La semana pasada vino con una sorpesa de esas que hacen que te atragantes: el órgano director de EPSO dio a conocer el nuevo sistema de exámenes/oposiciones y el primer anuncio fue llamativo (en la imagen) [English version here]
The ‘Assessment Centre’ and its related oral tests, in place since 2010, ceases to exist…/ El Assessment y sus examenes orales, que funcionaba desde 2010, ha dejado de existir… glups!
EPSO -dixit
Así que EPSO ha muerto, larga vida a «EPSOlution» (como el nuevo modelo de evaluación ha sido llamado por el propio EPSO)… Espera, antes de que te de un infarto, si eres candidato en una oposición EPSO ya en marcha, olvídate de este post, tu oposición se adhiere al modelo antiguo (y recuerda que si estás en el Asssment Centre, podemos ayudarte con esas pruebas). Sin embargo, si vas a ser un candidato o potencial interesado en trabajar en la UE, este post es para ti. Vamos a responder a la avalancha de preguntas que seguramente te estarás haciendo en este momento: ¿Qué pruebas han quitado? ¿Cuáles se quedan? ¿Qué novedades hay? ¿Cuándo llega el nuevo modelo? ¿Por qué todos estos cambios?
¿Qué pruebas han quitado?
Los dichosos Talent Screener son las primeras víctimas. Al parecer, ya no serán necesarios porque el sistema de porcentajes (%) que se probó en paralelo es lo suficientemente bueno para ello. En algunos concursos recientes, al rellenar la sección sobre la experiencia laboral en la solicitud, los candidatos tenían que indicar qué porcentaje de su tiempo de trabajo se dedicaba a una tarea específica. Bueno, este sistema será la norma a partir de ahora para llevar a cabo los controles de elegibilidad y cuantificar la experiencia pertinente en el campo de especialidad requerido. Si quieres saber más sobre esto, te lo explicamos en detalle en este webinar que hicimos. Está por ver si EPSO hará la verificación de elegibilidad y experiencia pertinente antes de los exámenes o se dividirá en dos acciones. Lo sabremos cuando se publiquen las nuevas oposiciones.
Segundo y más importante, el Assessment Centre tal como la conocíamos se acabó. No más entrevistas con los miembros del tribunal de la oposición en las oficinas de EPSO (como se hacía antes de la COVID-19) o utilizando la plataforma Cammio (en la actualidad). No habrá entrevista basada en competencias (CBI para los amigos), presentación oral, entrevista basada en competencias situacionales (SCBI) ni ninguna otra. Si alguna de estas pruebas reaparece, será bajo la responsabilidad y supervisión de la Institución en cuestión en las entrevistas finales… ¿Qué? Sigue leyendo, ahora lo explicamos.
¿Qué se queda?
Igual que los viejos roqueros, la prueba basada en computadora (CBT) de razonamiento verbal, numérico y abstracto permanecerá viva y coleando. Sí, lo sabemos, hubieras preferido cambiarla por otra, pero la realidad es tozuda y EPSO no puede deshacerse de esta prueba. La buena noticia es que en el CBT solo tendrás que aprobar. Es decir, las calificaciones obtenidas más allá del umbral establecido para aprobar no importarán. Si no sabes de qué te hablamos con esto del CBT, te recomendamos estos post donde lo explicamos largo y tendido.
¿Qué novedades hay?
Nos llega que un cuestionario o test de opción múltiple de conocimiento en el campo (para oposiciones especializadas) y una prueba de conocimientos de la UE (para la oposición de generalistas) serán la norma ahora. ¿Es realmente nuevo? No exactamente, ya teníamos algunos ejemplos anteriores, como la oposición de Protección de datos, para la cual hicimos un webinar donde explicamos qué estudiar para el test de conocimientos. En el caso de los perfiles como AST, lo más probable es que haya una prueba de habilidades digitales, similar a lo que vimos en el último concurso de secretarios.
En el caso de los generalistas y la prueba de conocimiento de la UE, que nadie se asuste, no será un trivial para los fanáticos de la UE. EPSO ha indicado: se tratará de cuestiones de fondo significativas relacionadas con el funcionamiento de la UE, sus políticas y procedimientos. Asimismo, se ha comprometido a publicar las fuentes que utilizarán para generar las preguntas y todos tendrán acceso (a los recursos, no a las preguntas ;-)). Esta fórmula tampoco es nueva, ya que los exámenes internos de la Comisión contienen un examen muy similar (si no el mismo).
Prueba escrita para todos (Written test/case study). Sí, así es. Esta es la única prueba para evaluar competencias que permanece en esta parte del proceso. Si ya has hecho un estudio de caso, sabes a lo que te enfrentas. Si no, es una prueba (generalmente) de 90 minutos donde te dan algunos documentos sobre un tema que no conoces (y no está relacionado con tu competencia) donde tienes que responder o cumplir algunas tareas dadas al respecto. Aquí lo contamos con más detalle y aquí tienes un ejemplo proporcionado por la EPSO. Recuerda que este examen tiene como objetivo evaluar las competencias, incluidas las habilidades de redacción, pero no el conocimiento sobre el tema de la oposición. Para eso último está el test.
Probablemente, lo más importante no es el qué sino el cómo. Todas las pruebas (pruebas de razonamiento, test de conocimiento y y prueba escrita) serán en un día/sesión para todos y se realizarán remotamente. Es el mismo sistema que el CBT remoto realizado en las últimas competiciones, con la diferencia de que será más largo ahora al haber varias pruebas. Sin embargo, ten en cuenta que aunque realices todos los tests en un día, tu examen escrito solo se corregirá si has pasasdo la prueba de conocimiento y el CBT, lo que hace que el proceso sea mucho más rápido.
Nuestra humilde propuesta para visualizar el proceso. *- esta por ver si irá todo junto o separado.
En este punto también hay cierta controversia, ya que los candidatos que estaban acostumbrados al sistema antiguo, en las instalaciones de Prométric (el subcontratista oficial de EPSO para ello), no acogieron muy bien el cambio, así como los que echan en falta la calculadora física en la prueba de razonamiento numérico. Para aquellos con un centro Prometric cerca de casa, la logística era mucho más simple que en línea. Pero siendo justos, la evaluación remota ha dado una excelente oportunidad a los nuevos candidatos y particularmente para aquellos que viven lejos de un centro Prometric para participar. Teniendo en cuenta esto y el hecho de que este método es más barato que el antiguo sistema, será mejor que nos hagamos a la idea de vivir con los nuevos exámenes en línea monitoreados durante mucho tiempo. Por el camino, cruzamos los dedos para que todos los problemillas técnicos propios de un nuevo tipo/plataforma de examen se vayan solucionando.
¿Qué pasa después de pasar las pruebas?
Si pasas el dichoso CBT, el test de conocimientos y la prueba escrita y cumples con todos los criterios de experiencia de la oposición (que se indicarán en la convocatoria), te pondrán en una lista de reserva. Solo los que figuren en la lista de reserva tendrán acceso al proceso de contratación organizado por cada institución. En este proceso se seguirán revisando las competencias generales. ¿Cómo? Eso quedará a criterio de la institución organizadora, EPSO solo les ayudará si lo solicitan. Por ahora, lo más probable es que se realicen entrevistas de campo (field-related interview) sobre la especialidad correspondiente, algo que ya conocemos y se puede preparar de antemano.
¿Cuándo pasaremos al nuevo modelo?
En mayo se publicarán las nuevas oposiciónes, una para Economistas (AD6) y otro para Administradores en el campo de la propiedad intelectual (AD6). Hasta entonces, algunos cambios y ajustes finales pueden ocurrir. Por lo tanto, con los nuevos anuncios de oposición en la mano, actualizaremos nuestro análisis de forma precisa, ajustándonos al nuevo sistema (al igual que nuestras formaciones). Mientras tanto, seguimos informándos sobre este y otros asuntos relacionados con los #eurocurros, así que no olvides unirte a nuestro Canal de Telegram YSE para no perderte nada…
Ahora nos queda una última pregunta por responderte…
Aquí lo que se viene por ahora, hay más rumores de otras oposiciones pero nada confirmado aún.
¿Por qué está sucediendo esto?
Estos cambios son el resultado final de un largo proceso de transformación dentro de EPSO para que las oposiciones sean más rápidas y sencillas, queriendo reducirlas de una media de 13 meses a 6 meses de duración. Esto comenzó ya en 2020 y, en particular, después del informe del tribunal de cuentas (Court of Auditors para los amigos), donde se llegó a varias conclusiones y alguna de ellas escoció un poco (resumen breve: el proceso de selección resultaba poco eficiente para la contratación de especialistas y, en general, para todos los perfiles era demasiado largo). Al mismo tiempo que arrancaba la reflexión, llegó la pandemia y fuimos obligados a adoptar el teletrabajo (siempre que fuera posible), de lo cual no se salvó ni el EPSO y cambió a un modo de evaluación online, lo cual también ha influido en el nuevo modelo.
Tampoco olvidemos que durante la pandemia, las oposiciones continuaron, pero a partir de noviembre del año pasado, hubo una pausa de nuevas oposiciones hasta mayo de 2023, igual que generalistas AD5 quedo congelada durante 2021 y 2022. Finalmente, ha llegado el momento de ver los frutos y a principios de 2023, obtuvimos el resultado de esta reflexión, que quedará consolidado cuando tengamos en nuestras manos las nuevas convocatorias.
Last week brought another surprise to our tables: EPSO’s governing body unveiled the new competition system… and the first announcement was striking (see picture below). [versión en Español]
The ‘Assessment Centre’ and its related oral tests, in place since 2010, ceases to exist…
EPSO -dixit
So EPSO is dead, long live the EPSOlution (as the new evaluation model has been called by EPSO). Wait a second, before you have a stroke, if you are a candidate in an ongoing EPSO competition, forget this post, your competition sticks to the old model (and check what we can do to help you with your Assessment Centre). However, if you will be a candidate soon or you are interested in working in the EU, this post is for you as you still have plenty of questions: What is gone? What stays? Why is this happening? When is this really taking place? Let’s see if we can reply to all of them.
What is gone?
Talent Screeners are the first victims. Apparently, they will no longer be necessary because the % system that EPSO has been testing over the past months is good enough to evaluate the candidates’ experience in a given field. In some recent competitions, when filling in the section on the job experience in the application, candidates had to indicate which percentage of their working time was dedicated to a specific task. Well, this system will be now the norm as of now to conduct the eligibility checks and to quantify the relevant experience in the field. If you want to know more on this, we explained them in detail in this webinar. Whether EPSO will do the eligibility and relevant experience check both before the exams or split in two actions will be clarified when the new competitions are released.
Second and more important, the Assessment Centre as we knew it is over. No more interviews with the board of assessors in EPSO premises (previous to COVID-19) or using the platform Cammio. No competence-based interview, oral presentation, situational competency-based interview or any other. If some of these tests re-appear, it will be under the responsibility and supervision of the Institution concerned in the final interviews… What? Keep reading to know more on this.
What stays?
Old rockers never die. The computer based test (CBT) on verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning will stay. Yes, we know it, you don’t like them so much but they can’t get rid of them. The good news is that you will no longer need a high mark in the CBT to make it to the next stage. Now you will only need to get the minimum pass mark. Whatever you get beyond that passing mark, won’t matter. If you are new to this, here in this EPSO examples you can see what kind of tests we are talking about.
What is new?
A multiple-choice questionnairein the field for specialist competitions or an EU knowledge test or generalist competitions will be the norm now. Is that really new? Not exactly, we already had some examples, for instance with Data Protection competition, for which we did a webinar where we explained what to study for this test. In the case of the profiles like AST, most likely, there will be a digital skills test, similar to what we saw in the last Secretaries competition.
In the case of Generalist and the EU knowledge test, don’t panic, it won’t be a trivial for EU freaks. EPSO recently said: it will be on meaningful substance questions related to the functioning of the EU, its policies and procedures. So it has committed to publish the sources they will use to generate the questions and everybody will have access to them (the resources, not the questions). This formula is not new either, as the Internal Competition exams in the Commission contains a very similar (if not the same) exam.
Written tests for all. Yes, that’s right. This is the single competence-based test that remains on this part of the process. If you have done a case study, you know what you are facing. If not, it’s a (usually) 90 min test where they give you some background documents on a topic you don’t know (and is not related to your competition) where you have to answer or fulfil some assignments given about it. Here is an official example provided by EPSO. Remember that this exam aims to assess competences, including drafting skills, but not knowledge on the subject of the competition.
Another really important question is not what tests will be conducted, but how. All the tests (reasoning tests, multiple-choice tests and written tests will be in one day/session for all in a remote mode. Same system as the remote CBT done in the last competitions, with the difference that it will be longer now. However, important to note that, despite taking all the tests on the same day, your written exam will only be corrected only if you pass the EU knowledge/specialist test and the CBT, making the process much faster.
Our humble visualization on how the new competition model-timeline will be
On this point there is also some controversy, as candidates who were used to the old system (and had easy access to the Prometric facilities), as well as those who miss the physical calculator in the numerical reasoning tests, didn’t welcome the change to remote tests. When you had a Prometric centre near home, logistics were much simpler than online, but to be fair, the remote evaluation gave an excellent opportunity for new candidates and particularly those living far from Prometric facilities. Considering this and the fact the new method is cheaper than the old system, we better embrace it and prepare to live with the new monitored-online exams for a long time.
After passing the tests what?
So if you pass the CBT, the knowledge test and the written test and fulfil all the experience criteria of the competition (that will be stayed in the notice), you will be placed in a reserve list. Only those on the reserve list will have access to the recruitment process organised by each institution. In this process, general competencies will still be reviewed. How? That fall under the criteria of each institution. EPSO will help them only if requested, most likely field-related type interviews will happen, nothing that we can’t not prepare in advance.
When is the change coming?
In May, the new competitions will be published – one for Economists (AD6) and a second one for Administrators in the field of intellectual property (AD6). Until then, some final changes and adjustments may happen, so with the fresh competition notices in hand, we will update this post with a precise description of the new system and how the competitions will be conducted. In the meantime, we will keep informing you on this and on all the other #eurojobs-related issues, so don’t forget to join our Telegram channel YSE to stay updated.
Why is this happening?
These changes are the final outcome of a transformation process inside EPSO to make open competitions faster and simple. This started already in 2020 and particularly after the report from the European Court of Auditors where several conclusion where reached (short summary: selection process proved not to be very efficient for recruiting specialists and it was overall too long). At the same time, due to the pandemic, we were forced to adopt telework whenever possible, which also affected the EPSO competitions.
In the meantime, competitions continued, but since November, new EPSO competitions were frozen until May 2023 and Generalist AD5 has been under re-evaluation during 2021 and 2022. And now, early 2023, we got the result of this reflection.
Christmas is almost here but before we can enjoy that special time of the year EPSO brings its last competition before the long pause (until May 2023). On the bright side, EPSO has released a new competition offering 101 new positions in 3 different profiles Operational security, Technical security and Occupational health and safety. EPSO aims to close the year with style and offering new opportunities to all of you. Today, we’ll answer the following questions in our analysis of this competition: how many spots are available, languages used in the competition, criteria to be an eligible candidate, the different phases of the competition, as well as our estimated calendar of the competition.
How many spots are available? When does the process begin?
A good number of spots are available, 101 spots in total!!!, distributed in 3 fields. The bad news are that you can only apply to one single field. Be careful! The process began on the 17 November and it will be open for joining until 20 December NOON (let’s say 11.59 AM CET). Until then, you can fill in and validate your application. Approximately, you have been given one month +2 days , that’s more than enough but don’t fall asleep.
if you don’t believe us about the number of spots, just check the notice and do the math
What are the criteria to be a candidate?
The general criteria, as usual: Enjoy full rights as a citizen of a Member State of the EU (of the 27 Member States, sorry, UK is no longer an option), meet any obligations under national laws on military service, and meet the character requirements for the duties concerned.
Specific criteria – languages
Same thing than in the paragraphs but visible in one look. Also you have a similar table in pag 8 of the notice of competition ;-).
I.-LANGUAGE of the APPLICATION: You can choose among the 24 official languages of the EU and you should have, at least, the ability to write your application in that language. Ok, but the question is, in which language should I draft my application? should I do it English? French? Or my native language if it is none of the previous? You have the right to do it in your EU official (one of the 24) language but nobody guarantees someone from the board will be able to read it and, in such case, they would have to translate it. If so, will all the details of your application be properly captured by the translation? If you are uncertain of the answer, better to use a common use language in the institutions, such as English or French. Besides, the check of the CVs for eligibility criteria will be faster if there is a high number of applications in those languages (English and French). For Spanish and Italian speakers, the chances of having someone who can read them are high so the risk of using them is rather mitigated, for other languages, our answer is that you should verify the chances of having fluent readers of your language in the board of evaluators.
Also on languages, bear in mind that, as a candidate (= after you formally submitted your application) of this competition, EPSO will communicate with you (via the EPSO account or by email) in one of the languages that you have declared to have knowledge of at level B2 or higher in the ‘Ability to read’ section in the application. But if you want to complain about an error in the computer-based multiple-choice questions (MCQs) or do a requests for review you have to submit the requests or complaints in English or French. For other questions is any of the 24 official languages (again, the more spoken the language is, the faster they can deal with your communication)
II.-LANGUAGE of the Reasoning test (CBT) or Language 1: You can choose among 24 official languages of the EU (and different from language 2) and you should have, minimum, a C1 level. For your mother tongue, you should qualify yourself as C2 and be CAREFUL! Do not say you have a level below C1 for any language skill (listening, reading, oral communication, written communication…), otherwise you will be disqualified automatically. The computer-based tests or CBT (verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning) will be taken in that language.
III.-LANGUAGE of the ASSESSMENTCENTRE (or langugage 2) : ENGLISH or FRENCH (sorry, you can’t choose others, duty calls and EPSO explains it long and clear why in the notice). Here we need a B2 level minimum of English/French (no need to have a degree to justify it, the tests in the Assessment Centre will be done in this language and if you can work through them, then you will qualify as having the level required). Remember, when describing your level of English/French in the application, not to put any item (written, oral level, or any other) below B2 level. Of course, this language 2 can’t be the same as language 1.
Specific conditions – Work experience and studies or how to be an elegible candidate?
Let’s proceed profile by profile as each one has its own particularities, but before that…
Be careful! In the part «professional experience in the field or relevant» when describing your professional experience in the application (CV – work experience), you must clearly identify the experiences and activities equal or similar to those you are expected to do in the European Institutions and described in the notice twice (please check our table below): first in point 3.3 Specific conditions (do you need more hints?) and later in Annex I – Typical duties, so take a good look at the columns of our tables, explain your experience and keep calm! If you find this task difficult, perhaps one of our past webinars (click to see the recording) can be key to help you fill in your application.
Field 1 – Operational Security
First thing you need to check is the following table
This time, EPSO has prepared a nice table clearly statingthe criteria of what you need to apply
Let’s clarify, ‘a year’ of post-secondary education shall mean a minimum of nine months of effective education or training. Check on page 18 (annex II) onwards to see the corresponding post-secondary degrees by Member State. Also for secondary education you can check the table. Worst case scenario, you don’t have any degree of any type in the areas requested, you will need 6 years of relevant working experience. Knowing this, you can know how many years of working experience (relevant) you need to be eligible.
How to make my experience relevant?
This time it is up to you and to explain it clearly that you have experience in TWO or MORE areas described in the notice (see photo below on the left), by describing your experience on two or more of the areas listed within one of your credited work experience (we insist) and for it, also by using the key words of the task described as a requirement (annex I duties – also copied below on the right). Remember you will have to provide evidence (it must be uploaded before the assessment phase, not now) of all those experiences described (Check annex III point 1 b) to see what it’s accepted to prove it).
In this way, the responses of all the candidates are structured in the same way, which allows the board to make an evaluation (as objective as such a test allows) of the compared merits of all the candidates and see how many years of relevant experience they got. If you think we can be of help, check one of our past webinar (Also this can help especially with the areas of professional experience to be covered in the CV) where we focused on tips to fill in the CV experience and the Talent Screener for past specialist competitions.
Ahhhh!! Last but not least, for this competition, you need a valid security clearance or you will have to through the process to obtain one. And provide proof of successful fiream training or undergo a test for it. (check the notice for full detail)
Field 2 — Technical Security
You need to satisfy one of the following ((i) to (vi) options
Let’s repeat it, ‘a year’ of post-secondary education shall mean a minimum of nine months of effective education or training. Check on page 18 (annex II) onwards to see the corresponding post-secondary degrees by Member State. The table is contains info for secondary education too. Worst case scenario, you don’t have any degree of any type in the areas requested, you will need 7 years of relevant experience.
In your professional experience you need to explain clearly that you have experience in TWO or MORE areas described in the notice (see photo below on the left), by describing your experience on two or more of the areas listed (we insist) with the key words or actions covered in the list of duties (annex I duties – also copied below on the right). Remember that you will have to provide evidence (it must be uploaded before the assessment phase, not now) of all those experiences described (Check annex III point 1 b) to see what it’s accepted to prove it). Watch this video where we explain the mechanism of professional experience in a previous competition
Field 3 – Occupational Health and Safety
Same table as in the previous 2 profiles BUT…
They have added one condition – specialist training – How do I get that? Specialist training referred to in point 3.3.3.(a) (image above) will be taken into account if it amounts to at least 136 hours of cumulated training and is directly related to field 3. For example: prevention advisor or designated worker in either safety, ergonomics or psychosocial risks; radiation protection or safety coordinator, etc. For the purpose of this point, one day shall be equivalent to eight hours of training. So if you got a training that indicates it lasted 17 or more days, it means it had 136 hours or more so it will be valid.
Here the academic part becomes more specific, as the notice describes (point 3.3.3(b). picture below) which diplomas are considerer relevant. So if you have a diploma in one of the points (i) to (ix) below, you need max 3 years of experience. If you have a post secondary diploma in any other area different to those points (i) to (ix) below, you will need 5 years. Finally, in case you only completed secondary education, you will need 6 years.
In your professional experience you need to explain clearly that you have experience in TWO or MORE areas described in the notice (see photo below on the left), by describing your experience on two or more of the areas listed (we insist) with the key words or actions covered in the list of duties (annex I duties – also copied below on the right). Remember you will have to provide evidence (it must be uploaded before the assessment phase, not now) of all those experiences described (Check annex III point 1 b) to see what it’s accepted to prove it). Watch this video where we explain the mechanism of professional experience in a previous competition.
What are the tests that I have to pass? And the competition phases?
Based on the notice of competition + our experience, we split the process in 4 phases: 1) fill in the application, 2) CBT 3) elegibility checking 4) the Assessment Centre. The celebration after you have passed the competition is up to you. Before we continue, short advice, join our Telegram channel YSE to be updated in all the steps of this competition, also on EU-vacancies, our trainings and useful infos.
Phase 1 – Fill in the Application
You’ve got until 20 December (noon) to send your application and before that, fill it in with love and care. This is the first step of the process, and the moment to differentiate yourself from the other candidates and all their experience in relation with the six different profiles. So, keep it focused : Work experience + Academic records – these will be used to confirm your eligibility (= whether you have as many years of working experience in the relevant duties as required) so you need to explain your work experience according to the items described in the notice (central and right side column on the tables below).
Phase 2 – CBT – The reasoning test
For this competition, you can expect the reasoning test next year, January 2023- Yes, right after ending the period of application, usually about couple of weeks later, you can expect the time to book your computer-based tests (CBT) test will open but this time overlaps with Christmas, so expect all this to happen after the holidays, most likely the second week of January, then you will take the test either from home (most likely scenario after what has happened in the previous competitions) or from Prometric centers. This time the CBT’s bring an old concept within.
Pay attention, evil…we mean…the trap is in the details
You will have the usual distribution 20 verbal, 10 numerical and 10 abstract reasoning questions. To pass, you don’t need anything great!! right??? BUT, yes now it comes to the big BUT only those candidates who obtain one of the highest scores in the whole test will have their application checked for eligibility until they got positively checked 3 candidates per position and they will be invited to the assessment.
Phase 3 – Eligibility check
Here you can do nothing but wait. It is the task of the board to read first your CV to see if you have all the years of working experience required. It doesn’t matter if you have 20 or 6 years, once you have passed the threshold of having enough experience you go to the assessment. We remind you that the selection based on compliance with the eligibility conditions will be carried out only for those candidates who pass the CBT and by decreasing order in their overall result. You should therefore include all the relevant information in your application form. The best of all this is, after the evaluations, the number of candidates who will go to the Assessment Centre will be only up to 3 times the amount of openings. We are talking approximately 300 candidates in total and you are one of them because you have written a great application 🏆.
Phase 4 – AssessmentCentre
Congrats! You are one of the candidates with the highest marks in the CBT, you have the required experience and you have been invited to the Assessment Centre. We have reached the final round, in which we will also have to present all our documents related to education and professional experience in digital format (they need to be uploaded into a platform before doing the Assessment Centre tests), so prepare them in advance to avoid a last minute rush with the bureaucracy.
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).
Some practice, some effort and a some guidance and it will be done 😉
When you see your name on the reserve list
Anyway, the key part is the field-related test 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.
Final Step – After a long process and passing the Assessment Centre, EPSO will check the validity of all your records and professional experiences (comparing them to the input of your application). For these, they will use the documents uploaded at the beginning of phase 4 – right before your first test of the Assessment Centre. So, keep your documents ready for upload once you have passed the eligibility check!!! Once you get the final OK for this part, you will see your name on the reserve list and ready to find a job as officer of the European institutions.
What is the timing of the competition? When will EPSO contact me?
All the situations under which EPSO will write you in your profile, not by email, although sometimes we may get a warning message.
The expected calendar for this competition is the following: after the closure date for the submission of the applications, end-december, you will have the opportunity to book your CBT slot, most likely mid-november, then taking the CBT end January or begining of February. After that, they will run the eligibility checks in Winter/early Spring, and then the Assessment will come end-Spring onwards. So get ready to confront the CBT very soon and the Assessment Centre in Spring 2023!!
Many of you ask about when EPSO will tell you that you have passed 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 III of the notice of competition) to communicate with you after the applications 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 informationor 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.
How much will my salary be?
Table of the amounts of basic monthly salaries for each grade and step in function groups AD and AST referred to in Article 66 of the Staff Regulations, applicable from 1 July 2021
One of the most typical questions of the candidates is the salary that you will get. An AST3 (step 2) will join the institutions with a salary starting at 4.500 € and this can be higher depending if you have dependent family members and other conditions. To that amount, you will have to add 16% extra of expatriation allowance and subtract the cost of the taxes (you pay taxes to the European Commission), health insurance and pension, all them proportional to your salary, so expect around the same amount, 4.000 € in net salary. By the way, we refer to step 2 as any first entrant in the institutions can’t join above that step, it means you have at least 3 years of professional experience, what in this competition, is obvious. And if you are worried about life in expensive countries the basic remuneration is supplemented by an allowance linked to the living conditions prevailing at the place of employment, so don’t worry too much.
Can you help me?
Let share some useful links for this competition and any other.
Here we go again! fully loaded of (green) energy, EPSO has launched another AD6 competition in 3 (different?) topics : Energy, Climate and Environment with more than 150 spots (155 to be accurate). Probably they couldn’t have chosen a better moment to do so, nowadays, these are THE TOPICS. Even if tragic events such as the invasion of Ukraine by Russia comes to an end and some stability is back in our lives, climate change and the need to protect the environment will still be there, also the need to tackle these issues by saving energy and using green re-sources. Therefore today’s competition is a competition for the future, are you ready to meet the challenge?
How many spots are available? When does the process begin?
if you don’t believe us about the number of spots, just check the notice and do the math
A good number of spots are available, distributed in 3 fields : 54 for Energy, 49 for Climate and 52 for Environment, so 155 spots in total!!!, The bad news are that you can only apply to one single field, if you have doubts about where you fit best, check the questions in the Talent Screener of each profile. Be careful! The process began on 20 October and it will be open for joining until 22 November NOON (let’s say 11.59 AM CET). Until then, you can fill in and validate your application. Approximately, you have been given one month +2 days , that’s more than enough so charge your environmentally friendly batteries and go for it! If you want some hints on what to next, keep reading.
What are the criteria to be a candidate?
The general criteria, as usual: Enjoy full rights as a citizen of a Member State of the EU (of the 27 Member States, sorry, UK is no longer an option), meet any obligations under national laws on military service, and meet the character requirements for the duties concerned.
Specific criteria – languages
Same thing than in the paragraphs but visible in one look. Also you have a similar table in pag 8 of the notice of competition ;-).
I.-LANGUAGE of the APPLICATION: You can choose among the 24 official languages of the EU and you should have, at least, the ability to write your application in that language. Ok, but the question is, in which language should I draft my application? Should I do it English? French? Or my native language if it is none of the previous? You have the right to do it in your EU official (one of the 24) language but nobody guarantees that someone from the board will be able to read it and, in such case, they would have to translate it. If so, will all the details of your application be properly captured by the translation? If you are uncertain of the answer, better to use a common use language in the institutions, such as English or French. Besides, the check of the CVs for eligibility criteria will be faster if there is a high number of applications in those languages (English and French). For Spanish and Italian speakers, the chances of having someone who can read them are high so the risk of using translation tools is rather mitigated, while for other languages, our answer is that you should verify the chances of having fluent readers of your language in the board of evaluator. BUT also you have to take into account the….
II.-LANGUAGE of the TALENT SCREENER: this time you can’t choose. It must be ENGLISH. So that another good reason to do all your application (CV+Talent Screener) in English, so you can guarantee homogeneity and avoid potential mistakes of mixing languages. But this is only our opinion, at the end, you choose the languages within the possibilities offered by the notice of competition.
Also on languages, bear in mind that, as a candidate (= after you formally submitted your application) of this competition, EPSO will communicate with you (via the EPSO account or by email) in one of the languages that you have declared to have knowledge of at level B2 or higher in the ‘Ability to read’ section in the application. But if you want to complain about an error in the computer-based multiple-choice questions (MCQs) or do a requests for review you have to submit the requests or complaints in English or French. For other questions is any of the 24 official languages (again, the more spoken the language is, the faster they can deal with your communication)
III.-LANGUAGE of the Reasoning test (CBT): You can choose among 24 23 official languages of the EU, all except ENGLISH and you should have, minimum, a C1 level. For your mother tongue, you should qualify yourself as C2 and be CAREFUL! Do not say you have a level below C1 for any language skill (listening, reading, oral communication, written communication…), otherwise you will be disqualified automatically. The computer-based tests or CBT (verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning) will be taken in that language.
IV.-LANGUAGE of the ASSESSMENTCENTRE: ENGLISH or ENGLISH (sorry, you can’t choose, duty calls and EPSO explains it long and clear why in the notice). Here we need a B2 level minimum of English (no need to have a degree to justify it, the tests in the Assessment Centre will be done in this language and if you can work through them, then you will qualify as having the level required). Remember, when describing your level of English in the application, not to put any item (written, oral level, or any other) below B2 level.
Specific conditions – Work experience and studies
Let’s proceed by grouping all the criteria in each field, in an orderly manner so the criteria are more visible to all of you, especially the years of relevant working experience, which depends on your university degree.
Be aware! In the part «professional experience in the field or relevant» when describing your professional experience in the application (CV – work experience), you must clearly identify the experiences and activities equal or similar to those you are expected to do in the European Institutions and described in the notice twice (please check our table above): first in point 3.3 Specific conditions (do you need more hints?) and later in Annex I – Typical duties, so take a good look at the columns of our tables, explain your experience and keep calm! If you find this task difficult, perhaps ournext webinar on this competition that will take place on 24 October can be key to help you fill in your application.
What are the tests that I have to pass? And the competition phases?
Based on the notice of competition + our experience, we split the process in 5 phases: 1) fill in the application, 2) eligibility checking 3) Talent Screener 4) CBT and 5) the Assessment Centre. The celebration after you have passed the competition is up to you. Before we continue, remember you can join our Telegram channel YSE to be updated in all the steps of this competition, vacancies, our trainings and useful infos.
Phase 1 – Fill in the Application and the Talent Screener
You’ve got until 22 November (noon) to send your application and before that, fill it in with love and care. This is the first step of the process, and the moment to differentiate yourself from the other candidates and all their experience in relation with the different profiles. So, keep it focused : Work experience + Academic records/University Degree – these will be used to confirm your eligibility (= whether you have as many years of working experience in the relevant duties as required) so you need to explain your work experience according to the items described in the notice (central and right side column on the tables above,…yes those, so check them again).
… (Wait! we are still in phase 1 and I have two relevant questions)
How can I prove my experience is relevant? This time it is up to you and to explain it clearly, by using the key words of the task described as a requirement. Remember you will have to provide evidence of all those experiences described (Check annex III point 1 b) to see what it’s accepted to prove it).
What is a TALENT SCREENER? This is a list of questions related to your academic and professional background that you must answer in your application, you can find the questions on the Annex II of the notice of competition. The board of the competition is in charge of evaluating the answers. Keep in mind that all candidates in the same profile and field answer the same questions. In this way, the responses of all the candidates are structured in the same way, which allows the board to make an evaluation (as objective as such a type of test allows) of the compared merits of all the candidates. Remember to look at annex IV or the application form for all the details, and if you think we can be of help, come to our our free webinar next webinar on this competition that will take place on 24 October 18:30 (or watch one of our previous ones here the recording).
In this way, the responses of all the candidates are structured in the same way, which allows the board to make an evaluation (as objective as such a test allows) of the compared merits of all the candidates.
Phase 2 – Eligibility check
Here you can do nothing but wait. It is the task of the board to read first your CV to see if you have all the years of working experience required. It doesn’t matter if you have 20 or 6 years, once you have passed the threshold of having enough experience you go to the assessment. We remind you that the selection based on compliance with the eligibility conditions will be carried for all the candidates. You should therefore include all the relevant information in your application form (we insist).
Phase 3 – Talen Screener evaluation
Once you have been deemed eligible and all candidates have been evaluated, you and all the candidates will get an email informing on this and that you advance to the Talent Screener (BUT it doesn’t mean that you have been invited to the Assessment Centre… yet). Talent Screener evaluationwill begin then using solely the information provided in this Talent Screener section (in English), they don’t cross reference with the rest of your application or Google to look for more information about you. You should therefore include all relevant information in your answers, even if already mentioned in other sections of your application form. The questions are published in annex IV of your notice of competition.
The best of all this is, after the evaluations (eligibility and talent and several months of wait), the number of candidates who will go to the Assessment Centre will be only up to 3 times the amount of openings. We are talking approximately 450 candidates in total and you are one of them because you have written a great application 🏆.
Phase 4 – CBT – The reasoning tests
Congrats! You are one of the three hundred candidates with the highest marks in the Talent Screener and you have been invited to the Assessment Centre, the final round. In this round, you will also have to present all your papers in digital format (it used to be a USB memory stick before, now in the online Assessment Centre you will have to upload the pertinent papers before having the test), so prepare them in advance to avoid rushing in the last minute. First we’ll have the CBT (computer-based test), not so terrible as it looks, as you don’t need much to pass it (like an ordinary CAST exam) and there is no need of having a high mark, only passing it is enough.
Pay attention, you still need to pass this one, although not a big deal
Phase 4 – AssessmentCentre.
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 8 competences to be assessed. Between the two tests you can gather a total of 80 points, with the particularity that you need an overall 40/80 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).
Some practice, some effort and a some guidance and it will be done 😉
When you see your name on the reserve list
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.
Final Step – After a long process and passing the Assessment Centre, EPSO will check the validity of all your records and professional experiences (comparing them to the input of your application). For these, they will use the documents uploaded at the beginning of phase 4 – right before your first test of the Assessment Centre. So, keep your documents ready for upload once you have passed the eligibility check!!! Once you get the final OK for this part, you will see your name on the reserve list and ready to find a job as officer of the European institutions.
What is the timing of the competition? When will EPSO contact me?
All the situations under which EPSO will write you in your profile, not by email, although sometimes we may get a warning message.
The expected calendar for this competition is the following: after the closure date for the submission of the applications, second half of November, you will have the opportunity wait for a long time (winter is coming!) until they have done the eligibility check and the evaluation of the Talent Screener. Do not expect they will finish with the Talent before April 2023. Then you will have to take the CBT by May and the Assessment May-July 2023. After that, they will run the verification of your background documents (Summer time) and publish the reserve list by Autumn 2023. We are living light-speed times!
Many of you ask about when EPSO will tell you that you have passed 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 III of the notice of competition) to communicate with you after the applications 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 informationor 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.
How much will my salary be?
Table of the amounts of basic monthly salaries for each grade and step in function groups AD and AST referred to in Article 66 of the Staff Regulations, applicable from 1 July 2021
One of the most typical questions of the candidates is the salary that you will get. An AD6 (step 2) will join the institutions with a salary starting at 6.000 € and this can be higher depending if you have dependent family members and other conditions. To that amount, you will have to add 16% extra of expatriation allowance and subtract the cost of the taxes (you pay taxes to the European Commission), health insurance and pension, all them proportional to your salary, so expect around the same amount, 6.000 € in net salary. By the way, we refer to step 2 as any first entrant in the institutions can’t join above that step, it means you have at least 3 years of professional experience, what in this competition, is obvious. And if you are worried about life in expensive countries the basic remuneration is supplemented by an allowance linked to the living conditions prevailing at the place of employment, so don’t worry too much.
Can you help me?
Let share some useful links for this competition, our trainings and more.
El otoño está aquí y las hojas de los árboles van cayendo e igualmente lo hacen las vacantes y las oportunidades para trabajar en la institución europea. EPSO ha publicado una nueva oposición que nos ofrece 492 nuevos puestos (casi 500 si eres de los que prefiere números redondos) para una amplia gama de perfiles, desde expertos en gestión financiera y contabilidad hasta expertos en medios de comunicación ( redes sociales, webmaster, diseño gráfico) terminado por expertos en contratación pública y licitaciones. Las instituciones europeas necesitan cada vez más perfiles técnicos altamente especializados, el mundo está cambiando y tú puedes formar parte de ese cambio. Si buscas la versión en inglés de este artículo, pincha aquí
¿Cuántas plazas hay? ¿Hasta cuando puedo presentar la candidatura?
Tenemos un buen número de plazas disponibles ¡¡¡492 plazas en total!!!, distribuidas en 6 ámbitos. Las malas noticias son que sólo puedes presentarte a un ámbito de los seis, así que eligelo con tiento y criterio. El proceso arrancó el 22 de septiembre y cerrará el día 25 de octubre (AL MEDIODIA) Hasta entonces , puedes completar y validar tu candidatura. En total nos han dado un mes y un par de días, asi que nada de dormirse en los laureles.
Si no te crees el númer ode plazas, tan sólo verificalo en la convocatoria de la oposición y haz la suma.
¿Cuáles son los criterios para ser candidato?
Los criterios generales, como de costumbre: Gozar de plenos derechos como ciudadano de uno de los veintisiete Estados miembros de la UE (el Reino Unido ya no es una opción), cumplir las obligaciones derivadas de la legislación nacional en materia de servicio militar y cumplir los requisitos de carácter para las funciones de que se trate.
Criterios específicos – Los idiomas
I.-IDIOMA de la SOLICITUD: Puedes elegir entre las 24 lenguas oficiales de la UE y, como mínimo, deberías tener la capacidad para redactar la candidatura en esa lengua. OK, jajaja muy divertido, pero la pregunta es ¿En qué lengua debo redactar mi solicitud? ¿Debería hacerlo el inglés? ¿francés o en mi lengua materna? Tienes derecho a hacerlo en tu lengua oficial, pero nadie garantiza que alguien del tribunal de la oposición pueda leerlo y, en tal caso, tengan que traducirlo. En ese caso, la siguiente pregunta es ¿sobrevivirán todos los detalles de mi solicitud a la traducción? Si no lo tienes por seguro, plantéate lo siguiente ¿no será mejor utilizar una lengua de uso común en las instituciones, así controlo lo que pongo? Y es ahí entrarán el inglés y el francés. Además, la verificación de los criterios de admisibilidad de los CV será proporcionalmente más rápida al número de solicitudes en esas lenguas (inglés y francés). En el caso de los hablantes españoles e italianos, las posibilidades de que alguien pueda leerlos (aún sin ser nativos) son elevadas, por lo que el riesgo de utilizarlos está bastante mitigado; para otras lenguas, nuestra respuesta es que pienses antes cuales son las posibilidades de tener lectores fluidos de tu lengua en el tribunal de la oposición.
Lo mismo que hemos dicho antes pero ordenado por EPSO. Puedes verlo en la página 8 de la convocatoria 😉
Siguiendo con el tema de los idiomas , ten en cuenta que, como candidato oficial (= después de haber presentado oficialmente su candidatura) de esta oposición, la EPSO se comunicará (a través de la cuenta EPSO o por correo electrónico) contigo en una de las lenguas que hayas declarado tener conocimientos de nivel B2 o superior en la sección «Capacidad de lectura» del formulario de candidatura. Sin embargo, si lo que quieres es denunciar un error en las preguntas de opciones múltiples por ordenador (el CBT) o solicitar una revisión de alguna de los resultados, tienes que presentar las solicitudes o reclamaciones en inglés o francés. Para otras preguntas, cualquiera de las 24 lenguas oficiales (de nuevo, cuanto más hablada sea la lengua, más rápido podrán tratar su comunicación)
II.-IDIOMA de los test psicotécnicos (CBT): Para los clásicos test de razonamiento verbal, razonamiento numérico y razonamiento abstracto, puede elegir entre 24 23 lenguas oficiales de la UE, todas excepto INGLÉS, y debe tener, como mínimo, un nivel C1. Si es tu lengua materna, deberías calificarte como C2 y tener mucho cuidado. No digas que tienes un nivel inferior a C1 para ninguna competencia lingüística (escucha, lectura, comunicación oral, comunicación escrita, etc.), so pena de ser descalificado automáticamente. Las pruebas por ordenador o CBT (razonamiento verbal, numérico y abstracto) se realizarán en esa lengua declarada como lengua 1 (insistimos por si no quedó claro). Y si necesitas apoyo con estos test, puedes unirte a uno de nuestros cursos de CBT (pronto empieza el siguiente) .
III.-IDIOMA del Assessment: INGLÉS o INGLÉS (lo sentimos, estos son lentejas y no puedes elegir, el deber obliga y la EPSO explica las razones de esta elección claramente en la convocatoria). Aquí necesitaremos un nivel B2 mínimo de inglés (no es necesario tener un diploma o título para justificarlo, las pruebas en el Centro de Evaluación se realizarán en esta lengua y si puede trabajar/examinarte con ella, se considerará que tiene el nivel requerido). Recuerda que, al describir su nivel de inglés en la solicitud, no coloques ningún elemento (tú nivel de escrito, oral o lectura) por debajo del nivel B2.
Condiciones específicas – Experiencia profesional y estudios
Vamos poco a poco, agrupando el perfil 1 y 2 y luego hablaremos de los perfiles del 3 al 6, así los criterios de lo que nos piden, serán más visibles para todos.
¡Cuidadín! Para explicar la parte «experiencia profesional en el ámbito», como en este caso, significa que, al describir su experiencia profesional en la solicitud (CV — experiencia laboral), los candidatos deben identificar claramente las experiencias y actividades iguales o similares a las que se espera que realicen en las instituciones europeas y descritas en el anuncio dos veces (consulte nuestro cuadro): en primer lugar, en el punto 3.3 Condiciones específicas (¿necesita más explicaciones?) y más tarde en el anexo I — Funciones atípicas, por lo que mira bien las columnas de nuestros cuadros, explique su experiencia y no desespere. Si considera que esta tarea es difícil, quizás nuestro próximo seminario web (martes 11 octubre 19 h CET)webinar( click para ver el video) sobre esta oposición pueda ser clave para darte ideas de cómo afrontar la oposición.
Las pruebas a superar y las distintas fases de la oposición
Tomando como referencia la convocatoria de oposición + nuestra experiencia, el proceso lo hemos dividido en 4 fases: 1) rellenar la solicitud, 2) CBT 3) verificación de la admisibilidad 4) el Centro de Evaluación. Por último, el fiestorro una vez superada la oposición queda a tu discreción. Antes de arrancar, si quieres que vayamos informando de avances en esta oposición, vacantes y cosillas de utilidad, unete a nuestro canal de Telegram YSE
Fase 1 – Rellenar la candidatura
Tenemos hasta el 25 de octubre (mediodía) para enviar la solicitud y, antes, toca rellenarla con amor y cuidado. Este es el primer paso del proceso y el momento de diferenciarse de los demás candidatos y de toda su experiencia en relación con los seis perfiles diferentes. Así pues, mantente centrado en explicar bien tu Experiencia laboral+ cualificaciones pues estos se utilizarán para confirmar tu admisibilidad (= tienes tantos años de experiencia laboral en las funciones pertinentes como sea necesario). Esto significa que debemos explicar nuestra experiencia laboral con arreglo a los puntos descritos en la convocatoria (columnas central y derecha del cuadro que viene a continuación – están inglés porque asumimos que la mayoría de los candidatos usaréis esa lengua para la candidatura, sino aquí está la convocatoria en español).
Ámbito 3 – Contratación Pública & Ámbito 4 Diseño Gráfico y producción de contenidos visuales & 5 Medios digitales y redes sociales & 6.- webmaster (administradores de sitios web) (haz click en las flechas laterales para ir cambiando de tabla)
… (¡para el carro! Estamos todavía en la fase 1) ¿Cómo puedo demostrar que mi experiencia es pertinente? Esta vez te toca explicarlo claramente utilizando las palabras clave de las tareas descrita como requisito (insistimos). Recuerda que tendrás que aportar evidencias (papeles que la prueben) de todas las experiencias descritas en tu candidatura (consulta el anexo III, punto 1, letra b para ver que papeles se aceptan para justificarlas).
De este modo, las respuestas de todos los candidatos estarán estructuradas de la misma manera, lo que permite al tribunal de la oposición realizar una evaluación (tan objetiva como lo permite el proceso) de los méritos de todos los candidatos. Si crees que podemos ayudarte, echa un vistazo a nuestro anterior webinar, en el que nos centramos en los consejos para rellenar la candidatura y el Talent Screener de oposiciones especializadas. PERO, si está buscando una visión totalmente aplicada a esta oposición, vente a nuestro próximo seminario web (martes 11 octubre 19 h CET) a ver el webinar que hicimos( click para ver el video).
Fase 2- CBT — La prueba de razonamiento
Justo después de finalizar el período de inscripción, unas dos semanas más tarde, podemos esperar esperar que se abra el tiempo para reservar la prueba por ordenador (CBT) y que se realicen la prueba desde casa o desde los centros Prometric durante la segunda quincena de noviembre y principios de diciembre. Y aquí llega la sorpresa, esta vez los CBT aportan una sorpresa oculta.
Para el ámbito 1 — Gestión financiera & ámbito 2 — Contabilidad y tesorería, tendrás 15 preguntas en el razonamiento numérico (5 más de lo habitual), mientras que en el razonamiento verbal sólo 15 (5 menos de lo habitual). Para superarlo necesitarás 8 de cada 15 puntos en el numérico y 12 de 25 de la puntuación combinada de BUT verbal y abstracta, pero ahora viene gran PERO, sólo los candidatos que obtengan una de las puntuaciones más altas en la prueba de razonamiento numérico serán sometidos a una comprobación de su admisibilidad, ya que esta verificación se hará por orden de nota hasta completar 3 veces el número de vacantes disponibles (y siempre que también tengamos el mínimo de 12 sobre 25 para verbal + abstracto). Recuerda que si necesitas apoyo con estos test, puedes unirte a uno de nuestros cursos de CBT (pronto empieza el siguiente)
Presta atención, el diablo se esconde en los detalles
Y si vamos al ámbito 3 — Contratación pública — ámbito 4 — Diseño gráfico y producción de contenidos visuales- ámbito 5 — Medios sociales y digitales, ámbito 6 — Webmaster, la imagen cambiará un poco. Volvemos a la distribución clásica de 20 preguntas verbales, 10 numéricas y 10 abstractas. Para superarlo, necesitarás 10 de 20 verbales y 10 de 20 de la puntuación combinada de numérico y abstracto, sí ahora el gran PERO. También en estos ámbitos o perfiles, las verificaciones de cumplir con los criterios de admisibilidad se harán por orden decreciente de puntuación en el razonamiento verbal (y siempre que tengamos el mínimo de 10 sobre 20 para numérico + abstracto) hasta completar el cupo de 3 candidatos por plaza ofertada ( Permítenos que insistamos, que luego sólo os acordáis de la croqUEta de YSE cuando quedan 2 días para el examen , aquí el enlace para informarte y/o unirte a nuestro próximo curso de CBT )
La distribucion de preguntas y puntos de siempre con la salvedad que tenemos que sacar un buen resultado en verbal.
Fase 3 — Verificación de la admisibilidad
Aquí no puede hacer nada más que esperar. Corresponde al Tribunal de la oposición leer tu candidatura para ver si tiene todos los años de experiencia laboral requeridos(y los estudios correspondientes). No importa si tiene 20 o 6 años, una vez que haya superado el umbral de experiencia suficiente para pasar a la evaluación. Te recordamos que la selección basada en el cumplimiento de las condiciones de admisión solo se llevará a cabo para los candidatos que superen el CBT y por orden decreciente en su resultado numérico (perfil 1 y 2) o verbal (perfiles 3-4-5-6) (por si no quisiste leer la fase 2). Por lo tanto, debe incluir toda la información pertinente en tu formulario de candidatura. Lo mejor es, tras las evaluaciones, solo 3 veces las aperturas se dirigirán al Centro de Evaluación. Hablamos de un total aproximado de 1500 candidatos y estamos seguro que tú serás uno de ellos porque habrás escrito una gran candidatura 🏆 después de asistir a nuestro webinar.
Fase 4 — Centro de evaluación.
¡Enhorabuena! Eres uno de los candidatos que has obtenido las mejores puntuaciones en el CBT, cuentas con la experiencia requerida y por tanto has sido invitado al Centro de Evaluación. Hemos llegado a la ronda final, en la que también tendremos que presentar todos nuestros documentos relacionados con la educación y la experiencia profesional en formato digital (deberán cargarse en una plataforma antes de realizar las pruebas del Centro de Evaluación), por lo que los prepararemos con antelación para evitar una carreras de última hora con la burocracia.
Hablando de las pruebas a las que nos vamos a enfrentar, la oposición pasa a ser clásica. Los candidatos deberán someterse a lo siguiente: Estudio de casos y entrevista basada en competencias situacionales: aquí tienen 7 competencias que deben evaluarse (en las oposiciones AD hay ocho). Entre las dos pruebas, puede reunir un total de 70 puntos, con la particularidad que necesita y, en total, 35/70 para aprobar, pero no las puntuaciones mínimas por competencia, no confían en estas dos pruebas, pero sí lo harás por esta parte, aunque cuantos más puntos obtengamos mejor (con estas pruebas, llegado el momento, también podemos ayudar).
Algo de práctica , un poco de esfuerzo y algo de guía y tenemos la receta perfecta para aprobar.
When you see your name on the reserve list
En cualquier caso, la parte clave es la prueba relacionada con el campo (field related interview), en la que tendrá que demostrar sus conocimientos técnicos sobre el terreno, explicando detalladamente su experiencia pertinente para este puesto. La entrevista en el campo también está de alguna manera estructurada, pero, puesto que se centra claramente en su experiencia laboral, es mucho más interesante y gratificante, puede obtener hasta 100 puntos en esa prueba (también podemos ayudar con esta), aproximadamente el 60 % de todos los puntos disponibles.
Paso final: tras un largo proceso y tras superar el Centro de Evaluación, la EPSO comprobará la validez de todos sus expedientes y experiencias profesionales (comparándolos con las aportaciones de su candidatura). Para ello, utilizarán los documentos cargados al comienzo de la fase 4, justo antes de la primera prueba del Centro de Evaluación. Así pues, mantente listo para cargar los documentos una vez que hayas superado el control de admisibilidad. Una vez que obtenga el OK final para esta parte y tras una espera (larga o corta dependerá de tu paciencia), verás tu nombre en la lista de reserva y estarás listo para encontrar un puesto de funcionario de las instituciones europeas.
¿Cuál es el calendario de la convocatoria? ¿Cúando me va a contactar EPSO?
All the situations under which EPSO will write you in your profile, not by email, although sometimes we may get a warning message.
El calendario previsto para esta competición es el siguiente: después de la fecha de cierre para la presentación de las solicitudes y realizar el test psicotécnicio ( CBT), se llevarán a cabo los controles de elegibilidad en otoño y luego el Talent Screener durante el invierno. ¡Así que prepárate para enfrentarte al CBT este otoño y al Centro de Evaluación en la primavera de 2023!
¿Cuándo se pondrá en contacto conmigo la EPSO? Muchos nos preguntain cuándo os dirá EPSO que habeis pasado a la siguiente fase, o si habéis sido invitados al assessment tras pasar la evaluación de los años de experiencia, o… habeis leído o escuchado rumores sobre el desarrollo de los concursos (el primo de la prima del primo de la…. ha dicho que…). Es mejor aislarse de ese ruido y centrarse en los mensajes reales, EPSO se compromete (en el anexo II del anuncio) a comunicarse con todos los candidatos después de que hayan pasado la fase de elegiblidad e igualmente después del Talent Screener para informar de los resultados e invitarte al Assessment. Mientras tanto, puede llevar semanas o meses recibir cualquier información, así que mantén la calma. En caso de duda, puedes ponerte en contacto con EPSO también, ya que los candidatos teneis derecho a hacerlo, pero ten cuidado, las respuestas pueden ser un poco crípticas o un simple copiar/pegar de la notificación, no esperes grandes aclaraciones.
¿Cuánto voy a ganar?
Table of the amounts of basic monthly salaries for each grade and step in function groups AD and AST referred to in Article 66 of the Staff Regulations, applicable from 1 July 2021
Una de las preguntas más típicas de los candidatos. Un AST3 (paso 2) se incorporará a las instituciones con un salario de salida superior a 4,000 EUR y esto puede ser mayor dependiendo de si tienes familia dependiente de ti y otras condiciones. A eso tendrás que sumar un 16 % extra de tasa de expatriación y restar el coste de los impuestos (pagas impuestos a la Comisión Europea), seguro de salud y pensión, todos ellos proporcionales a tu salario, así entre lo que entra y sale, espera alrededor de la misma cantidad, 4,000 EUR, en salario neto. Por cierto, nos referimos al step 2 ya que cualquiera que entra nuevo en las instituciones no puede entrar por encima de ese «step», ese nivel se adquiere si demuestras que tienes al menos 3 años de experiencia profesional, lo que en esta oposición, es obvio. Y si te preocupa la vida en países caros, la remuneración básica se complementa con una asignación vinculada a las condiciones de vida que prevalecen en el lugar de trabajo, así que no es para tanto
We are now at that time of the year when tree leaves are falling… and so are the vacancies and opportunities to work in the European Institutions! EPSO has released a new competition offering 492 new positions (almost 500 if you prefer round numbers) to a wide range of profiles from experts in financial management, accounting and public procurement to media experts (social, web, graphic design). The European Institutions need more and more highly specialized technical profiles, the world is changing and you can be a part of that change. Spanish version of this post available here.
How many spots are available? When does the process begin?
A good number of spots are available, 492 spots in total!!!, distributed in 6 fields. The bad news are that you can only apply to one single field. Be careful! The process began on the 22 September and it will be open for joining until 25 October NOON (let’s say 11.59 AM CET). Until then, you can fill in and validate your application. Approximately, you have been given one month +2 days , that’s more than enough but don’t fall asleep.
if you don’t believe us about the number of spots, just check the notice and do the math
What are the criteria to be a candidate?
The general criteria, as usual: Enjoy full rights as a citizen of a Member State of the EU (of the 27 Member States, sorry, UK is no longer an option), meet any obligations under national laws on military service, and meet the character requirements for the duties concerned.
Specific criteria – languages
Same thing than in the paragraphs but visible in one look. Also you have a similar table in pag 8 of the notice of competition ;-).
I.-LANGUAGE of the APPLICATION: You can choose among the 24 official languages of the EU and you should have, at least, the ability to write your application in that language. Ok, but the question is, in which language should I draft my application? should I do it English? French? Or my native language if it is none of the previous? You have the right to do it in your EU official (one of the 24) language but nobody guarantees someone from the board will be able to read it and, in such case, they would have to translate it. If so, will all the details of your application be properly captured by the translation? If you are uncertain of the answer, better to use a common use language in the institutions, such as English or French. Besides, the check of the CVs for eligibility criteria will be faster if there is a high number of applications in those languages (English and French). For Spanish and Italian speakers, the chances of having someone who can read them are high so the risk of using them is rather mitigated, for other languages, our answer is that you should verify the chances of having fluent readers of your language in the board of evaluators.
Also on languages, bear in mind that, as a candidate (= after you formally submitted your application) of this competition, EPSO will communicate with you (via the EPSO account or by email) in one of the languages that you have declared to have knowledge of at level B2 or higher in the ‘Ability to read’ section in the application. But if you want to complain about an error in the computer-based multiple-choice questions (MCQs) or do a requests for review you have to submit the requests or complaints in English or French. For other questions is any of the 24 official languages (again, the more spoken the language is, the faster they can deal with your communication)
II.-LANGUAGE of the Reasoning test (CBT): You can choose among 24 23 official languages of the EU, all except ENGLISH and you should have, minimum, a C1 level. For your mother tongue, you should qualify yourself as C2 and be CAREFUL! Do not say you have a level below C1 for any language skill (listening, reading, oral communication, written communication…), otherwise you will be disqualified automatically. The computer-based tests or CBT (verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning) will be taken in that language.
III.-LANGUAGE of the ASSESSMENTCENTRE: ENGLISH or ENGLISH (sorry, you can’t choose, duty calls and EPSO explains it long and clear why in the notice). Here we need a B2 level minimum of English (no need to have a degree to justify it, the tests in the Assessment Centre will be done in this language and if you can work through them, then you will qualify as having the level required). Remember, when describing your level of English in the application, not to put any item (written, oral level, or any other) below B2 level.
Specific conditions – Work experience and studies
Let’s proceed by grouping fields, we will first deal with field 1 and 2 and then with profiles from 3 to 6. in an orderly manner so the criteria are more visible to all you.
Be aware! In the part «professional experience in the field or relevant» when describing your professional experience in the application (CV – work experience), you must clearly identify the experiences and activities equal or similar to those you are expected to do in the European Institutions and described in the notice twice (please check our table below): first in point 3.3 Specific conditions (do you need more hints?) and later in Annex I – Typical duties, so take a good look at the columns of our tables, explain your experience and keep calm! If you find this task difficult, perhaps ournext webinar on this competition that will take place on 11 Octoberwebinar( click to see the recording) can be key to help you fill in your application.
What are the tests that I have to pass? And the competition phases?
Based on the notice of competition + our experience, we split the process in 4 phases: 1) fill in the application, 2) CBT 3) elegibility checking 4) the Assessment Centre. The celebration after you have passed the competition is up to you. Before we continue, remember you can join our Telegram channel YSE to be updated in all the steps of this competition, vacancies, our trainings and useful infos.
Phase 1 – Fill in the Application
You’ve got until 25 October (noon) to send your application and before that, fill it in with love and care. This is the first step of the process, and the moment to differentiate yourself from the other candidates and all their experience in relation with the six different profiles. So, keep it focused : Work experience + Academic records – these will be used to confirm your eligibility (= whether you have as many years of working experience in the relevant duties as required) so you need to explain your work experience according to the items described in the notice (central and right side column on the tables below).
Field 1 – Financial management & Field 2 – Accounting and treasury
Field 3 – Public procurement & Field 4 – Graphic design and visual content production & Field 5 – Social and digital media & Field 6 -Webmaster (click on the side arrows to change the table)
… (Wait! we are still in phase 1) How can I prove my experience is relevant? This time is up to you and to explain it clearly, by using the key words of the task described as a requirement. Remember you will have to provide evidence of all those experiences described (Check annex III point 1 b) to see what it’s accepted to prove it).
In this way, the responses of all the candidates are structured in the same way, which allows the board to make an evaluation (as objective as such a test allows) of the compared merits of all the candidates. If you think we can be of help, check our past webinar where we focused on tips to fill in the Talent Screener for past specialist competitions. BUT if you are looking for a fresh view on this competition, check our next webinar on the subject on 11 October.webinar( click to see the recording)
Phase 2 – CBT – The reasoning test
Right after ending the period of application, about couple of weeks later, you can expect the time to book your computer-based tests (CBT) test will open, then you will take the test either from home or from Prometric centers during the second half of November and early December. This time the CBT’s bring a hidden surprise.
For Field 1 -Financial management & Field 2 – Accounting and treasury, you will have 15 questions in the numerical reasoning (5 more than usual), while in the verbal only 15 (5 less than usual). To pass, you will need 8 out of 15 in numerical and 12 out of 25 from the combined score of verbal and abstract. BUT, yes now it comes the big BUT, only those candidates who obtain one of the highest scores in the numerical reasoning test will have their application checked for eligibility (and minimum 12 out of 25 for verbal + abstract) by order of results and until they have as many candidates as 3 times the number of spots offered. So it doesn’t matter if you have 10 , 20 or 30 years of relevant working experience, you need a high result in the numerical reasoning.
Pay attention, evil…we mean…the numerical is in the details
And if we go for Field 3 – Public procurement & Field 4 – Graphic design and visual content production & Field 5 – Social and digital media & Field 6 – Webmaster, the picture changes a bit. You will have the usual distribution 20 verbal, 10 numerical and 10 abstract reasoning questions. To pass, you will need 10 out of 20 in verbal and 10 out of 20 from the combined score of numerical and abstract reasoning. BUT, yes now it comes the big BUT for these ones too, only those candidates who obtain one of the highest scores in the verbal reasoning test will have their application checked for eligibility (and also the minimum 10 out of 25 for numerical + abstract).
Almost business as usual but still highest mark in verbal is needed
Phase 3 – Eligibility check
Here you can do nothing but wait. It is the task of the board to read first your CV to see if you have all the years of working experience required. It doesn’t matter if you have 20 or 6 years, once you have passed the threshold of having enough experience you go to the assessment. We remind you that the selection based on compliance with the eligibility conditions will be carried out only for those candidates who pass the CBT and by decreasing order in their result of numerical (profile 1 and 2) or verbal (profiles 3-4-5-6) . You should therefore include all the relevant information in your application form. The best of all this is, after the evaluations, the number of candidates who will go to the Assessment Centre will be only up to 3 times the amount of openings. We are talking approximately 1500 candidates in total and you are one of them because you have written a great application 🏆.
Phase 4 – AssessmentCentre.
Congrats! You are one of the candidates with the highest marks in the CBT, you have the required experience and you have been invited to the Assessment Centre. We have reached the final round, in which we will also have to present all our documents related to education and professional experience in digital format (they need to be uploaded into a platform before doing the Assessment Centre tests), so prepare them in advance to avoid a last minute rush with the bureaucracy.
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).
Some practice, some effort and a some guidance and it will be done 😉
When you see your name on the reserve list
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.
Final Step – After a long process and passing the Assessment Centre, EPSO will check the validity of all your records and professional experiences (comparing them to the input of your application). For these, they will use the documents uploaded at the beginning of phase 4 – right before your first test of the Assessment Centre. So, keep your documents ready for upload once you have passed the eligibility check!!! Once you get the final OK for this part, you will see your name on the reserve list and ready to find a job as officer of the European institutions.
What is the timing of the competition? When will EPSO contact me?
All the situations under which EPSO will write you in your profile, not by email, although sometimes we may get a warning message.
The expected calendar for this competition is the following: after the closure date for the submission of the applications, mid-November you will have the opportunity to book your CBT slot, then taking the CBT end November, early December. After that, they will run the eligibility checks in Winter, and then the Assessment will come in mid-Spring onwards. So get ready to confront the CBT very soon and the Assessment Centre in Spring 2023!!
Many of you ask about when EPSO will tell you that you have passed 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 III of the notice of competition) to communicate with you after the applications 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 informationor 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.
How much will my salary be?
Table of the amounts of basic monthly salaries for each grade and step in function groups AD and AST referred to in Article 66 of the Staff Regulations, applicable from 1 July 2021
One of the most typical questions of the candidates is the salary that you will get. An AST3 (step 2) will join the institutions with a salary starting at 4.500 € and this can be higher depending if you have dependent family members and other conditions. To that amount, you will have to add 16% extra of expatriation allowance and subtract the cost of the taxes (you pay taxes to the European Commission), health insurance and pension, all them proportional to your salary, so expect around the same amount, 4.000 € in net salary. By the way, we refer to step 2 as any first entrant in the institutions can’t join above that step, it means you have at least 3 years of professional experience, what in this competition, is obvious. And if you are worried about life in expensive countries the basic remuneration is supplemented by an allowance linked to the living conditions prevailing at the place of employment, so don’t worry too much.
Can you help me?
Let share some useful links for this competition and any other.
It looks like yesterday when the last competition for Heads of Administration in EU Delegations took place… wait, it was 2018/19!! In fact the results were published in October 2019. Apparently there is still a need for brave people willing to face the challenge of working around the globe and alternating those places periodically with Brussels… to do what? Well, that is clearly explained in the image below:
Pay attention to the security clearance, if you are a Russian spy, it might be a problem to get one
And yes! We know you count on an earlier post analysing this competition but let’s be honest, everybody was on holidays (even us). Now is the time when you are preparing your application, so we are just in time with this post… and one extra announcement: We have already released our Youtube video explaining the TALENT SCREENER.
How many spots are available? When does it begin?
A good number of spots are available (40 spots in total, same as in the previous competition) and you will have more than 2 months to apply. Be careful! The process will be openuntil 27 September NOON (let’s say 11.59 AM CET). Until then, you can fill in and validate your application. Approximately, you have been given more than two months, but as we said before, now that you are back from the holidays is when have probably started to fill in your application, so as of now you have 3 weeks ahead (if you are reading this around the time of publication), more than enough but don’t fall asleep.
What are the criteria to be a candidate?
The general criteria, as usual: Enjoy full rights as a citizen of one of the 27 Member States of the EU (UK is no longer an option), meet any obligations under national laws on military service, and meet the character requirements for the duties concerned.
Specific criteria – languages
Here you have the language mix for this competition.
LANGUAGE 1: You can choose among the 24 official languages of the EU and you should have, minimum, a C1 level. If you are a native speaker, you should qualify yourself as C2 and CAREFUL! Do not put any item of the level of language under C1 (otherwise you will be disqualified automatically). The CBT (verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning) test will take place in this language 1 and also we can fill in our application (except the Talent Screener) in this language.
LANGUAGE 2: ENGLISH or FRENCH (and must be different from language 1). Here we need a B2 level minimum (no need for a degree to justify it, the assessment centre will be in this language and if you can work through it, then you have the level required). Remember not to put any item (written, oral level, or any other) below B2 level in your application.
REMINDER – Language 1 and language 2 (English) cannot be the same. Even if you try, the application form will alert you. The communication with EPSO can take place in one of the languages you have declared in your application form at B2 level or higher.
preparing great cocktails doesn’t count as relevant professional experience in the field …yet
Specific conditions – Work experience and studies
Be aware! To explain the part «relevant professional experience » in this case, means that when describing your professional experience in the application (CV- work experience), you must clearly identify the experiences and activities equal or similar to those you are expected to do in the European Institutions and described in the notice (annex I – DUTIES). And don’t despair, if you find this task difficult, our free webinar (here the recording) on this competition can be key to give you some useful tips for the talent
What are the competition phases? What are the test I have to pass?
Based on the notice of competition + our experience we split the process in 5 phases : 1) Fill in the application, 2) CBT- computer based test, 3) Eligibility check, 4) The Talent evaluation, 5) the Assessment Centre and the party at the end is optional.
Phase 1 – Fill in the Application – You’ve got until 27 September (noon) to send your application and before that, to fill it in with love and care. This is the first step of the competition and the way to differentiate yourself from the other candidates and all their experience (honestly, we don’t think EPSO expects thousands of candidates, but a few hundreds with good and long CVs) in relation with the profile.
There you go! all the questions you need to answer – hint – if you speak other EU languages beyond English, French, Portuguese and Spanish,, you can set them as language 1 (so your cbt is in that language) and set those languages to gain merits in question 10.
(wait we are still in phase 1) What is a TALENT SCREENER? This is a list of questions related to your academic and professional background that you must answer in your application, you can find the questions on the Annex II of the notice of competition. The board of the competition is in charge of evaluating the answers. Keep in mind that all candidates in the same profile and field answer the same questions. Like this, the responses of all the candidates are structured in the same way, which allows the board to make an evaluation (as objective as such a type of test allows) of the compared merits of all the candidates. Remember to look at annex IV or the application form for all the details, and if you think we can be of help, come to our our free webinar (here the recording – click on like if you found it useful). If not convenient, take a look to our past webinar on a Talent Screener.
PHASE 2 – CBT Once you submit your application, the first challenge that you will have to face is the CBT (computer-based test). We know, you thought you had escaped it (most competitions have it at the end now, but not the case for this one)… So, keep dreaming. Still, you don’t need a high mark to pass the CBT, only 20 points out of 40 are enough to pass it.
PHASE 3 – Eligibility. Here you can do nothing but wait until you pass the CBT, and it will take long until you know the outcome, several months at least. It is now up for the board to read your CV and check whether you have enough years of relevant experience (6 years minimum or 9 depending on your academic records) and can therefore be deemed eligible. This will be done solely based on your application (CV part) that you filled in in language 1.
PHASE 4 – Talent Screener evaluation. Once you have been deemed eligible (by December/January hopefully) and all candidates have been evaluated, you and all the candidates will get an email letting you know whether you made it to the Talent Screener (BUT it doesn’t mean that you are in the assessment yet). The Talent screener evaluationwill be conducted using only the information you provided within the Talent Screener section (in language 2), they don’t cross reference with the rest of your application or Google. You should therefore include all the relevant information in your answers, even if already mentioned in other sections of your application form. The questions are published in annex IV of your notice of competition (see picture above), we spoke about this in phase 1. The best of all this is that up to a total of 3 times the openings will go to the Assessment Centre. We are talking about about 120 candidates in total (if our math is right… yes it is :-)!
PHASE 5 – AssessmentCentre. Congrats! You are one of the hundred and twenty candidates with the highest marks in the Talent Screener and you have been invited to the Assessment Centre, the final round. In this round, you will also have to present all your papers in digital format (it used to be a USB memory stick before, now in the online Assessment Centre you will have to upload the pertinent papers before having the test), so prepare them in advance to avoid rushing in the last minute.
Now talking about the tests that you will have to face at the Assessment Centre, the competition turns into a classic. 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.
Some practice, some effort and a some guidance and it will be done 😉
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 wherte you can get up to 100 points (we can help with that too).
Once you are done with the Assessment Centre, EPSO will check your documents, starting from those who got the highest score and until they got 40 candidates. Then, after 2 or a few more months waiting for it, you will get the results the final list with those chosen to go to the Olympus of the reserve list (and from the Olympus to any other part in the world, remember the Olympus is in Greece and there not EU delegations there, only in non-EU countries).
Now lets go with 3 of your most typical questions: Salary, work expectations and when EPSO will contact you (timing of the competition).
How much will my salary be?
Table of the amounts of basic monthly salaries for each grade and step in function groups AD and AST referred to in Article 66 of the Staff Regulations, applicable from 1 January 2022, in red the salary for AST4
One of the most typical questions of the candidates is the salary that you will get. An AST3 (step 2) will join the institutions with a salary starting at 4.500 € and this can be higher depending if you have family dependent on you and other conditions. To that you will have to add 16% extra of expatriation allowance and subtract the cost of the taxes (you pay taxes to the European Commission), health insurance and pension, all them proportional to your salary, so expect around the same amount, 4.500 € in net salary. By the way, we refer to step 2 as any first entrant in the institutions can’t join above that step, it means you have at least 3 years of professional experience, what in this competition, is obvious. And if you are worried about life in expensive countries the basic remuneration is supplemented by an allowance linked to the living conditions prevailing at the place of employment, so don’t worry too much.
What can I expect of this job?
We invite you to check the Annex from the notice of competition. As you can see from the image, it sends you to Annex I to find all the details of your expected tasks to be performed once you are a Head of Administration in an EU Delegation. If you are to lazy to check there, click on the images below:
Pay attention, these are your future task at work, so you know wnat to do but not where to do it (yet).
When will EPSO contact me? timing of the competition?
All the situations under which EPSO will write you in your profile, not by email, although sometimes we may get a warning message.
The expected calendar for this competition is the following: after the closure date for the submission of the applications and the CBT, they will run the eligibility checks in Autumn, and then the Talent Screener during the Winter. So get ready to confront the CBT this Autumn and the Assessment Centre in Spring 2023!!
When will EPSO contact me? Many of you ask about when EPSO will tell you that you have passed to the next phase, or have been invited to the Assessment, or…. you read/heard rumors about the development of the competitions. Better to isolate yourself from that noise and focus on the real messages. EPSO commits itself (it’s in Annex II of the notice) 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, so keep calm. 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.
Parece que ayer cuando tuvo lugar el último concurso para Heado de Administración en la delegación de la UE… espere, era ¡2018/19! aunque arrancó en 2018, los resultados se publicaron en octubre de 2019. Pues bueno, aparentemente todavía hay necesidad de personas valientes dispuestas a enfrentar el desafío de trabajar en todo el mundo y alternarlo periódicamente con Bruselas (eso si que es de personas valientes)…vale..pero…¿para hacer qué? te damos una pista en la imagen a continuación [if you are looking for the English version of this article – click here]
Presta atención a la autorización de seguridad, si eres es un espía ruso, podría ser un problema conseguir una.
Y ¡sí! sabemos que contabas con un post analalizando la oposición un poco antes, pero seamos honestos, todo el mundo estaba de vacaciones (incluso nosotros) y es ahora cuando está preparando su aplicación, así que estamos justo a tiempo para que y con un anuncio adicional : Ya tenemos nuestro video explicando el TALENT.
¿Cuántas plazas hay? ¿Hasta cuando puedo presentar la candidatura?
En esta oposición un buen número de plazas están disponibles (40 puestos en total, igual que en la anterior convocatoria) y con tiempo de sobra para rellenar la candidatura. ¡Ten cuidado! El proceso estará abierto hasta el 27 de septiembre NOON (digamos 11.59 AM CET). Hasta entonces, puede rellenar y validar tu candidatura. Aproximadamente, te han dado más de dos meses (se publico a mediados de julio), pero como dijimos antes, ahora estás de vuelta de vacaciones y es cuando comienzas, así que tienes 3 semanas por delante (si estás leyendo esto por primera vez), más que suficiente pero no te duermas en los laureles o el cocotero, que es lo mismo.
¿Cuáles son los criterios para ser candidato?
Los criterios generales, como de costumbre: Gozar de plenos derechos como ciudadano de uno de los veintisiete Estados miembros de la UE (el Reino Unido ya no es una opción), cumplir las obligaciones derivadas de la legislación nacional en materia de servicio militar y cumplir los requisitos de carácter para las funciones de que se trate.
Specific criteria – languages
Aqui va el mix de lenguas en el que serán las pruebas y en las que tienes que rellenar la candidatura (lengua 1) y el talent (lengua 2) – ojito con eso.
LENGUA 1: Puede elegir entre las 24 lenguas oficiales de la UE y debe tener, como mínimo, C1. Si eres un hablante nativo, debe calificarlo como C2 y ¡Cuidadín! no pongas ningún elemento del nivel de idioma más bajo de C1 (de lo contrario, te descalican de forma automática). Las pruebas CBT (razonamiento verbal, numérico y abstracto) se realizarán en LENGUA 1 y también podemos rellenar nuestra solicitud (excepto el Talent Screener) en este idionma.
LENGUA 2: Inglés o francés (y debe ser diferente de la lengua 1). Aquí necesitamos un nivel mínimo B2 (sin necesidad de tener un título para justificarlo, el centro de evaluación/assessment será en este idioma y si puedes superar las pruebas de selección, entonces tienes el nivel requerido). Recuerda no poner ningún elemento (escrito, oral o cualquier otro) por debajo del nivel B2 en tu candidatura.
Recordatorio: la lengua 1 y la lengua 2 (inglés o francés) no pueden ser los mismos. Incluso si lo intentas, el formulario de solicitud te avisará. En el lado positivo, la comunicación con EPSO puede tener lugar en una de las lenguas que haya declarado en su formulario de solicitud a nivel B2 o superior.
Aviso, la habilidad de preparar caipirinha no cuenta como experiencia profesional relevante para el puesto…aún.
Condiciones específicas – Trabajo y estudiso necesarios
¡Atención! a tener en cuenta para explicar la parte de «experiencia profesional relevante» . En este caso, significa que al describir su experiencia profesional en la solicitud (CV- experiencia laboral), debes identificar claramente las experiencias y actividades iguales o similares a las que se espera que realices en las instituciones europeas y descritas en la convocatoria (anexo I — DUTIES/TAREAS). Y no te desesperes, si te resulta difícil identificarlo, nuestro webinar gratuito (aquí la grabación) sobre este concurso puede ser clave para darte algunos consejos útiles al respecto.
¿Cuales son las fases de la oposición? ¿Qué pruebas tendré que superar?
En base a la convocatoria de la oposición y sumado a nuestra experiencia, vamos a dividir el proceso en 5 fases: 1) completar la solicitud, 2) CBT- test psicotécnicos 3) Verificación de Elegibilidad/requisios 4) La evaluación del «Talent Screener»5) el Centro de Evaluación y fiesta por aproba al final es puramente opcional (invitarnos resulta aconsejable).
Fase 1 — Rellena la solicitud — Tienes hasta el 27 de septiembre (mediodía) para enviar tu solicitud y antes de eso, dale amor y cuidado. Este es el primer paso de una oposición y la forma de diferenciarse de los demás candidatos y toda su experiencia (honestamente, no creemos que EPSO espere miles de candidatos, sino unos pocos cientos con currículums buenos y largos) en relación con el perfil..
¡Ahí tienes! todas las preguntas que necesitas responder — sugerencia — si hablas otras lenguas de la UE más allá del inglés, francés, portugués y español, puedes establecerlas como lengua 1 (para que tu cbt esté en esa lengua) y establecer esas lenguas para obtener méritos en la pregunta 10.
(espera que todavía estamos en la fase 1) ¿Qué es un TALENT SCREENER? Fáci, es es una lista de preguntas relacionadas con tu formación académica y profesional , a las cuales debe responder en tu solicitud. Puedes encontrar las preguntas en el anexo II de la convocatoria de oposición. El tribunal de la oposición se encarga de evaluar las respuestas. Ten en cuenta que todos los candidatos en el mismo perfil y campo responden a las mismas preguntas. De esta manera, las respuestas de todos los candidatos se estructuran de la misma manera, lo que permite al tribunal realizar una evaluación (de forma tan objetiva como es posible) de los méritos de todos los candidatos de forma comparable. Recuerde mirar el anexo IV o el formulario de solicitud para todos los detalles, y si crees que podemos ser de ayuda, echale un vistazo a nuestro seminario web gratuito (aquí la grabación).
Fase 2 -CBT o Test psicotécnicos — Una vez enviado a tiempo su solicitud, el primer desafío al que nos tendremos que enfrentar es el CBT (prueba basada en ordenador por sus siglas en inglés). Lo sabemos, pensaste que te habías escapado (ultimamente la mayoría de las oposiciones tienen este prueba al final, pero no aquí) finalmente se tendrá que hacer al principio del proceso. Aún así, no necesita mucho para aprobarlo (como un examen CAST ordinario) no hay necesidad de tener una puntuación alta, solo 20 puntos de 40 son suficientes para aprobarlo. (si necesitas apoyo al respecto, puedes venir a nuestro curso de CBT)
Más fácil de lo que pueda paracer
Fase 3 — Elegibilidad. Aquí no puede hacer nada más que esperar después de pasar los test (CBT), toca armarse de paciencia hasta que sepa el resultado, lo cual serán al menos varios meses. Ahora es tarea del tribunal leer tu CV y comprobar que tiene suficientes años de experiencia relevante (6 años mínimo o 9 dependiendo de tus estudios) para ser candidato/a elegible. Esto se hará únicamente en función de su solicitud (parte CV) que habías rellenado en lengua 1.
Fase 4 — Evaluación de Talent Screener. Una vez que haya sido considerado elegible (con suerte, antes de diciembre/januario) y todos los candidatos hayan sido evaluados, usted y todos los candidatos recibirán un correo electrónico informando sobre esto y que avanzan al Talent Screener (pero no significa que aún estén en la evaluación). La evaluación del evaluador de talentos comenzará a utilizar únicamente la información proporcionada en esta sección de Talent Screener (en el idioma 2), no se cruzan con el resto de su aplicación o Google. Por lo tanto, debe incluir toda la información pertinente en sus respuestas, incluso si ya se ha mencionado en otras secciones de su formulario de solicitud. Las preguntas se publican en el anexo IV de su anuncio de oposición (véase la imagen anterior) sobre este tema en la fase 1. Lo mejor de todo es que hasta un total de 3 veces las aperturas se destinarán al Centro de Evaluación. Estamos hablando de unos 120 candidatos en total (si nuestras matemáticas tienen razón… sí lo es:-)!
Fase 5 — Centro de Evaluación/Assessment . ¡Felicidades! eres uno de los ciento veinte candidatos con las puntuaciones más altas en el Talent Screener y has sido invitado/a al Centro de Evaluación (Assessment para los amigos), la ronda final. Además de las pruebas, en esta fáse te toca presentar toda la documentación que pruebe tu experiencia profesional y académica, Tendrás que presentarlo en formato digital (antes era una memoria USB, ahora en el Centro de Evaluación online tendrás que subir los documentos pertinentes a tu perfil de candidato, antes de la primera prueba), así que prepáralos con antelación para evitar ir con prisas en el último minuto.
Ahora hablando de las otras pruebas de tu assessment, vamos hablar de los grandes clásicos. Frente a ti dos de las pruebas más típicas a las que te puedes enfrentar: El estudio de caso y entrevista situacional sobre competencias (SCBI para los amigos). Entre las dos pruebas se puede reunir un total de 70 puntos, con la particularidad de que se necesita un total combinado de 35/70 para superar, pero no las puntuaciones mínimas por competencia. Significa que no puedes hacer, en general, un mal caso o SCBI, pero tienes margen para fallar algunas de las preguntas
Some practice, some effort and a some guidance and it will be done 😉
Cuantos más puntos obtengamos en parte en competencias, mejor (podemos ayudar con eso). Sin embargo, la parte clave es la prueba relacionada con el campo de especialidad, donde tendrás que demostrar tus conocimientos y, sobre todo, su experiencia relevante para este puesto. Para ello, tendrás que superar la Entrevista en el Campo (también estructurada pero con un enfoque claro en su experiencia laboral) donde podrás obtener hasta 100 puntos (también podemos ayudar con eso ).
Una vez finalizada la evaluación, la EPSO revisará sus documentos, comenzando por aquellos que obtuvieron la puntuación más alta y hasta que tengan 40 candidatos verificados con éxito. Luego, después de 2 o unos meses más de espera, obtendrás los resultados de la lista final con los elegidos para ir al Olimpo de la lista de reserva (y desde el Olimpo a cualquier otra parte del mundo, recuerde que el Olimpo está en Grecia y no hay delegaciones de la UE allí, solo en países no pertenecientes a la UE)
Ahora vamos con 3 de sus preguntas más típicas: Salario, expectativas de trabajo y cuándo se pondrá en contacto con usted la EPSO (tiempo del concurso).
¿Cuánto voy a cobrar?
Tabla con los sueldos base mensuales para cada grado y escalón en los grupos de funciones AD y AST a que se refiere el artículo 66 del Estatuto, aplicable a partir del 1 de enero de 2022, en rojo el sueldo de AST4.
Una de las preguntas más típicas de los candidatos. Un AST3 (paso 2) se incorporará a las instituciones con un salario de salida superior a 4,500 EUR y esto puede ser mayor dependiendo de si tienes familia dependiente de ti y otras condiciones. A eso tendrás que sumar un 16 % extra de tasa de expatriación y restar el coste de los impuestos (pagas impuestos a la Comisión Europea), seguro de salud y pensión, todos ellos proporcionales a tu salario, así entre lo que entra y sale, espera alrededor de la misma cantidad, 4,500 EUR, en salario neto. Por cierto, nos referimos al step 2 ya que cualquiera que entra nuevo en las instituciones no puede entrar por encima de ese «step», ese nivel se adquiere si demuestras que tienes al menos 3 años de experiencia profesional, lo que en esta oposición, es obvio. Y si te preocupa la vida en países caros, la remuneración básica se complementa con una asignación vinculada a las condiciones de vida que prevalecen en el lugar de trabajo, así que no es para tanto 😉
¿Qué puedo esperar de mi trabajo?
Te invitamos a consultar el anexo I de la convocatoria de la oposición. Como puedes ver ahi se detalle las principales tareas previstas en el puesto, una vez que sea jefe de administración en una delegación de la UE. Si te entra la pereza de mirarlo en la convocatoria, haz clic en la imagen a continuación:
Presta atención, estas son tus tareas futuras en el trabajo, así que ya sabes qué hacer, pero no dónde hacerlo (todavía).
¿Cuándo me contactará EPSO? ¿Cómo irá mi oposición?
En la convocatoria figuran todas las situaciones en las que EPSO te escribirá en tu perfil, no por correo electrónico, aunque a veces podemos recibir un mensaje de advertencia.
El calendario previsto para esta competición es el siguiente: después de la fecha de cierre para la presentación de las solicitudes y realizar el test psicotécnicio ( CBT), se llevarán a cabo los controles de elegibilidad en otoño y luego el Talent Screener durante el invierno. ¡Así que prepárate para enfrentarte al CBT este otoño y al Centro de Evaluación en la primavera de 2023!
¿Cuándo se pondrá en contacto conmigo la EPSO? Muchos nos preguntain cuándo os dirá EPSO que habeis pasado a la siguiente fase, o si habéis sido invitados al assessment tras pasar la evaluación de los años de experiencia, o… habeis leído o escuchado rumores sobre el desarrollo de los concursos (el primo de la prima del primo de la…. ha dicho que…). Es mejor aislarse de ese ruido y centrarse en los mensajes reales, EPSO se compromete (en el anexo II del anuncio) a comunicarse con todos los candidatos después de que hayan pasado la fase de elegiblidad e igualmente después del Talent Screener para informar de los resultados e invitarte al Assessment. Mientras tanto, puede tomar semanas o meses recibir cualquier información, así que mantén la calma. En caso de duda, puedes ponerte en contacto con EPSO también, ya que los candidatos teneis derecho a hacerlo, pero ten cuidado, las respuestas pueden ser un poco crípticas o un simple copiar/pegar de la notificación, no esperes grandes aclaraciones.
We know that among our readers there are candidates of the competition of proofreaders/language editors – Greek,Spanish, Estonian, Gaelic, Italian, Portuguese(EPSO/AST/148/21) and Linguistic Assistants Estonian – Croatian(HR) – Italian – Dutch(NL) – Polish – Portuguese (EPSO/AST/152/22) EPSO/AST/152/22. Some of you even asked for some help to prepare the specific tests that you will have to face in these competitions. Let’s bring our expertise and share with you some tips and trick to prepare this.
After the summer break, the Assessment Centre will be rolling full steam, but be careful!!! You will face 2 different computer-based tests, one of them being the usual CBT (verbal, numerical, abstract reasoning), and the other one a Proofreading and correcting test. As there are two tests, there are two booking dates:
for the CBT you have to book the date between 09-13 September and take the exam 17-18 October (at home or in a Prometric/EPSO facility);
for the Proofreading and correcting test you have to book between 29 September-5 October and take the exam 31 October – 4 November (only in a Prometric/EPSO facility).
Don’t forget to read carefully all the indications you receive from EPSO when doing the bookings (believe it or not, they contain a lot information). Check the starting dates for the rest of the tests, as for each language they begin on a different day between mid September and mid October and the interview phase will last 1 month. If you want to know more about the Assessment Centre as a whole, read our previous post.
Fresh from the notice
How can I prepare the Proofreading and correcting test test?
Our recommendation would be to practice. Try practicing with the Reform of the European Ombudsman’s Statute, you can divide it into two parts and you have it in several languages (Spanish; French; Italian; German). Another example which is available in the 24 official languages are the Factsheets of the European Parliament as they cover a wide list of subjects and allow you to practice with some legal & policy terms. This test just implies translation, so any document from the institutions officially translated to our language 2 can help us practice.
Of course, we can’t forget about the State of the Union 2021 (which is available in the 24 official languages), or any SOTEU speech from previous years (here for instance 2020 and 2018). Finally, you can check the documents about the Political priorities of the Commission or other similar documents, as well as the official journal with all its texts published in the 24 official languages. Overall, they want to be sure you know how to do the following:
proofreading electronic manuscripts in terms of typography and inputting authors’ corrections,
preparing and checking proofs for publication in various formats and media,
preparing manuscripts in electronic format or on paper in terms of spelling, grammar and syntax, and checking texts for their coherence and uniformity,
checking compliance with stylistic conventions and rules, and the compliance of the texts with the Interinstitutional Style Guide adopted by all the European Union institutions,
checking the quality of work performed by outside contractors in the field,
preparing the Institution’s documents for publication and finalising texts in typographical terms,
checking texts translated into the language of the competition for consistency with the original language,
monitoring linguistic developments and changes and informing colleagues of them,
taking part in terminology work and in the quality control process for translations of documents,
various other types of language work, such as moderation of content of website pages.
Considering this, the practice with the documents previously listed is simple.
First step: copy the two texts to be reviewed in a Word document,
Second step: ask someone to introduce small changes of format, typos, etc. Proofreading will cover both the linguistic aspects (grammar, spelling and punctuation) and typography. If this person is another colleague in the same competition even better, you can prepare the documents for each other. Save it with and without track changes.
Third step: follow the same principle as indicated in the Notice of Competition. Take the text nº1 in language 1 and correct it while comparing it to the source text in Language 2. Then take text nº2 to make the proofreading without the comparison to the source text in Language 2. AND don’t forget to reason/justify your corrections. In total, you can’t use more than 2h 30 min to do this.
Fourth step: correct the texts by comparing them to the original text. Analyse the part where you have made mistakes and why.
Fifth step: go back to the first step and repeat
2.-EPSO/AST/152/22 Linguistic Assistants Estonian; Croatian(HR); Italian; Dutch(NL); Polish; Portuguese
The linguistic assistants competition is currently organizing the CBT (verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning) with two language comprehension tests. In total, about 4137 candidates (for 76 final spots) will take this exam in the last week of August and the first one of September.
We all know the verbal, numerical and verbal reasoning tests, but what will the language comprehension tests look like? They will consist of 12 Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ), which are designed to assess your linguistic abilities in terms of vocabulary, grammar/syntax constructions and style. To see real examples, check EPSO web page.
So far, all the dates and web are the same for the 6 languages, so we felt lazy and uploaded only one screenshot 🙂
You need a high score in both language comprehension test!! 7 is not enough.
We need to excel in the part of the comprehension test, as only the files of the candidates who obtained the pass mark in the reasoning tests and one of the highest overall marks in the language comprehension tests will undergo the eligibility check. That is, the eligibility check will be performed in the descending order of candidates’ overall marks obtained in the language comprehension tests. The files will be checked until the number of candidates deemed eligible reaches three times the number of successful candidates sought for each language, i.e. 36 for Estonian, 42 for Croatian, 30 for Italian, 42 for Dutch, 36 for Polish and 42 for Portuguese. A proportion in line with the old times of generalist AD5 competition.
Once we make it to the Assessment Centre, we will be required to «finalise» a text… what does that mean?
About the finalisation of a text: This test is about correcting formatting mistakes in a translation. The source text in language 2 will be provided on screen. A translation of this text into language 1, provided as an editable text, contains mistakes in the language and the format in comparison to the source text. The candidate is asked to detect and correct these mistakes, in order to match the source text. The test lasts one hour. [EPSO dixit]. So to train for this, we propose the same strategy as we did above (check above for the source texts) and to follow these steps :
First step: copy a text (1000 words should do it) to be reviewed in a Word document,
Second step: ask someone to introduce small changes of format, typos, etc . If this person is colleague in the same competition even better, you can prepare documents for each other. Save the document with and without track changes.
Third step: follow the same principle as indicated in notice. Take the text in language 1 and correct it while comparing it to the source text in Language 2. In total, you can’t use more than 60 min to do this.
Fourth step: correct the text by comparing it to the original text and the track changes version. Analyse the part where you have done mistakes and why.
Yes, believe it or not, this time EPSO has not hung the «closed for holidays» sign and keeps working. Competition results are being published one week after another. On this, let us stop for a just a moment and say Congratulations to all of our more than 30 «croquetillas» (our candidates) who passed EU Law and Agriculture competitions. August is a lovely month to celebrate the success and recharge your energy to apply for Officer positions in the European Institutions back in September.
Summer trip to the Assess-ment centre
Ok, but you are not here to read about the success of others but about yours, because you have received excellent news from EPSO and you have been invited to the Assessment Centre. Still you feel a bit lost and you are not sure what you can expect in your competition, right? Keep reading, we’ll tell you what will happen with all the EPSO competitions that will have their Assessment Centre exams between 1st September – 31st December 2022 (and if you want to know how good we are with foreseeing the EPSO-future, check our previous post on the topic). Let’s try to answer to all of you with the latest information available. In this post, you will find the information by reference number order, just scroll down until you find the ones of interest to you :
EPSO/AD/397/21 Administrators in the field of maritime affairs and fisheries
EPSO/AD/398/22 –Administrators -ICT infrastructures, cloud, networks and middleware ; Administrators – Digital workplace, office automation and mobile computing ; Administrators – IT and data governance, programme/portfolio and project management, project management office (PMO), business and enterprise architecture Administrators – ICT security
EPSO/AST/150/21 ( AST3) Technicians in Audiovisual, Building and Laboratory.
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
EPSO/AST/152/22 Linguistic Assistants ET- HR-IT.NL-PL-PT
Classic description on how candidates see themselves when they get an invitation to the Assessment Centre.
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.
Believe it or not, this one is taking more time than external relations 2.5 years since it began!
Status: At the moment where we are writing this, a total of 70 candidates have made into the Assessment Centre (26 in Greek, 21 in French and 23 in Polish) after passing the Eligibility Check and the preliminary translation test (after 2 years, only!). An optimal number if we remember there are 45 spots (15,20 and 10 respectively), what makes a proportion of one spot per 1,5-2 candidates in each competition, not bad at all! So it’s expected all the candidates can be tested in just one month (one test per week). Remember that in the online Assessment Centre, you will do each test on a different day, not all the tests at the same time. However, don’t forget to check your invitation to the Assessment Centre for the full details (believe it or not, EPSO provides a lot of info in their communication to you – hint: click on the links of the letter!!!)
About the assessment: First, our old classic test the General competency-based interview in the company of another classic since the outbreak of the pandemic, the Situational Competency base interview (CBI). On top of that, you will have to sit the Field test interview. Careful!!! This is a particular one, in your competition the Field-related interview is aimed to assess your specialist knowledge and command of the language in the field of national law and European Union law. During the interview, you will also be asked to give an oral presentation.
Another aspect to remember in this competition is that your final mark will be composed of your results in the following tests: Translation into the competition language (from language 2 and language 3 – up to 120 points) + CBT (up to 40 points) + Translation review (up to 40 points) + Assessment competences (up to 80) and finally the field related interview (up to 20) , in total 300 points.
Yes! 2 year later, the assessment is here…and plenty of international crisis too. get ready!
Status: After a very long wait (check the analysis we did long time ago), candidates received their results of the Talent Screener. Kindly enough they did this before the summer so now it’s time enjoy the summer and the Assessment Centre all together. Who said you can’t practice an EPSO interview in the swimming pool? So the lucky 105 in AD7 and 165 in AD5 candidates remaining (+/- 3 candidates per 1 place) will have the opportunity to try this original method of training.
About the assessment: The trick here is the candidates will face a double written test, first the Case study (competences, not related to external relations) and then the written test in the field (yes, this one will be about competences for external relations, not knowledge). Be ready for an, at least, 5-hour exam (or even longer) between the two tests combined. The other tests you will need to take are and General competency-based interview; and the Field-related interview, which will be organised in different dates. Do you need help with the written tests? Or the interviews? Check the info about our next training sessions if you think we can help you (we don’t provide a swimming pool, but we give you all the EPSO stuff). Another way of staying tuned is to join our Telegram channel where we’ll alert you on more details.
Not the fastest competition but still taking place in 2022. Be careful , you got the CBT first!
Status: This one is moving a bit faster, it helps when you only have 40 candidates for 35 spots (yes, 35 spots) who have completed and submitted their application by the end of January 2022. Since then, the translation test have passed and now they are eagerly waiting to take the CBT in October to end the year with the Assessment Centre.
About the assessment: First, you will have to face the General competency-based interview together with the Situational Competency base interview (SCBI) and the Field test interview. Careful with the last one!!! In your competition, the Field-related interview is aimed to assess your specialist knowledge and command of the language in the field of national law and European Union law. During the interview, you will be asked to give an oral presentation too.
Another aspect to remember in this competition is the marking. Your final mark will be composed of you results in Translation into the competition language (from language 2 and language 3 – up to 120 points) + CBT (up to 40 points) + Translation review (up to 40 points) + Assessment competences (up to 80) and finally the field related interview (up to 20) , in total 300 points.
If interested in our CBT training in English, write us to yasemoseuropeos@gmail.com, 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. And yes, we also prepare the field-related interview, it’s all about the methodology 😉
Status: Do you remember the analysis we did? You should, it’s from the end of 2021, so not too long ago. This competition provides fresh evidence that EPSO competitions are sailing forward once the tsunami of the COVID has passed :). Initially, there were 913 candidates for 86 spots. After the Eligibility Check and the evaluation of the Talent Screener, only 260 candidates are left and even a lower number (as the CBT took place in June and not everyone passed it) got his/her invitation to the Assessment Centre. Now, starting on the 13th September (your new lucky day), with the case study, the competition-ship is arriving to its final ePsORT.
About the assessment: First you will face the Case study (competences, not related to fisheries) and then the interview, including the field related interview (yes, this one will be about competences in the domain of maritime affairs and fisheries, not knowledge) and the general competency-based interview. Do you need some help to row stronger in this competition? check the info about our next training sessions if you think we can help you (we have navigated these waters). And don’t worry, the bad jokes will be kept at bay during the sessions or we’ll throw ourselves overboard… oops!
Status: Do you remember the analysis we did? Still fresh from February this year. The 5 different profiles collected a total of 2620 applications (respectively 404-186-769 -986 -375) for a total of 350 spots (by profile 71-49-70-73-87). 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 will need more time to evaluate them. Most likely, the Eligibility Check will be conducted shortly, but then they will need to evaluate the Talent Screener. Expect to hear news about the Assessment Centre by end of Autumn 2022.
About the assessment: 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).
Easy one, just an overall of 20 points to pass it.
In addition, you will have to pass the following tests at the Assessment Centre: Case Study and Situational Competence Based Interview. Between the two tests you can gather a total of 80 points, with the particularity that you need and overall 40/80 to pass, but not minimum marks per competence. Anyway, although the more points we get in competences part the better, the key part is the field-related test where you will have to demonstrate your capacities on the area of it (not exactly 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 clear focus on your work experience) up to 100 points in that test. Remember to visit this link when you are invited to the assessment. 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.
BONUS TRACK.-Experts in technical support to Member States’ Structural Reforms EPSO/AD/391/21 – 1 and Experts in the Schengen acquis EPSO/AD/391/21 – 2 (only this)
You are seen right. The competition is still on, while for structural reforms it ended in July.
Status: As you remember, the candidates applying for the Structural Reforms competition were far more than expected and the CBT was called upfront. Results were out at end of October and candidates waited for the results of the Talent Screener. Finally, the results came out (more or less as expected) and 140 candidates for structural reforms (with 45 places) and 75 (with 25 places) for Schengen acquis have been invited.
About the assessment: We got a mix of items for the Summer, classic competence interviews : General competency-based interview (CBI), Situational Competency base interview (SCBI) and then the Field test (interview and written test) despite the cuts in the assessment. For the moment, the written test in the field was held the 30th May. and the SCBI test is still in coming in September!
Status: It has been a while since candidates were informed that this competition was moving towards the Talent Screener evaluation and now their patience bore fruit. The initial number of candidates who applied were high, specially for some languages as we got 732 candidates for Greek, 871 Spanish, only 67 for Estoninan, the record for Italian with 992 and more regular number 241 for Portuguese. Of all of them, only 51, 54, 33, 54, 42, 51 respectively have been invited to the assessment. How do we know? remember what is said in the notice «A maximum of 3 times the number of successful candidates sought for each language will be invited to this phase».
About the assessment: Now, right after the summer break, the Assessment Centre will be rolling full steam, but be careful!!! You will face 2 different computer test , one the classic CBT (verbal, numerical, abstract reasoning) then you need to take the Proofreading and correcting test. So as there are two test, there are two booking dates ; for the CBT you have to book between 09-13 September and take the exam 17-18 October (at home or in a Prometric/EPSO facility) ; for the Proofreading and correcting test you have to book between 29 September-5 October and take the exam 31 October – 4 November (only in a Prometric/EPSO facility), Don’t forget to read carefully all the indications from EPSO and when doing the bookings (believe it or not, they contain a lot information).
The tests you will sit besides the ones mentioned above are the General competency-based interview (which will take about 2 weeks for all the candidates to complete), as well as the Situational Competency base interview (SCBI) (another 2 weeks). Check the starting dates, as each language begins in a different one between mid September -mid October and their interview part last 1 month.
How can I prepare the Proofreading and correcting test test?
Our recommendation would be to practice with the Reform of the European Ombudsman’s Statute, you can divide it in two parts (it’s longer than 450 words) and you have it in Spanish ; French ;Italian ; German . Another example available in the 24 official languages are the Factsheets of the European Parliament as they cover a wide list of subjects and allow you to practice with some legal & policy terms. This test just implies translation, so any document from the institutions officially translated to our language 2 can help us practice.
Of course, we can’t forget about the State of the Union 2021 (which you have in the 24 official languages), or any SOTEU speech from previous years (here for instance 2020 and 2018). Finally, the documents about the Political priorities of the Commission or other similar documents can also help you practice for the test and the official journal with all its texts published in the 24 official languages. Overall, they want to be sure you know how to do the following:
proofreading electronic manuscripts in terms of typography and inputting authors’ corrections,
preparing and checking proofs for publication in various formats and media,
preparing manuscripts in electronic format or on paper in terms of spelling, grammar and syntax, and checking texts for their coherence and uniformity,
checking compliance with stylistic conventions and rules, and the compliance of the texts with the Interinstitutional Style Guide adopted by all the European Union institutions,
checking the quality of work performed by outside contractors in the field,
preparing the Institution’s documents for publication and finalising texts in typographical terms,
checking texts translated into the language of the competition for consistency with the original language,
monitoring linguistic developments and changes and informing colleagues of them,
taking part in terminology work and in the quality control process for translations of documents,
various other types of language work, such as moderation of content of website pages.
Last but not least, check our next training sessions if you think we can help you with the assessment interviews and write an email to yasemoseuropeos@gmail.com if interested for a training of the CBT in English.
2.-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 became more international and so did we. Ok, stop the chit-chat. 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) but now we know that 265, 340 and 65 respectively (670 candidates in total) have been invited to the assessment that will take place from mid-September until mid-December i.e Winter is coming!!!!
AudiovisualBuildingLaboratory
About the assessment: With the case study already done (last 4 July), only two tests remain pending, but they account for 130 out of the total of 170 points. The Situational competency based interview will be 30 points and the booklet for the exam should be published, at least, a couple of weeks before the exams begin, stay alert! For the field-related interview, 100 points are at stake, so make sure you prepare well to guarantee a good performance. The key factor is the structure of your 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.
It doesn’t matter which Assistant ICT profile you check, all are in the Talent Screener phase.
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 will need more time to evaluate them. The Eligibility tests have finished and now the Talent Screener evaluation is ongoing, so expect news on your Assessment Centre by mid or end of Autumn, not earlier.
About the assessment: 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).
Easy one, just an overall of 20 points to pass it.
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.
Anyway, although the more points we get in competences part the better, the key part is the field-related test where you will have to demonstrate your capacities in your field (not exactly 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 clear focus on your work experience), where 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.
4.-EPSO/AST/152/22 Linguistic Assistants ET– HR–IT–NL–PL–PT
So far, all the dates and web are the same for the 6 languages, so we felt lazy and uploaded only one screenshot 🙂
Status : Last but not least, the linguistic assistants is in the moment of organizing the CBT (verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning) with two language comprehension test. In total, about 4137 candidates (for 76 final spots) will take this exam in the last week of August and the first one of September.
You need a high score in both language comprehension test!! 7 is not enough.
We need to excel in the part of the comprehension test, as only the files of the candidates who obtained the pass mark in the reasoning tests and one of the highest overall marks in the language comprehension tests will undergo the eligibility check. That is, the eligibility check will be performed in the descending order of candidates’ overall marks obtained in the language comprehension tests. The files will be checked until the number of candidates deemed eligible reaches three times the number of successful candidates sought for each language, i.e 36 for Estonian, 42 for Croatian, 30 for Italian, 42 for Dutch, 36 for Polish and 42 for Portuguese. A proportion in line with the old times of generalist AD5 competition.
So, this is how you can get up to 170 and get your name into the reserve list.
About the assessment: It will take some time to come, maybe you will hear of your invitation at the end of the year. If this is indeed the case, expect a single date for all profiles on the case study test and the finalisation of a text (check what we posted above for the proofreaders text, it may be of help). In addition, you will have to sit the General competency-based interview, where only 30 points are at stake and which will probably executed very quickly (over the span of few weeks). So be sure the day of the case study and the finalisation of a text is your best day here.
When will EPSO contact me?
All the situations under which EPSO will write you in your profile, not by email, although sometimes we may get a warning message.
Many of you ask about when EPSO will tell you that you have passed 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 informationor 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?
Table of the amounts of basic monthly salaries for each grade and step in function groups AD and AST referred to in Article 66 of the Staff Regulations, applicable from 1 July 2022
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, let us remind you an AD7 (step 2) will join the institutions with a net salary above 6.000 € and this 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.
Ya semos europeos 