg?
Have you got access to the internal vacancies?
Hello,
I have been in the AD5 in European public administration reserve list for 1,5 years already. It is quite frustrating to constantly write to HoU asking for opportunities and getting standard answers or polite but negative responses. At the same time there are many internal vacancies, agencies are running their own competitions, but people from reserve lists are waiting for years. Would be happy to hear any insights, suggestions on what to expect or what to do next. Thanks
@nova, the recruitment was organised by one of the political groups, not epso, so I wonder if the complaining process is the same (stages, deadlines, authorities to whom one shall send a complaint etc.)
@Ala,
I don’t understand your post. What do you mean by “decision of one of the political groups”? If you passed an EPSO competion, this is the decision of the jury, it has nothing to do with any political group.
Hi guys,
I would be grateful if you could tell me this: What are the procedures of complaining against a decision of one of the political groups concerning not putting a candidate on the reserve list after an oral exam? Just one little point is missing to get the minimum grade, so it is really disappointing. Do candidates complain to the groups and win? How to do it?
Many thanks for any advice!
Ala
http://www.europeanvoice.com/article/imported/eastern-talent/65787.aspx
Thank you, Simon. I checked the notice again and found the annex explaining complaint procedures.
@ Question
No, you can’t be hired at FG III, if you are in the database as FG IV.
@Tanja
Im not quite sure what you;re talking about, I suppose you meant you were not admitted to a competition after sending you documents?
All competition notices state in details how much time you have and to whom to complain!
I think they changed the initial period from 20 to10 days after being notified of the decision.
Hello,
I have applied for months for the lawyer linguist (french) competition and I have not received any invitation for a test – is this normal?
Olivier
sorry, but I don’t get your point. you were refused what?
Hello everyone;
I have passed a CAST, group IV, and I would like to know if it was possible to be hired as a contractual agent for group III. Thank you for your replies!
Hi everyone!
I was also refused 🙂 (why am I smiling??) and I have actually one question: on a national level, in case they refuse a candidate, I have a possibility to make a complaint. Do you possibly know how is in case of EU? I haven’t noticed that I have a possibility to make a complaint in for example 8 days after receiving the final answer…I wrote the same question to the EPSO, but would like to hear your views about that.
Re: data protection competition AD6/AD9
Does anyone know when epso will publish in epso-profiles the results of the admission tests in data protection competition?
Thanks!
Hi, does anyone apply for the EUI concours in Florence? Any answer or contact for the test? Thanks
@ frustrated
finally congrats for your job…we will miss you on this forum, but, please, let us know if after this long waiting you’ll be happy or not.
@ shy girl
We always advice people to resign only after the “formal offer” from DG ADMIN, not the invitation for medical tests+administrative check.
by the way, it is quite interesting that someone says adieu on the forum in the way frustruted did… you don’t wanna write, you don’t write like many people…
Shy Girl,
if the results of the medical visit indicate that you may have a serious medical condition, you’ll need to have it checked by your own GP. If he or she confirms the existence of a serious illness, the recruitment process will be frozen until further notice. This is what I was told. If it’s something relatively minor like high cholesterol they send a letter notifying you of this and asking you to consult your GP but they specify that this in no way affects your suitability for recruitment.
In any case, I’d definitely wait until the formal offer from DG ADMIN. There are cases of people who received an informal offer but never got the formal one
Mikeman, you are probably right given every-one’s recation here.
BUT
What happens if they find you have the onset of let’s say MS? They’ll recruit you, but the health insurance will not pay if years later you are paralyzed? What’s the point then of this test if not for short-term emploability or long-term insurance reasons?
If so (if they tell you you have a condition that will degrade in the long run and they won’t cover you for this)…. how can you take out additional insurance for this? I won’t be able to continue my current insurance, because it’s employer-based.
I know I’m too anxious and control-freaky about this stuff, but that’s me!
don’t know why people are worried about the medical. for 99% people it’s just a formality. plus, failing to hire someone because of an existing disability presumably breaks all sorts of laws.
Oscar/Breach,
Thx a million! The time lags you describe are pretty amazing. Do the commisison services have a circular rather than a linear concept of time 😉
But really, this info is stragetgically important to me… with three weeks between the test and the internal communication of results, I believe there’s a solid argument for me not to rush matters. On the one hand it’ll take some more time-to-entry for me; on te other hand I’ll be able to tie things up nicely over at my present job.
Hi again Shygirl,
In my case, after having passed the medical test, they sent me a draft contract and an e-mail that could be considered as a “letter of intent” (then we had to agree a start date and I had to commit to that date and that contract).
Best,
Oscar
@Shy Girl – my cholesterol is sky high – as already said – you can’t fail because of that. 😉 One week? Dream on — I think it takes 2-3 weeks at the least to communicate the results to DG ADMIN (and to you). That’s why your Unit is trying to cut corners — they have to wait a month for the medical to inform DG ADMIN, it takes another let’s say 2 weeks for ADMIN to send you the invitation, and then they have to wait another 1-2-3 months for your resignation period to expire.
Thank you Oscar!
By “official invitation” we mean a “letter of intent” by DG ADMIN or the medical test invitation by DG ADMIN?
Sorry ’bout all this, but I really have to be careful about my next moves…. and I don’t want to sour things at the present job either.
Oh yes, and a key question: how much time between the test and the results? Not more than a week I should hope?
You won’t fail the medical test because of cholesterol or triglycerides (I passed it last year, and in addition to cholesterol, I was really sick). It’s a formality.
I don’t know anyone who has not passed it, so I don’t know if you can go for a second medical check up. Basically enjoy and relax, you are in a very lucky situation.
Best,
Oscar
PS: I would do my best to have the official invitation before communicating it to my present employer, just in case.
Thank you all for the very informative comments. I do have one additional question:
What happens if you fail the medical (eg cholesterol too high, etc.)? Are you entitled to a second medical? If so, how much time would it take to book a second medical? It seems to take a waiting time of several months alreday for that first medical…
Bit anxious must admit 🙁
@ Shy Girl
I’m at the Parliament rather than the Commission, but I definitely wouldn’t resign before getting the official letter of intent. I’d just say politely that you’d prefer to wait as you can’t risk a problem arising.
As for the medical, it seemed very comprehensive (and long! – took all morning), but apparently the policy here anyway is that even if something shows up they should still hire you if ‘reasonable’ arrangements can be made to accommodate you. I have a colleague who was recruited recently and his medical showed that he had diabetes (which he didn’t know about) but he was still hired.
So I wouldn’t worry about it, but I would still cover yourself by waiting for the official letter.
Good luck!
@nova, I wouldn’t go that far. Without playing anyone’s advocate here, frustrated was never saying he’s playing his thing for the greater good. Primarily he was complaining about a system in which he had to wait 5 or so years to get recruited, whereas others find ‘subtler’ ways to get in quicker. Also, I find that whole ‘underground’ biz a bit hilarious — for the better or for the worse COM is quite ambivalent towards criticism even when it comes from its own ranks 😉
@Shy Girl: They actually said that? Somehow I am pretty sure they didn’t do so in writing. I guess someone missed the ethics/better governance course… The actual letter of intent needs to come from DG ADMIN. DG ADMIN will never send it before they have a positive assessment from Medical. Although my HoU called me to let me know they intend to hire me he specifically let me know NOT to file resignation before getting the official letter of intent from DG ADMIN. You have a choice to make — either you play along and bear the risk of ending up without a job if the results of the medical examination are negative (very unlikely, and if so you’ll have worse things to worry about) or b) you can stick to your rights, kindly let them know you would rather wait for the official letter from DG ADMIN or c) work it out with your employer – depends on what your situation is – if you are straight with them and say you are being recruited by the EU and it’s not final yet, but you’d like to file the formal notice earlier just in case with the condition that if it doesn’t work out you’ll withdraw it… again, this depends on what kind of people you work with 😉 I would choose option b – COM is trying to cut corners here, don’t worry if you say ‘no’ it’s not a big deal, they just do their best to get you on board as soon as they can… About medical – it’s a not a big deal – blood/urine tests, x-ray and heart check – you should be suffering from a close to terminal illness to get a negatory there (God forbid). Good luck!
@Shy Girl – the reason this blog discussion about the concours works is precisely because it’s NOT EPSO / Commission. Plus there are people using it to have a go at the system… and I’m very happy that it stays that way!
@Nitta – thanks for the clarification.
Shy girl
they also asked me to quit which I did as soon as I received the job offer via email. I am 32, healthy and have medical check – up every year so I did not think of it as a problem.
My boyfriend waited for the result of the medical examination before leaving his job but his notice period was one months only and he could start right away, so the HoU advised him to stay into his previous position until the final confirmation.
Thx Jon! Hope some of the other people here can give me more info. This place really is amazing. The commission should be paying you.
@Shy Girl – a friend of mine faced exactly the same issue: the Commission wanted her to hand in notice for her current position before the medical. She insisted this was not in order and they changed their position and employed her anyway…
I don’t however know how tough the medical exam is – has anyone here been through one and hence can advise?
Also prolific Euroblogger Julien Frisch has had a look at a Court of Auditors report on EPSO – it makes interesting reading!
Hello everybody!
I’m so happy to have found this website. Thank you, Jon, for this wealth of information you are offering us.
I have a little question, which has been bothering (I would even say haunting) me:
As a laureate I am offered a position with the commission (HOORAY!), but…. the unit wnats to hire me asap and they are suggesting I should give my notice at my current job even before I passed the medical test. Is this normal? Shouldn’t there be a letter of intent or somehting else after I passed the medical (assuming I will pass it)?
This is all so scary. I’m picturing myself without a job and a letter saying I may have some terrible disease ;-(
What should I do?
@olak73
hi, there, im also preparing the business admin. concours
i see you’re asking about the oral already.. do you have a sample written exam?
Hi
Anyone who has passed AD6 – 163/09 exam ?
Hi everybody! I look for people who had oral exam in microeconomics/business administration. Can you tell me what kind of questions you had? TIA
Congratulations, frustrated! So, that’s all was about, entering the Commission or another European institution?! And you are no more frustrated, no more participating, no more carrying about the forum! Why should you, in fact? Your goal already achieved, you won’t burden us any more with your fears, doubts, negativism and cynicism.
And the Commission will have a “convinced europartisan” … what absurdity!
Hit the road, frustrated, we don’t need you!
“…blow his cover even more”???
So far nothing has been “blown”. One does not even know if frustrated is/was he or her.
… or tell us what’s the new forum on which you appear from now on as – I guess – ‘satisfied at last’… or ‘frustrated in a new way’ (by EU’s bureaucracy as seen from inside)…
The King Is Dead, Long Live The King!
The frustrated is dead, long live the frustrated!
Why would frustrated blow his cover even more by giving details on the wheeling and dealings leading up to his recruitment?
Hi frustrated,
oh no, please do not leave us like that. Tell us please how the interview was, give us some advice how to approach them etc.
Hope to get some (this time positive) news!
Cheers!
A
Hi Frustrated,
I am vey happy for you, congratulations!
…But why this should be your last message? Let us know something from inside.
Anyway, good luck for your career.
BTW, to share info, last july I had an interview for a post in a delegation; more than a month ago, no feedback yet (but it’s summer, so I still hope)
@frustrated, welcome to the dark side and congratulations! Brussels? If you need the tips, traps and tricks when you get here let me know.
Hi frustrated,
I am very glad for you and your new future coming, but it will be a pity for the rest of us…
Good luck!
It seems I will be recruited any time soon. Thus my ordeal endeth…. these last couple of years have made for a peculiar experience.
This will have been my last post. I bid you all adieu and wish everyone the best in their lives , both professional and otherwise.
Someone was asking about the External Action Service – the possible combined EU diplomatic service that might come into being in 2010.
Please note – there will be NO external recruitment for the EAS. There are already far too many wannabe diplomats in Brussels (c. 5000 in RELEX family, + council), plus the foreign ministeries in MS. All in all, it just doesn’t make any sense for a specialist concours. If you want to work for the EAS, take the regular concours and hope to get a post in DGs that will fall under the EAS (probably relex family, parts of the council). Who knows what it will mean for people on the CAST list…
Also, as a serving official, I just wanted to add – be careful about making passing the concours a career goal. The average starting age is going up and up, and the average career since 2004 has been getting longer. Yes, if you are from a new MS or are anyway hanging around brussels it’s attractive, but there are exceptionally poor career prospects in all the institutions. Fancy doing the same job at 55 as at 30, and never making it even to middle management, then join up!!!