Dear all,

2023 has started with striking news. In May the new competition model will start but until then EPSO is doing its best to finalise all the competitions still in motion. Are you a candidate in one of them? Then this post is for you. Are you a future candidate? Then this post (link) is the one you are looking for. Yes, believe it or not, this time EPSO has not hung the «closed for refurbishment» sign and keeps working.

Ok, but you are not here to chit chat about EPSO competitions in general but about yours, because you have received excellent news from EPSO and you have been invited to the Assessment Centre or you are waiting for it. Nevertheless, you still feel a bit lost and you are not sure what or when to expect in your competition, right? Keep reading, we’ll tell you what will happen with all the EPSO competitions in motion at this moment, with the latest information available. In this post, you will find the information by reference number order, just scroll down until you find the AD competitions of interest to you [AD competitions can be found here] :

AST and AST/SC competitions

1. EPSO/AST/150/21 ( AST3) Technicians in Audiovisual, Building and Laboratory.
2. EPSO/AST/151/22 – Assistants – ICT infrastructures, cloud, networks and middleware Assistants – Digital workplace, office automation and mobile computing Assistants – Development/configuration, testing, operation and maintenance of IT applications and off-the-shelf solutions; Data management, data analytics and artificial intelligence Assistants – ICT security
3. EPSO/AST/152/22 Linguistic Assistants ET- HR-IT.NL-PL-PT
4. EPSO/AST/153/22 Head of administration (AST-4) in EU Delegations
5. EPSO/AST/154/22 Assistants – Financial management ; Assistants – Accounting and treasury ; Assistants – Public procurement ; Assistants – Graphic design and visual content production ; Assistants – Social and digital media ; Assistants – Webmaster.
6. EPSO/AST/155/22 Assistants in the field of operational security ; Assistants in the field of Technical security and Assistants in the field of occupational health and safety

WARNING – as we see too much drama around the competitions, we have made an extra effort to make all this a bit more palatable and funny. You can pass the competitions with a smile! (Still, note that the information is as accurate as EPSO competitions allow us to be).

What about my competition?

Let’s go competition by competition (from highest to lowest EPSO reference number). Please be aware that the following analysis is done based on the information published on the EPSO web-page and our experience as candidates (yes, once we were where you are now) and trainers.

1.-Technicians and support workers- Technicians( AST3) EPSO/AST/150/21 In 3 fields: Field 1: Audiovisual and conference technicians; Field 2: Building technicians; Field 3: Laboratory technicians.

Status : Do you remember our analysis laboratory technicians and for Audiovisual and Building? Yes, at that time we used to write more in Spanish but the audience has become more international and so did we. Ok, you remember that. We knew the number of applications (389 candidates for 92 spots in Audiovisual, 663 for 114 spots in building, 378 for 20 in Laboratory spots and 176 for 15 spots on laboratory support) then 265, 340 and 65 respectively (670 candidates in total) have been invited to the Assessment Centre that took place from mid-September until mid-December, i.e Winter was coming! Now winter is gone and still waiting for the results that should be released approximately as we write this post (fingers crossed, originally the results were foreseen to come out in February). Best of luck to our 50 candidates (croquetillas) who trusted us to prepare this competition.

About the Assessment Centre: First, they did the case study (last 4 July), after that two tests more were needed, which accounted for 130 out of the total of 170 points. The Situational competency based interview was worth 30 points and the booklet for the exam was published about a couple of weeks before the exams begin, stay alert! For the field-related interview, 100 points were at stake. The key factor was the structure of the information, no need to be an expert to talk about any topic but you need an expert to know what matters and how to explain it clearly and to the point. Remember you can join our Telegram information channel too where we’ll alert you of any news regarding your competition. Of course, If you think we can help you with our training, you can register for the next ones.

2.-EPSO/AST/151/22 – Assistants – ICT infrastructures, cloud, networks and middleware Assistants – Digital workplace, office automation and mobile computing Assistants – Development/configuration, testing, operation and maintenance of IT applications and off-the-shelf solutions; Data management, data analytics and artificial intelligence Assistants – ICT security

Status: Do you remember the analysis we did? The 4 different profiles collected a total of 1300 applications approximately (221-260-721-117 respectively) for a total of 205 spots (by profile 47-55-74-29). While the ratio of candidates to spots is favourable, this competition requires excellent technical skills. Also, the complexity of the applications is rather high, which means that EPSO needed more time to evaluate them. The good news is, as we write this post, that candidates got their result from the Talent Screener, hurra!!!! And if you are wondering when your Assessment Centre is going to take place, it should start in the second half of April. (If you are looking our analysis for AD- ICT competition – go here)

About the Assessment Centre: First, we’ll have the computer-based tests (CBT). We know, you thought you had escaped it… keep dreaming. Still, there is no need to get a high mark, only passing it is enough (like it is the case for CAST exams).

In addition to the CBT, you will have to pass the following tests: Case Study (40 points) and Situational Competence Based Interview (30 points). Between the two tests you can gather a total of 70 points, with the particularity that in total you need 35 out of 70 to pass, but no minimum marks per competence are required. Our advice is that you start to prepare the Case Study as soon as possible.

Anyway, although the more points we get in competences part the better, the key part is the field-related interview, where you will have to demonstrate your capacities in your field (not exactly your knowledge), and above all, your relevant experience for this position. In the field-related interview, up to 100 points are in stake with a minimum score of 60 points, the bar is high! Remember to visit this link when you are invited to the Assessment Centre. We can help you to prepare all the test or you can join our Telegram information channel where we’ll alert you of any news regarding your competition.

3.-EPSO/AST/152/22 Linguistic Assistants ET– HR–IT–NL–PL–PT

Status : This is a competition that attracted many interested candidates and unfortunately offered few spots, about 4137 candidates for 76 final spots (a proportion in line with the old times of generalist AD5 competition). It began with the CBT (verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning) with two language comprehension tests the last week of August and the first one of September. Then the candidates who obtained the pass mark in the reasoning tests and one of the highest overall marks in the language comprehension tests went through the eligibility check that took place throughout most of the Autumn. Right before Christmas, a few successful candidates (32 for Estonian, 43 for Croatian, 38 for Italian, 49 for Dutch, 59 for Polish and 48 for Portuguese) got their invitation to the Assessment Centre.

About the Assessment Centre: A single date for all profiles on the case study test (with 40 points) and the finalisation of a text was given (about the test check what we posted for the proofreaders text, it may be of help). In addition, they had to sit the General competency-based interview, where only 30 points are at stake (as the core of the marks was given in the case study and the finalisation of a text).

4.-Head of administration (AST-4) in EU Delegations EPSO/AST/153/22

Status : The competition started after the 2022 summer break and most likely it will finish after the 2023 summer break, not bad for EPSO speed. At this moment, candidates already got their results of the CBT and have passed eligibility checks (Remember our webinar where we disclosed all the tricks for it) so they are facing the long wait to see who is invited to the Assessment Centre (120 of 487 will be invited)

Assessment : First, you will need to sit the Case Study and the Situational Competence Based Interview (SCBI). Between these two tests you can gather a total of 70 points, with the particularity that you need a combined overall 35/70 to pass but no minimum marks per competence. It means that you should avoid doing a bad Case Study or SCBI in general, but you have some margin to fail some of the specific questions within each test.

The more points we get in the competences part, the better (we can help with that). Still, the key part is the field-related test, where you will have to demonstrate your knowledge, and above all, your relevant experience for this position. To do so, you will have the Interview in the Field (also structured but with a clear focus on your work experience), a test where you can get up to 100 points (we can help with that too). Last but not least, don’t miss the opportunity to join our Telegram information channel where we’ll alert you of any news regarding your competition.

5.-Assistants – Financial management ; Assistants – Accounting and treasury ; Assistants – Public procurement ; Assistants – Graphic design and visual content production ; Assistants – Social and digital media ; Assistants – Webmaster -EPSO/AST/154/22

Status: Complicated (do you remember that one on FB?). The first of the big competitions to organise the CBT fully online (no possibility of taking the exam in a Prometric centre) gave as result a controversial outcome. Many candidates had issues with the procedure and/or the platform. Several even have complaint to the Ombudsman (and the European Court?) but considering the length of the procedure, EPSO could continue the competition and finalize it before the Court have time to fail against EPSO. Then it can be repeated among the candidates who didn’t make it (i.e Pachitis case or as many other failed (in Court competitions). So, let’s focus on the competition itself for the moment and the fact candidates .

If you want to take a pause to check youtube, you can revisit our webinar on this competition, otherwise, we can share with you our forecast on the threshold marks. Based on very conservative assumptions (all candidates are eligible, only 25% of the candidates failed the CBT and final mars are equally distributed), we see for field 1 if you have 13 or above your chances are quite high of passing to the assessment, 12 points if you are in field 2. For fields 3,4,6 looks it will be 17 in verbal reasoning the mark , for field 6, considering the big number of candidates, it will 18 our forecast. In any case, we stick to our advice to wait until you are confirmed for the assessment, at that moment give your 100% to prepare it.

Now talking about the other tests, the competition turns into a classic. You will have to face the following tests: Case Study and Situational Competency-Based Interview. Here you have 7 competences to be assessed (in AD competitions there are eight). Between the two tests you can gather a total of 70 points, with the particularity that you need an overall 35/70 to pass, but no minimum marks per competence. Don’t get over confident, do fine on these two and you will be fine for this part although the more points we get the better (we can help with that).

Anyway, the key part is the field-related test where you will have to demonstrate your know how on the field, explaining, in detail, your relevant experience for this position. The Interview in the Field is also somehow structured but as it has a clear focus on your work experience, is much more interesting and rewarding, you can get up to 100 points in that test (we can help on that too), approx. 60% of all the available points. Remember you can also join our Telegram information channel where we’ll alert you of any news regarding your competition.

6.- Assistants in the field of operational security ; Assistants in the field of Technical security and Assistants in the field of occupational health and safety – EPSO/AST/155/22

Status: The CBT took place in January this year, hopefully with fewer issues, and had no minimum passing mark. The key element is that only those candidates who obtain one of the highest scores in the whole test will have their application checked for eligibility. Applications will be checked until they positively check 3 candidates per position, who will be invited to the Assessment Centre. Considering that they need 300 candidates for the Assessment Centre, from an initial amount of almost 2400 (1587 , 244, 558 respectively for 44; 24; 33 places offered in the competition), it will take time and we don’t see the Assessment Centre happening before May this year.

Assessment Centre: Now talking about the other tests, the competition turns into a classic. You will have to face the following tests: Case Study and Situational Competency-Based Interview. Here you have 7 competences to be assessed (in AD competitions there are eight). Between the two tests you can gather a total of 70 points, with the particularity that you need an overall 35/70 to pass, but no minimum marks per competence. Don’t get over confident, do fine on these two and you will be ok for this part, although the more points we get the better (we can help with that).

Anyway, the key part is the field-related interview where you will have to show your knowledge on the field, explaining, in detail, your relevant experience for this position. The Interview in the Field is also somehow structured but as it has a clear focus on your work experience, is much more interesting and rewarding, you can get up to 100 points in that test (we can help on that too), approx. 60% of all the available points. And don’t miss the opportunity to join our Telegram information channel where we’ll alert you of any news regarding your competition.

[Analysis of AD competitions can be found here] :

When will EPSO contact me?

Many of you ask about when EPSO will tell you that you have made it to the next phase, or have been invited to the Assessment Centre, or…. you read/heard rumors about the development of the competitions somewhere. Better to isolate yourself from that noise and focus on the real messages. EPSO commits itself (it’s in Annex II of the notice of competition) to communicate with you after the Talent Screeners have been evaluated to inform you on the results and to invite you to the Assessment Centre. In the meantime, it can take weeks or months to receive any information or being notified that we have passed to the next phase of the competition, so keep calm. If you are feeling desperate for the lack of news, you can always contact EPSO too, as candidates you are entitled to do so but be careful, replies can be a bit cryptic or copy/paste from the notice.

What can I expect of this job? How much will my salary be?

Both are typical questions of the candidates, therefore we invite you to check Annex I and Annex II from the notice of competition. As you can see from the images above, go to Annex I of the notice to find all the details of your expected tasks to be performed once you are an administrator in the area of ICT (The Commission counts on you!!!). And last but not least, above you find the table with the gross salaries for each grade (the net amount is usually similar to the gross one, and it can be higher depending if you have family dependent on you and other conditions).

Can you help me?

Let share some useful links for this competition and any other.

List of useful resources for EU competitions

1. El CBT o los test psicotécnicos (ES)
   • El test de razonamiento verbal.
   • El test de razonamiento numérico.
   • El test de razonamiento abstracto.
2. The Assesment centre (EN)
   • La entrevista estructurada
   • Presentación oral
3. 10 free resources (EN/ES).
   • Free webinar on the talent screener for the ICT (AD-AST) competitions – 2nd March
   • Youtube channel
4. YSE trainings (English and Spanish) :
   1. CBT (in Spanish)
   2. Assessment sessions – for all the Assessment test (Theory in English or Spanish. Practice can be done in EN,FR,ES)
   3. Application review (EN/ES/FR/IT/DE)
   4. CAST Sessions -have you been invited to a job interview? Do you want to improve your chances of being selected in a CAST process?