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 guys,
I would appreciate if anyone could recommend some prep materials for AD5 competition, related to the knowledge of EU
Thanks!
I am going for the EPSO/AD/150/09 exam I think or the economics one, still unsure..any advice is welcome- I have a Bachelor in Math/Business Admin- systems management package from University of Waterloo, Canada and an MBA in Marketing…I just participated in the EPSO/C/2008 (FG II)- secretaries pre-selection.
@Gotspe
Sorry to hear about your experience. It must be incredibly frustrating to have thought things were moving along and then found it came to nothing. Surely it will come through one day though?! It probably doesn’t help your situation that you Dutch people all seem to such amazing linguists 🙂
@Caro
Thanks, and for the warning re taxes. Having researched things a bit more, I think we’ll first try to make things work living in Luxembourg (if I pass the interview stage). No problem to come back and let you know about the i/v.
@ Kiwi
Hi Kiwi, I just saw that you’ve been flagged and invited for interview, that’s brilliant! It would be great if you would report back on your experience, if you don’t mind, of course.
Good luck for your interview!
Re: Luxembourg vs. Germany
Just one point about choosing to live in Luxembourg or over the border in Germany – the German tax system might trip you up, depending on who your husband works for/where he pays tax. As someone who has been paying German taxes for over ten years I know you need to watch out if you are not paying German taxes yourself but your spouse is taxable under the German system. I am not an expert (and I may be wrong!) but it would certainly be worth consulting a tax advisor before making the decision to live in Germany! I don’t know if the situation is comparable in France etc. but it’s worth bearing in mind that this could cancel out any benefit you have from lower property prices, for example.
Maybe someone else can shed some light on this issue?
@ A
I,m afraid that I have the same problem.
Does anyone know what has happened to EPSO-profile? It seems inaccessible. Do you also have a problem with it?
Dear Christos,
I appreciate the time and effort you take to inform laureates.
That said, I am afraid on some parts you misread me.
What I meant to say is that after all my dealings with the commission as a laureate I believe it would be better they would just hire in order of selection results (which I do know they do not at present).As a counterweight, it should no longer be exceptional that people are to let go after their probabtionary period (which I do know is rare at present). The latter I added because I know exam results are a lousy prognostic tool for seleceting real-life succeses.
The only argument I was developing is that the logic of the selection procedure (which in my reckoning is only there to avoid (the perception of) nepotism) is maintained up to the recruitment. After the recruitment, it should no longer be uncommon people get a negative assessment after their probationary period provided (here it comes) this is done in a written, fact-based and transparent fashion. I feel this would be a great improvement as far as transparency is concerned.
As an aside I would like to state that I, by no means, suffer from the impression slections serve to select the pick of the pick. They serve to weed out the worst candidates and one should hope they do not weed out the best (the emphasis is on avoiding false positives,false negatives are a price to pay). What is heavily underscored in postings here is the second goal these selections serve: to maintain a modicum of objectivity and transparency. I feel is no coincidence that the concours-system within Europe is rooted in more latin countries.I will not expand on this lest I should start on a rambling on protestanism, the Icelandic Althing and other Umbert Eco-like excursions through history.
As regards inside sources. These are people such HR people with DGs stating “pas de bonne nationalité” or stating “in six months’s time things will be better), officials telling me that they will be invited for a “mock interview” with former colleagues to “regularize” things, heads-of-unit stating that given A and B chances of recruitment were near-impossible for the last x years (A and B being factors outside of my control).
I could go on and on.
As regards the various anecdotes on nepotism et alia cetera I will spare you my anthology. Clearly you haven’t been talking to too many Belgians on how they got in. It’s not a pretty picture they paint. We must, above all, make sure the polish doesn’t wear off our Potemkin-façades.
The frustration and stylistic pathos are part of the on-line persona… I do enjoy the occasional bout of overacting. One thing is for sure, I am not finished with the Commission, the scourge of God is upon them 😉
Cheers
Just something about getting recruited and not completing probationary period
I do not know who has said this (sorry, but I will not search through all the comments here), but just want to give a little piece of information regarding getting employment in the EU service.
I have just heard that a person on a reserve list (competition published 2005 and completed in 2006 or 2007) has now been contacted by one institution with an offer of … a temporary post! Kiwi, have this in mind when planning your move with your husband and children!
Another thing is not completing the probationary period after you had been recruited as a civil servant-trainee (probationary period of 9 months). So I know one case of a person who has been told ‘thank you, we don’t want you’ after 3 months. This did happen to a friend of my friend, but I don’t know the background. Another case I have heard about was a girl from a reserve list in dg admin who got recruited and whose boss wanted to prolong her 9-month probationary period of traineeship (it is envisaged in the rules, but rarely applied). She managed to ‘escape’ to another unit before her probationary period would had been extended over 9 months.
By the way, I have read some comments to my earlier comments. I will comment again some time later having a little more time.
Did somebody failed on MCQ AD126 tests ?
I would like to have the correct answers and just the people who failed can ask for it .
thanks,
Dodo
@A
Question 1. You cannot really compare the EU recruitment process (even though it is indeed too lengthy) with some recruitment processes somewhere else. Do not forget that – once you are recruited at the EU – it is for your life time (unless you resign) and it is rarely the case somewhere else.
Answer 1: You can compare with the recruitment of other international institutions (i.a. UN, Council of Europe). The EU – allow me to call it the future European public sector – will get you a job for life as in the majority of Member States public sectors.
Question 2. Also you have to distinguish between the process: competition process and recruitment process. The EU recruitment process is like anywhere else. They invite you for an interview with a HoU/director and when they see you are good for the job, you quickly get it (after some formalities with the medical service, administration etc.). The problem is that these HoUs can take people only from the famous reserve lists, but again the recruitment itself is separate from the previous process of establishment of these lists. Now, the question would be: Why are the lists necessary? Especially, if it takes so much time to produce them? Well, I would say that such a pre-selection of potential candidates based on going through various tests is a good way to choose good, well educated people who are able to express themselves, think etc. etc. All in all we are talking about recruiting EU servants who must be good and work for so many millions EU citizens. Now, I am not excusing the EU for a process which is too long, neither is this my opinion. I am just trying to figure out what the logical explanation or the reason behind could be. I am also not saying that I am happy with this.
Answer 2: As I also explain in my book, you have understood the difference between the “competition process” and the “job interview”. Having said that, people do not realise this very important difference and this at the stage of the oral examinations enter the exam badly prepared. The fact that you have these two separate processes means also that you need a common buffer, and that is the reserve lists. A reserve list is feeded by the “competition process” and emptied by the “job interview”.
Nevertheless, I believe both you and frustrated understand very well the nedd for going such a heavy process in order to avoid discriminating against “minority grounds” and in order to get “good, well educated people who are able to express themselves, think”.
Indeed the biggest critic of the recruitment system is that it is rather lenghty. Actually EPSO is trying to come up with a better new system that hopes to shorthen the time tables of the competitions.
Question 3. How in the earth is it possible that – even despite of the recruitment process aimed at finding the best – there are some EU servants who are – to put it delicately – far from being high quality employees?
Answer 3: I believe that my “crop field paradigm” answer to frustrated should cover this issue.
All the best.
@frustrated
Dear friend,
You seem to know a lot of things, you seem to argumentate a lot, but you are still come out as the ultimate frustated candidate. For a very long time, I read your comments and a lot of time I wanted to communicate to you, because I believe that some times you are passing and over-pessimistic view. I will try to reply to some of your concerns raised in your last comments, since they have certain mis-conception.
Please read my email and my replies. I am producing this info only in order to clarify issues and be assured that I have no connections to EPSO :-o)
>Is it really that far-flung to suggest they just hire in order of selection results?
Nobody suggest that, nowhere it is written that. This is an urban recruitment myth. The fact that potential employeers cannot get hold of your exact grades/exams/etc give raise to the need of a classification, called merit groups. The fact that you are classified to the first merit group does not make you automatically the best qualified person for a cretain profile. It merely says that you have studied well and you excel in your exams.
>Provided it is clearly communicated that the 9-month probationary period is exactly >meant for further assessing a laureate and that it would not be exceptional to give >some-one a negative assessment (but with clear arguments and stated facts in a >document accessible to laureates of course).
In all jobs there is a probation period. It can very well be that, even after all the exams, you are still not compatible with the EU institutions culture. Nevertheless, your assessment that “it would not be exceptional to give a negative assessment”, based on my own 14 years experience is totally wrong. In my understanding, I only come accross one colleague who had to undergo a second probation period, before finally becoming official. Unless you can claim official statistics and/or personal cases please refrain from making assessment that do not stand.
>I really must say as a tax-payer and laureate (also first merit, but it doesn’t seem to >matter) I am disgusted by how recruitment happens at the EU insitutions. I have been >sending so many mails, have received so much contradictory information (off the >record, that figures)…
You claimed that you have sent many emails. But so do have the other candidates. If you could just for one minute realise how many emails EPSO receives from candidates, you could not like to be in their situation. It is really a monster task.
You also mentioned that you receive off-the-record information. This is really alarming, but again I would like to know your source. If you ask someone unofficially to give inside information, the reply will most likely be off-the-record. ven though, both people perform a criminal or at least a non-ethical act. Finally, unless you speak to a person that really knows, all the rest are likely to give you information that is not-credibla and/or even contradictory. Finally do not forget that rules change over time and that not everyone follows these developments.
At the end, if you think that you receive bad information, you can very well address yourself to the European Ombusman in order to put forward your clamis for misconduct of EPSO vis-à-vis your case.
>I do know some-one quite well who works at an EU institution… that person first came >in on an interim contract through a local politician (and former commissioner, I kid you >not). After 5/6 attempts she managed to succeed in an “internal” competition, heavily >prepped by some of the trade-unions.
Every one has it’s horror stories. Allow me to use a paradigm from nature: In every well cultivated field, there are weeds and/or other crops (that may be come with the help of the wind). This fact however does not mean that the field will not produce good crops result.
Please read behind your own lines: The person entered as an interim. You do not need to have the backing of a politician, even worst a commissionner, to become an interim in the Eu institutions. Let me be naive and believe that this person just used his network in order to find a way to get a job. This is what most of the people do and in the vast majority of cases it is perfectly legal as well as ethical. Furthermore the person strungle 5/6 times as you said, by sitting exams – internal competitions, before managing to become an official. Finally you mention that the person was helped by the staff unions. This is perfectly ok in addition to the fact that this help and training by staff unions is also available to people outside the institutions. My own staff union, FFPE, is organising training and is available for free to its members.
>That, apparently, is the sad state of affairs we as tax-payers should accept to live with: >we are serfs meant to pay for a nepotistic clique and so will our children be.
These are tough words. Can you substantiate them?
Having said all the above I really do not understand why you feel so frustrated.
I would propose you one of my mottos: “Smile 🙂 makes people wonder why”
Just a quick plug to all of you following the discussions here for Concours purposes: I’ve just launched a new website called BloggingPortal – http://www.bloggingportal.eu/ – a site that brings together the content of more than 300 blogs about the EU and makes that content easy to follow. Might be useful and hopefully interesting too!
@Linguist
The life of the reserve lists is traditionlly extended until all candidates are hired and/or until candidates decline repeatively interview invitations.
Concerning competition for English translators, in my opinion, there are two elements that you should take into account. 1) Internal lanaguage courses offered to existing translators and 2) the fact that traditionally British were not famed for being polyglotes.
Good luck with your competition journey.
@ Gotspe
As you mentioned before, we were in the same concours. Just like you, I’m in the first merit group of the reserve list. Unlike you though, I have never been flagged by any of the institutions, so maybe the fact that you were flagged while there were other vacancies didn’t really affect things. Probably those vacancies also were filled by people with temporary contracts. Even though, I wonder if being in the first merit group really is an advantage, as I have noticed that people from other groups have already been hired… I guess all we can do is wait for the babyboomers to retire…
@ Kiwi
Best of luck with the interview!
@Kiwi:
That’s excellent news – good luck on the interview! Please let us know how it went.
I can’t deny I’m ever so slightly envious:
When the results for my concours came out, we didn’t have access to the flag status yet, but I later found out my name was flagged for months on end by an institution that probably had no intention of inviting me for an interview to begin with as two people who were already working for them on a temporary basis were on the reserve list as well – needless to say they were hired. Even after I discovered all this by coincidence, the flag wasn’t removed until I asked EPSO to do so. I know that at least two other institutions had vacancies during the same period, so I can’t help but think I may have missed out on something because of this. Ever since that time – nothing…
Does anyone know if it is possible to find out how many people passed the MCQ part of the auditors’ exam (126/08)? So far I only heard about people passing it so perhaps the majority did…
@Gotspe,
Thanks for the info… obviously a holiday would be ideal, but potentially hard to organise with 2 young children and a husband who works. We’ll see what we can manage!
@Chris,
Well I guess it gives one hope anyway. In fact I had a message today asking if I would like to attend an interview, so in my case things have moved on very quickly.
@A
Thanks for the vacancy info, but as I have been flagged by the EP I can’t contact any other institutions for the time being.
My friend does like the job although she’s a bit bored of it after 10 years. She’s always going on holiday though 🙂 and she had a baby last year so is now working part-time which she prefers.
@frustrated
None of us speak German (yet), but living in France might be an option. Depends how long it takes to get to work etc and we’d probably want to put the kids in the European school so that will affect things too.
Luxemburg is fine… bit of a backwater for some policy areas, but nice pace of life for families… agree with previous posters, just get a place across the border (Arlon or in Germany) and you’ll live like a prince.
@kiwi
To know the salary and the places of work – just have a look at the notice of competition. I’m pretty sure the salary is the same regardless of the place. Only in some third countries you might expect some special allowance to compensate the harsh conditions, dangerous situation etc. But Bxl and Lux are the same category even if the prices of certain goods are different. Nothing prevents you though from e.g. working in Lux and renting an apartment in Germany (some people do it) where prices are lower. Another thing is an allowance for those who start work in a place where they have not lived before, so e.g. if you have never been living in Lux and you accept a job offer there, you will get an allowance to your salary. But again the same conditions apply likewise in Bxl or any other place where you might get your EU contract.
Anyways, good luck and learn all you can from your good friend who is already inside the service as you mentioned.
By the way, you never said anything about him/her. From the insider’s point of view – does she recommend EU employment? Is he/she happy?
@Kiwi: Congratulations for being flagged by the European Parliament and good luck! Do you know whether being flagged is reason to hope that you will be called to an interview soon / within a reasonable period of time? Thanks.
@Kiwi – perhaps this could be of interest to you:
AVIS DE VACANCE D’EMPLOI N° CDR/AD5-AD6/ 01 /09
ADMINISTRATEUR LINGUISTE d’expression anglaise aux Services conjoints (CdR/CESE) -Direction de la Traduction – Traduction anglaise
Date limite d’introduction des candidatures: 03/02/2009 à 12h
@Kiwi: A candidate I met when I attended the oral test told me that he heard that salaries in Luxembourg are higher (I don’t know how much higher), in order to compensate for the higher cost of living. There probably is some special indemnity added to the basic salary.
@ dodo
I kindly ask you to send me a copy of the english/french tests.
Thank you very much.
My email address is my nickname (giango)
@hotmail
.com
As far as I know, the salaries are the same for Luxembourg-based and Brussels-based officials…
Many of the people on the reserve list for Dutch translators seem to feel that way too, Kiwi 😉 I have to say I don’t know anything about living in Luxembourg yet (I remain hopeful…), except that housing is a lot more expensive than in Brussels. I read somewhere that Luxembourg is not completely immune to the current downturn in housing prices but I can’t tell you if that’s really true. Apart from housing, I don’t think daily expenses are much higher than elsewhere – definitely not compared to the UK.
I’ve visited the city a couple of times and find it quite pretty, with an impressive cliff-top location. It has long been considered to be ‘somewhat’ boring, but I think things are improving. Right opposite the translators’ offices, for instance, they are building a large new concert hall, and just behind that is the excellent new MUDAM museum of modern art designed by IM Pei. They also opened a university a while ago, which I guess means that not everyone between the ages of 18 and 25 leaves the country to study abroad anymore. There’s now a high-speed rail link to Paris – but of course you can’t beat Brussels’ brilliant central location between London, Amsterdam and Paris.
Friends who live there tell me that the city is very safe, and that the country is great for hiking and other outdoor activities. It’s also very international. Having said that, it doesn’t feel as cosmopolitan as Brussels at all, which of course has to do with the fact that it’s much smaller, and that it has a disproportionally large contingent of high-income professionals.
If you are called for an interview, perhaps it would be a good idea to turn it into a mini holiday to get a bit of a feel for the place?
Actually, I have another question – are the salaries in the EP the same as for the Commission? and is it the same if you work in Luxembourg or Brussels? One of my main concerns about Lux is the high cost of living…
Thanks Gotspe, that’s very helpful to know. Don’t suppose you know anything about living in Luxembourg then?! This wasn’t really what I had in mind 🙂
@m – once you are on a reserve list, a particular institution can “flag” you which means they have 3 months to decide whether to interview you and offer you a job, and in that time you can’t be contacted by any other institution.
@dodo
Thank you for your reply dodo. French or english is ok for me. I don’t know what happened with the email I gave you. Try with this one: michelbrauns@hotmail.com
… All _European Parliament translators_, I should say. The Commission’s DG Translation is divided over Luxembourg and Brussels.
@ Kiwi: Congrats on getting “flagged” by the Parliament! working as a translator with the Parliament would definitely mean working in Luxembourg, in an office on the Kirchberg Plateau. Perhaps there’s the occasional “business trip” to Brussels or Strasbourg, but in principle all translators are based in Luxembourg.
ciao kiwi and congratulations for all,
what do you mean with “I’ve been flagged by the European Parliament”?
I’ve just found out I’ve been flagged by the European Parliament…
I know I’ve asked this before, but does anyone know if a job with the EP (as an English translator) would mean working in Luxembourg, or if there is a chance it could be Brussels or Strasbourg?
@Michel
Your email doesn’t work, I receive failure notifications, so I ca’t send you the tests.
@ Michel
I have some in French and some others in English. Is this OK for you ?
@Giango
Prego
Christos, I’ll keep your book in mind when preparing for the next English translator exams. It’s clear just by studying EPSO’s website that the reserve lists have long lives and a new competition for English translators is not likely for a couple of years at least. On the other hand, I have heard that the EU has great trouble finding people who actually pass the English translation test, so who knows…
Is it really that far-flung to suggest they just hire in order of selection results? Provided it is clearly communicated that the 9-month probationary period is exactly meant for further assessing a laureate and that it would not be exceptional to give some-one a negative assessment (but with clear arguments and stated facts in a document accessible to laureates of course). After all, the commission claims it wants polymaths/generalists and a fair share of them are expected to “rotate” between jobs.
If I am not mistaken in France the Ministry of Finance recruits inspectors this way and the anonymous procedures are absolutlety adored by minority groups who experience them as a safeguard against all sorts of discrimination.
I really must say as a tax-payer and laureate (also first merit, but it doesn’t seem to matter) I am disgusted by how recruitment happens at the EU insitutions. I have been sending so many mails, have received so much contradictory information (off the record, that figures)… I do know some-one quite well who works at an EU institution… that person first came in on an interim contract through a local politician (and former commissioner, I kid you not). After 5/6 attempts she managed to succeed in an “internal” competition, heavily prepped by some of the trade-unions.
That, apparently, is the sad state of affairs we as tax-payers should accept to live with: we are serfs meant to pay for a nepotistic clique and so will our children be.
@Christos
Thank you for your reply. I inform you that in Italy, for exemple, the oral examinations for open competitions are, as a general rule, held in an open room. So the other participants can ear the questions and the answers of the candidate examinated.
Dodo, congratulations for your new job and for the results of the AD5 Audit step, and thank you for leave us a little chance more for the AST3 financial management competition… 🙂
AD/126/08
I can not believe it took so long to correct those MCQ… maybe because of #37 that is cancelled?
Wait and see, oral are expected to start in… May 2009 as per EPSO planning
@dodo
Would you have by any chance copy of the written exams of AST44 competition (or any other). I would be realy greatful if you can send it to me.
My mail is michel9775@yahoo.com
AD/126/08
I can not believe it took so long to correct those MCQ… maybe because of #37 that is cancelled?
Wait and see, oral are expected to start in… May 2009 as per EPSO planning
it’s positive for me , thanks god !
Dear Audit candidates (AD/126/08),
Stand by for results of the multiple choice test via Robomail.
Fingers xed
Hi,
JP, I agree with you. I had a phone interview two months ago for DEL in Colombia and I got the same impression; a very short interview (aprox 15 min), and I got the feeling that during the interview they were in a rush. However, this is the praxis, according to people that I know who work in DEL. Unfortunately, I didn’t succeed.
@Michel & Milda
I am registered too for the financial management AST 52 exams, but I will take off my application, due to my recruitment from the AST44 list on the same profile.
So, you can say that you have one competitor less.
Good lock,
Dodo
@A:
Thank you for your insightful comments. Yes, it is definitely true that the unique nature of the European civil service may require an equally unique selection and recruitment process. However, I’m not sure it necessarily needs to be this way: my own national administration, for instance, has recruitment procedures that are rather more like the regular ones I described earlier – and these are jobs for life carrying great responsibility as well. Some may disagree, but overall I think my country has a pretty decent civil service.
Personally, I think that the current selection process has some great merits. It is designed to rule out nepotism, clientelism and other such phenomena, and overall I think it serves this purpose quite well. It also tends to select highly motivated people. At least in theory, it can also to a large extent prevent racial/sexual/age discrimination. The lengthiness of the selection process is a bit uncomfortable for the contestant, but it’s completely understandable: the sheer logistics of organising all these competitions must be daunting.
The only point on which I would have to disagree with you is where you write that the recruitment process is like anywhere else. If it were, there would be publicly advertised vacancy notices one could respond to – and as we know this is not the case. One is dependent on contacts inside the institutions, or a helpful permanent national representation, in order to get access to vacancy notices. Moreover, officially one cannot apply to such vacancies as they are meant for established officials only. Finally, one receives a lot of conflicting advice (often from the same sources!) as to whether or not it is wise to respond to such vacancies anyway. At the very least, having access to the vacancies gives you some idea of what the actual job descriptions and requirements are like, and of the frequency with which certain positions become available – invaluable information if you want to make a realistic assessment of your chances.
All in all, I think the system has been set up with nothing but the best intentions and is by and large run by competent and conscientious people. There is some room for improvement, though: more realistic advance information on the actual value of a place on the reserve list would help, as would more transparancy during the recruitment phase. In any case, things will change next year, and I am very curious to see if and how these issues will be addressed.
Hi,
I passed the preselection test for AST/70 (conference technician) and am invited to send a full application for the written test. The problem is that I am a computer scientist, and have no experience as a conference technician, which is a required condition (3 years exp). Should I still try to send an application, and trying to sell my computer experience as suitable for conference? Any suggestion welcomed.
I am in the database list for RELEX 08 / ICT, and have not been contacted yet….
@Some general thoughts come to my mind when I am reading the recent comments on this website:
1. You cannot really compare the EU recruitment process (even though it is indeed too lengthy) with some recruitment processes somewhere else. Do not forget that – once you are recruited at the EU – it is for your life time (unless you resign) and it is rarely the case somewhere else.
2. Also you have to distinguish between the process: competition process and recruitment process. The EU recruitment process is like anywhere else. They invite you for an interview with a HoU/director and when they see you are good for the job, you quickly get it (after some formalities with the medical service, administration etc.). The problem is that these HoUs can take people only from the famous reserve lists, but again the recruitment itself is separate from the previous process of establishment of these lists. Now, the question would be: Why are the lists necessary? Especially, if it takes so much time to produce them? Well, I would say that such a pre-selection of potential candidates based on going through various tests is a good way to choose good, well educated people who are able to express themselves, think etc. etc. All in all we are talking about recruiting EU servants who must be good and work for so many millions EU citizens. Now, I am not excusing the EU for a process which is too long, neither is this my opinion. I am just trying to figure out what the logical explanation or the reason behind could be. I am also not saying that I am happy with this.
3. Having said all that, the questions would be: How in the earth is it possible that – even despite of the recruitment process aimed at finding the best – there are some EU servants who are – to put it delicately – far from being high quality employees? Or what about all this chaos with temporary, contractual, all other who get in through the side door and remain while other are waiting on the list for years? Not that temporary staff is not needed… They are needed to fill temporary some posts, they do complement the system. But the problem is when the whole thing is exaggerated.
@olak
Hi, hopefully your interview went fine. I would be grateful if you could share your impression and tell me what to expect. Thanks in advance.
Oh, and a very practical piece of advice: don’t tell too many friends and family members about taking part in the concours if you want to avoid having to answer the question: “so how come you’re not in Brussels yet?” time and time again for years on end 😉 I’ve told only a very small number of people, but even so I am now thinking of printing leaflets containing my explanation for this apparent failure, so I can hand one out every time I get asked this question at a party…