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.
there is an excellent book on how to write essays for Eu competitions. I don’t remember the name, but if you google “write essays eu competitions” it should come out.
scope of the essay for AST1 competition: test your knowledge of the language you declared being your mother tongue. Not that important what you write (even if it has to have a sense), but how you write it.
Actually, I can understand why miu (miao!) is confused about the essay assignement.
Epso mentions ‘writing an essay on the basis of the material provided’ and you assume that they will give you something. And then you end up with getting five topics and a piece of paper with the task ‘write an essay’. ‘Where’s the material?’, one could rightly ask.
Another thing is that for AST1 concour (by the way, it seems to me that the EU is not sure how to call secretaries and that is why it invented AST1 name, but wouldn’t it be simpler to use normal language? call a secretary a secretary?) they give you sometimes a grammar school essay (tell us about the book you have read recently) or a secondary school essay (what do you think about enlargement) or a secretarial task (propose a programme for your boss in New Delhi). So you never know what you’ll get! Miao!
@Miu,
Essay is an essay! it cannot be a mission plan or checklist! If there are such tasks they will be mentioned separately
Thank you very much sunflower, I thought the same, but what information is provided when you have to write about the last movie you saw.
I have also read that the essay is something like making the mission plan or drawing up checklists and invitation letters?
@ Miu
written test consist of:
– 1st part – you need to type a document of 2/3 pages following the instructions given (formatting, header, footer, insert table, etc.). Automatic correction tools are disabled so you need to be careful when you’re typing.
– short essay (2 pages): they give you 4 or 5 subjects, you can choose one. Very varied examples, from “the last book/film you’ve read/seen” to “are you in favour or against the use of nuclear energy?”
good luck.
Hi all, I am taking my written and oral test for AST1 competition next week:S. Could someone give good advice concerning the second part of the test- essey writing on the basis of information provided. How can I properly prepare for that and what does his exacly mean…writing a invitation letters or something similar?
Thanks a lot!
Dear all,
has anyone been to written exam 144/09 public health? What were the questions? How many topics did you get? Did you have to choose 1 or more? Did you get supporting materials or just topics alone? I am having written exam 145/09 public health (policy and legislation), so your comments would be extremely useful. Thanks!
you are right in what you say
As for the old RL, i suppose these will not be extended anymore (or extended only in the cases of high-grade comp. or very specialised ones)
The ‘revolving door’ laureates possibility is quite a realistic one , and I wonder what epso will do to prevent it – may be the number of RL places/laureates will be significantly lower (e.g 10-20 instead of 100?) or a particular type of concour will be organised lets say every 2-3 years…
You’ll get more private sector type laureates, as this indeed is pretty much a blueprint of how multinationals have been recruiting newly minted graduates for decades now.
I still have some questions about the annuality of the recruitment cycle. This (assessment centres) will be pretty expensive and how will the “older” RLs be managed in the future now that there will be an annual influx of “new” laureates. Mark my words, there will be a lot of “revolving doors” laureates… people on 3/4 chronologically consecutive RLs for the same profile.
@ pseudo nym
overall, i think it would make it easier for me..
from all the new elements, only the case-study is worrying me a bit.. it’s not very easy to come up with the best answer/solution under extreme time pressure.. But many big companies use it as part of their recruitment process,as it is a good indicator of competences.
I suppose it will take a while till people get used to all this…It’s been so many years of facts memorising and essays drafting 🙂 Curious when the first “new concours” books will start to appear
http://www.eutests.eu/index.php?task=scripts/tips/tips.php&id=24
what do you think of the proposed procedures? will it make it harder/easier for you as a candidate to get in?
Hi Bacchus,
Thanks a million for your advice. Yes, it makes sense to conduct the oral test in the translator’s target language, but in the letter it clearly specifies that the interview will be in the first foreign language (?!).
I will try to concentrate on the contents and then check the important terms in the two languages.
I hope that you will get an invitation to an interview soon. It is very frustrating to stay in the RL for so long.
Ana,
I have done the oral test (Swedish translator). It was conducted in Swedish, apart from about five minutes of English (my first foreign language) at the end of the 45-minute test.
My advice would be to concentrate on the substance of your answers, not on the language itself. I find it a bit odd that the committee has chosen to conduct the test in English, since your task as a Spanish translator is to produce good Spanish texts.
I’ve been on the RL for about a year now, so if you succeed you’d better prepare yourself for a long period of waiting!
Hi Kiwi,
Many thanks for your answer. Well, it looks like my oral exam will be in the second language (i.e., the first foreign language). It is specified in the invitation letter. Now I know what language I need to focus on when preparing for the test.
For some reason in your competition they used the language 1 in the oral test and in mine it will be the language 2. Anyway, I hope that their questions are not too difficult!
Ana
Hi Ana,
I’m happy to share my experience – I know how daunting it can all seem, especially if you don’t know anyone else who’s done it.
For the languages, my oral exam was entirely in English (I’m an English translator). The notice and letter did say that other languages could be tested, but they weren’t. I don’t know whether this is always the case though… but I would assume your oral test would be mainly in Spanish, wouldn’t it? what does the notice/letter say?
And yes, I’m loving my job 🙂
Kiwi
@ Kiwi,
Hi Kiwi,
I have been invited to take the oral exam for the Spanish translators’ competition and I have read your comments about your oral test from last year. First of all, I want to thank you for sharing your experience here as it can be very helpful for the candidates (it is to me, for instance).
There is something though that I haven’t worked out yet, did they test all your languages in the oral exam? Or did you just speak in French for the whole time? I would like to review the EU part in the language that I will have to use during the interview.
Many thanks in advance for your feedback; I hope that you’re enjoying your job in the EP.
Ana
thanks, Rayos … good to hear this …
@munsch
I wasnt in the situation myself, but to my knowledge all the CA colleagues at my DG who became pregnant were renewed in their contract. The HR unit searched for interims to substitute them while they were on maternity leave and afterwards they continued work. Normally you should be able to check with your HR department informally to know what the general practice in your DG is. Probably they will tell you that the only reason why your contract would not be renewed is that you don’t perform well at your job, but just go and check.
Hi all,
I just discovered that I am 1-month pregnant … However, I started as a contract agent only a few months ago, and I am quite worried if they will renew my contract (1 yr + 2 yrs) … Has anyone been through this before?
I would really appreciate any advice …
hi, does anyone know how the concours written topics are picked?
-I mean, is it EPSO that provides the topics or is it the Selection board that comes up with them?
@JF,
I have been flagged by the ECA and I was speaking with the responsible of the procedure there. He told me that they are still with the interviews but that if I was interested by another institution there is no problem to cancel my profile and be not flagged again. In my case I prefer to wait for the ECA which is my preference right now.
Daniel
This is not specified in the avis de concours. What would happen if a Head of unit – not from a service who requested the organisation of the competition (i.e. probably none of the following: IAS/IAC/ECA) – was interested in my profile? Would there be a way to go round this rule?
Thanks
Doesn’t the announcement of the COMP contain this info? In my case it was the commission and council/parliament/cor/court of auditors/… were out for the first 12 months.
Elated, I am not sure that’s correct. I think the IACs can approach audit laureates. I need to check with EPSO though.
JF, nobody but e.g. the court of auditors can officialy approach you during the first 12 months on the RL.
Does anyone know the rule according to which for laureates of specialized competitions (e.g. audit), recruitments are reserved for the services who requested the organisation of this competition? Apparently the priority reservation is valid for a minimum period of 12 months.
Thanks
A,
Let me get back to you on that one in December.
My recruitment situation, too, is a complete hassle. Who are the HoUs who are referred to here? The HR heads in the individual institutions? I am flagged, but the period is about to expire in 6 working days or so (it has been 3 months! and still no letter. They wanted to offer a temporary position to me anyway, with the hope to make it permanent. So I am not sure I am that keen on this specific one.)
Dear all,
I read an interesting Shy girl comment about MS. That is what I have, but I have passed the medical, so the doctor told me. I would not get insurance, though, if I get disabled in 5 years time – does anyone know if it is possible to make contributions into your own country’s social security scheme if you are working for the EU?
Concerning Relex, the creation of the Brussels based External Service and possible termination of EU delegations as indicated in the Lisbon Treaty:
Still, no official information yet. However, I´m just coming out from a training course which also a colleague from the delegation in Manila was attending and (unconfirmed news, I just repeat what she said) apparently they have received an internal briefing that their delegation will be turned from a delegation to sort of an EU diplomatic service / ‘EU embassy’ in the Philippines. The good news for her: They will not cease to exist. The not so good news from her point of view: It will then be opened to diplomatic personnel from EU member states (who did not pass any EPSO competition and do not work for the EU per se, as they are being sent from a member state).
I repeat: it is by no way an official information, and she also has received this news only as a scenario that is somewhat likely to happen but her boss said it is not the only option in evaluation. I also don’t know whether all delegations will be turned into diplomatic services, I mean it is more than 100 of them and some are very small.
Another colleague present today coming from Azerbaidjan delegation has not received any briefing at all on their future, and another colleague from Eritrea delegation explained she has more existential worries than that. Seems like Eritrea delegation is one of the absolute no-go’s within the pretty diverse Relex family, where they have months of delay in paying the salary, do not provide housing information or help to find a home (functionaries receive a home organised and paid for by the delegation, but in her case as she is contractual nobody from the administration even offers help to search for a home) and she is getting sick from the horrendous medical services over there. A colleague’s child had broken her arm, it was fixed at an Eritrean hospital, and soon afterwards during the checkup in an European hospital the arm had to be broken again because it was wrongly fixed…
fd, thank you for your answers. What about Elated?
money = 1) I can’t agree that u can ‘live like a king’ on 5k but I guess that’s something personal 2) my partner is not working (not an unusual story). the institutions offer no training/help 2) “outrageous pension” – it’s no more generous than many member state civil service schemes. but rest assured the next round of staff reforms in 2013 will change that. anyway u take your choice.
not sure what you mean by job rotation not being realistic. it’s the norm in most civil services. Perhaps you have a specialist role e.g. auditor, IT
fd,
4K (more like 5K in my case) NET + health insurance + ourageous retirement pension +… (to start out with) is more than enough to live like a king in Belgium (besides I have some alternative interests (real-estate) and nobody can stop me from helping the Mrs with some of the paper-work and engage in some creative financial engineering for her business venture). Screw the company car and the bonus… the former is getting taxed more and more by the year and the latter is getting less and less by the year.
Besides, jumping through hoops every three months, being raided by internal audit teams, filling out three hunderd forms, chasing after various SAP reference numbers… before you can even get some real work done. Sarbanes-oxley has completely taken the jaz out of working for multinationals; feels like some administraion actually, with three managers steering 4 auditors checking up on 10 admin people that spend their days hassling the one idiot that is still doing some billable work. Might as well work for the government then.
Other than that, I got a game plan. If I don’t make my mark in five years’ time I can always reconsider my options (though doubtful).
As far as the drudgery is concerned, I was wondering about your views on job rotation… not realistic for most profiles, not functioning properly in reality?
@ Ida and Bacchus
Luxembourg is working mainly with real estate agencies, taking a fee of one month of rent for a service nearly adding no value, c’est la vie
http://habiter.luxweb.com/
http://www.immostar.lu/v7/
http://www.athome.lu/ (down for 2 days now…)
And as Ida said you can get access to the rent ads of the ECA by asking one of the numerous HR person we met before the interview
I would be very much interested how you judge – once you are inside – the working environment. I am not asking about your satisfaction of being in the golden cage.
>>maybe it depends on where you come from but 4000/month at AD5 is not a golden cage. it is a decent salary in these times but the idea that you are somehow rich on this is fantastical. and forget all those stories about people earning 10k month – there are people with salaries like that (even who will be doing the same job as you, even my secretary earns more than me!!) but you will never earn anything like that.
I am asking about everything else – is the job interesting, challenging enough?,
>>the first year or two you will like it. everything is new, there is lots to learn. after that, you will realise that the job you just spent two years mastering could be the same one you have the day you retire. Because there is no career. and there is no career development, no idea that you should be trained to take on greater competences. so, job satisfaction is very low, which is ironic as there are so many interesting things going on.
are the fellow colleagues smart and cooperative?,
>> colleagues are far too variable in standard compared to my home civil service. there are some really excellent ones, but there are far too many lazy, demotivated, arrogant ones ( for which I end up carrying the weight!). there is little effort made to improve the performance of these ‘lemons’. honestly, my opinion is that the higher up the grade scale you go, the worse people tend to get.
is the boss having high ethics?, can you learn from him/her?
>> my boss is wonderful. But there is no control, training for bosses and I can tell you many people bitterly complain about this (but in fairness same in my old job).
@Bacchus and Ida
Try http://www.athome.lu – the vast majority of rentals are through agencies and you have to pay a fee of one month’s rent, but the website is really good and it certainly worked for us (my husband came up and had 4 days to find somewhere). The institutions do provide some help as well but basically had nothing to offer in terms of the kind of place I was looking for. There are also local newspapers but you have to be in Lux to get them.
Also try the English-language website http://www.station.lu, and in fact you could put an ad there yourself (it’s free).
Good luck!
@Bacchus
Sorry but I don’t have any advice regarding accommodation yet. I am still trying to figure out how it works 🙁 but the European institutions do provide some support (rent ads, the majority of which are for apartments which are available immediately or already rented). I hope I will be able to find a decent place by December and then answer your question…
Elated,
all right, all right, I agree with everything. Just let me say that I don’t care about how the competitions are organized as it is not my business. I also don’t have any desire to get involved with improving this whole process even if it needs improvement.
But I would be very much interested how you judge – once you are inside – the working environment. I am not asking about your satisfaction of being in the golden cage. I am asking about everything else – is the job interesting, challenging enough?, are the fellow colleagues smart and cooperative?, is the boss having high ethics?, can you learn from him/her?
Thanks for your answers and regards!
Ida,
Regarding accomodation in Luxembourg, can you recommend any specific Internet site? Maybe you’ll solve the housing question through contacts? I suppose EU doesn’t help you in this matter?!
Regards
Daniel, do not forget that most probably the institution invited more candidates to interviews, so that they could choose the most qualified persons for a specified number of available posts. Consequently, no everyone will be offered a job. Maybe you had no luck this time.
@Daniel
I accepted the offer and will be starting in December with Group 1. It is indeed a bit odd that you haven’t heard from them yet, taking into consideration that you are available so soon and supposing you provided all necessary documents, as it takes a while to move to Lux (arrange accommodation and so on). Maybe you could contact an HR person and ask if they received any recruitment request for you or how long will it take to provide an answer… I don’t think they will mind.
@morgane
Non participation is good sometimes. Let’s have a look at how long this EU employees can put it forward.
I dont think it is..
the 3rd language is a requirement for promotion, not for entry (for most competitions)
so most of those who’ve made all the effort for joining the system, would afterwards just enroll themselves in one of the above mentioned language courses.. no big deal
a question – is the third language requirement putting off UK (or other) candidates?
I agree with Elated. No need to mix different things. I personally respect people who are able to speak 7 languages, and to learn them is not fun at all. EU official would have had bigger fun just by sitting and doing nothing then going and studying languages.
Also money spent for the preselection comps, all the efforts put into this matter, waste of money, time, effort – all this is related to people in RL who are affected directly and definetely there is a case to litigate. No need to make endless comps if there are no free vacancies in the nearest period planned.
Those who are affected by the fact that some EU officials speak 7 languages – may make their own case if they think it is worth it, but I won’t join them.
@ Ida,
Thanks for the reply Ida. I hope you are right and it is just an administrative delay. I had the interview with someone from Group 3 (which would be my preference) and a week later with Group 1 by phone. They where very kind and they asked me when was I available. I told them in November.
In any case, did you accept the offer? which Group? If so, I hope to see you in Luxembourg soon!!!
Daniel
A,
First, you misrepresent what I said and then you start bashing away 😉
I am against spending tax money on comps, if this means for one comp 90% will eventually be recruited and for another only 10%, if for one comp the RL will be valid for 10 years and for another for 1 year. I see two problems 1) fairness between candidates 2) If you don’t intend to recruit people, don’t organize comps.
And for the last time… the on-line characters are just personae… I got other (better) things on my mind most of the time and life has been pretty good on me lately.
Kind regards,
“Taking tax money to organize comps for which…”
Worring about tax money spent on organizing competitions does not make sense. If you start it, then go ahead and question other spending too, for example paying for language courses of EU officials (say someone, and I know such cases, is learning his 6th or 7th language for pure fun; forget about justifying it by saying it is useful for work because 3 good working languages are absolutely enough unless you are a translator), paying for conferences etc.etc. You will have to make a long list of unjustified EU expenses where competitions are modest financial items. I would not worry about that.
Also, I am getting an impression that you are being more FRUSTRATED than before, definitely more FRUSTRATED than ELATED.
Bacchus,
Well, previously (again pre-epso) almost all reserve lists saw up to 80%/90% of laureates recruited eventually. There are some indirect sources out on this %. I even have an email from an epso official stating this “experience teaches us that in due time…”.
To my knowledge, reserve lists didnot get abolished previously unless all laureates either got recruited or declined jobs.
Even within current existing RLs there are some very longstanding and very recent RLs.
DG ADMIN knew years ahead that they were organizing comps that where only 50% of EU 15 laureates would eventually get a job, recruitment chanes for EU12 were a lot better. The document was posted on here some time ago.
etc, etc
Yes, the comps state a priori “does not entitle you to a job”, but there’s a string of elements showing a breach in equality of treatment. You do not get al carte blanche just by inserting a disclaimer. Taking tax money to organize comps for which from one list 90% will be recruited, from another 10%; for which the RL will expire after 2 years and for another after 7 years…. question are bound to be asked…. hence the garage sale. Afterwards they’ll point to this “every effort has been made…”