Tras nuestra Semana Europea, nos lo estabais pidiendo ¿dónde puedo ver los webinars de la semana europea? ¿y el resto de materiales y recursos? sigue leyendo que te los ponemos por aquí y antes de eso, si lo que buscas es información sobre nuestros nuevos cursos de CBT , generalistas AD5 y para otros perfiles de oposición,toda la info aquí.
El webinar de oposiciones nos quedó un poco largo, eso sí, resolvimos todas las dudas ¿qué está pasando? ¿por donde empiezo? ¿los éxamenes? ¿cuándo tengo que empezar a estudiar? ¿cuántas horas? y más (debajo del video puedes descargar la presentación)
Aquí el otro webinar con todo lo que hay que saber sobre los contratos temporales para trabajar en instituciones europeas , por donde empezar, tipos de contrato, dónde buscar información , cómo enfrentarse a una entrevista y más cositas de utilidad (debajo del video puedes descargar la presentación)
Y para cerrar, recuerda que si necesitas más ayuda con las oposiciones y los procesos para trabajar en instituciones europeas, nuestros cursos de CBT , generalistas AD5 y para otros perfiles de oposición, pueden ser de utilidadtoda la info aquí.
May didn’t started as we expected and the original title of this post (Bad?)EPSO news . after EPSO’s announcement of a new model of competition that should be released on these days, the last set backs such as the cancelation of the AST/154 due to technical failures in the online exam and the European court dismissed appeals have forced EPSO to review its plans in relation with the new competitions. Therefore, the publication of the new competitions such as AD5 Generalist, Economist AD6, Transport Experts or Crisis Management that should begin in May, seems to be delayed at least 1 month or 2 but has been announced for this Summer in the #Openday of the European Institutions in Brussels [check the communication below if you don’t believe us – we stole it from EPSO booth risking our lives…joking they were very kind 🙂 ]
In any case, we will have to wait to see 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).
In the meantime, while we wait to see what is the very final format, let’s share with you the latest news on the publication dates for the next competitions and also what we know or you can also watch the video published by EPSO explaining it (nothing like the original sources)
The ‘Assessment Centre’ and its related oral tests, in place since 2010, ceases to exist…
EPSO -dixit
So EPSO we know is dead, and the EPSO will live is the making, the EPSOlution (as the new evaluation model has been called by EPSO) is taking is time to come. 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? When is this really taking place? Let’s see if we can reply to all of them.
Before we continue, if you are interested in our the trainings for the new competitions, you can leave your contact details here, as soon as EPSO consolidates its new model, so we’ll publish the trainings to guarantee you suceed in it.
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. In both cases nothing to fear, further information regarding what to study will be indicated in the notice of competition and in the invitation letter for the exam (EPSO).
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 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).
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?
Who knows now? the new competitions were announced – one for Economists (AD6) and a second one for Administrators in the field of intellectual property (AD6) for May but now all announcements are gone (see below the caption from April, then 3 of May and now, same competitions without dates). Until we get new info, 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.
If you can wait to know how we’ll help with our trainings or you want to be part of the very first study group for the new competitions, register here.
Stay alert! More news coming soon!
Let’s finish with a friky touch in a day like this #Maythe4bewithyou
2023 has started with striking news. In May the new competition model will start but until then EPSO is doing its best to finalise all the competitions still in motion. Are you a candidate in one of them? Then this post is for you. Are you a future candidate? Then this post (link) is the one you are looking for. Yes, believe it or not, this time EPSO has not hung the «closed for refurbishment» sign and keeps working.
Ok, but you are not here to chit chat about EPSO competitions in general but about yours, because you have received excellent news from EPSO and you have been invited to the Assessment Centre or you are waiting for it. Nevertheless, you still feel a bit lost and you are not sure what or when to expect in your competition, right? Keep reading, we’ll tell you what will happen with all the EPSO competitions in motion at this moment, with the latest information available. In this post, you will find the information by reference number order, just scroll down until you find the AD competitions of interest to you [AD competitions can be found here] :
AST and AST/SC competitions
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
EPSO/AST/153/22 Head of administration (AST-4) in EU Delegations
EPSO/AST/154/22 Assistants – Financial management ; Assistants – Accounting and treasury ; Assistants – Public procurement ; Assistants – Graphic design and visual content production ; Assistants – Social and digital media ; Assistants – Webmaster.
EPSO/AST/155/22 Assistants in the field of operational security ; Assistants in the field of Technical security and Assistants in the field of occupational health and safety
WARNING – as we see too much drama around the competitions, we have made an extra effort to make all this a bit more palatable and funny. You can pass the competitions with a smile! (Still, note that the information is as accurate as EPSO competitions allow us to be).
What about my competition?
Let’s go competition by competition (from highest to lowest EPSO reference number). Please be aware that the following analysis is done based on the information published on the EPSO web-page and our experience as candidates (yes, once we were where you are now) and trainers.
1.-Technicians and support workers- Technicians( AST3) EPSO/AST/150/21 In 3 fields: Field 1: Audiovisual and conference technicians; Field 2: Building technicians; Field 3: Laboratory technicians.
Status : Do you remember our analysis laboratory technicians and for Audiovisual and Building? Yes, at that time we used to write more in Spanish but the audience has become more international and so did we. Ok, you remember that. We knew the number of applications (389 candidates for 92 spots in Audiovisual, 663 for 114 spots in building, 378 for 20 in Laboratory spots and 176 for 15 spots on laboratory support) then 265, 340 and 65 respectively (670 candidates in total) have been invited to the Assessment Centre that took place from mid-September until mid-December, i.e Winter was coming! Now winter is gone and still waiting for the results that should be released approximately as we write this post (fingers crossed, originally the results were foreseen to come out in February). Best of luck to our 50 candidates (croquetillas) who trusted us to prepare this competition.
AudiovisualBuildingLaboratory
About the Assessment Centre: First, they did the case study (last 4 July), after that two tests more were needed, which accounted for 130 out of the total of 170 points. The Situational competency based interview was worth 30 points and the booklet for the exam was published about a couple of weeks before the exams begin, stay alert! For the field-related interview, 100 points were at stake. The key factor was the structure of the information, no need to be an expert to talk about any topic but you need an expert to know what matters and how to explain it clearly and to the point. Remember you can join our Telegram information channel too where we’ll alert you of any news regarding your competition. Of course, If you think we can help you with our training, you can register for the next ones.
Status: Do you remember the analysis we did? The 4 different profiles collected a total of 1300 applications approximately (221-260-721-117 respectively) for a total of 205 spots (by profile 47-55-74-29). While the ratio of candidates to spots is favourable, this competition requires excellent technical skills. Also, the complexity of the applications is rather high, which means that EPSO needed more time to evaluate them. The good news is, as we write this post, that candidates got their result from the Talent Screener, hurra!!!! And if you are wondering when your Assessment Centre is going to take place, it should start in the second half of April. (If you are looking our analysis for AD- ICT competition – go here)
No mystery in ICT security, after eligibility some people complaint on the decision and they were re-introduce into the talent. Considering there are more invitations to the assessment than candidates left, was easy for EPSO to review their decision but they forgot to update the number too.
About the Assessment Centre: First, we’ll have the computer-based tests (CBT). We know, you thought you had escaped it… keep dreaming. Still, there is no need to get a high mark, only passing it is enough (like it is the case for CAST exams).
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. Our advice is that you start to prepare the Case Study as soon as possible.
Anyway, although the more points we get in competences part the better, the key part is the field-related interview, where you will have to demonstrate your capacities in your field (not exactly your knowledge), and above all, your relevant experience for this position. In the field-related interview, up to 100 points are in stake with a minimum score of 60 points, the bar is high! Remember to visit this link when you are invited to the Assessment Centre. We can help you to prepare all the test or you can join our Telegram information channel where we’ll alert you of any news regarding your competition.
3.-EPSO/AST/152/22 Linguistic Assistants ET– HR–IT–NL–PL–PT
So far, all the dates and web are the same for the 6 languages, so we felt lazy and uploaded only one screenshot 🙂
Status : This is a competition that attracted many interested candidates and unfortunately offered few spots, about 4137 candidates for 76 final spots (a proportion in line with the old times of generalist AD5 competition). It began with the CBT (verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning) with two language comprehension tests the last week of August and the first one of September. Then the candidates who obtained the pass mark in the reasoning tests and one of the highest overall marks in the language comprehension tests went through the eligibility check that took place throughout most of the Autumn. Right before Christmas, a few successful candidates (32 for Estonian, 43 for Croatian, 38 for Italian, 49 for Dutch, 59 for Polish and 48 for Portuguese) got their invitation to the Assessment Centre.
You need a high score in both language comprehension test!! 7 is not enough.
About the Assessment Centre: A single date for all profiles on the case study test (with 40 points) and the finalisation of a text was given (about the test check what we posted for the proofreaders text, it may be of help). In addition, they had to sit the General competency-based interview, where only 30 points are at stake (as the core of the marks was given in the case study and the finalisation of a text).
Status : The competition started after the 2022 summer break and most likely it will finish after the 2023 summer break, not bad for EPSO speed. At this moment, candidates already got their results of the CBT and have passed eligibility checks (Remember our webinar where we disclosed all the tricks for it) so they are facing the long wait to see who is invited to the Assessment Centre (120 of 487 will be invited)
Assessment : First, you will need to sit the Case Study and the Situational Competence Based Interview (SCBI). Between these two tests you can gather a total of 70 points, with the particularity that you need a combined overall 35/70 to pass but no minimum marks per competence. It means that you should avoid doing a bad Case Study or SCBI in general, but you have some margin to fail some of the specific questions within each test.
Not as hard as it seems
The more points we get in the competences part, the better (we can help with that). Still, the key part is the field-related test, where you will have to demonstrate your knowledge, and above all, your relevant experience for this position. To do so, you will have the Interview in the Field (also structured but with a clear focus on your work experience), a test where you can get up to 100 points (we can help with that too). Last but not least, don’t miss the opportunity to join our Telegram information channel where we’ll alert you of any news regarding your competition.
Status:Complicated (do you remember that one on FB?). The first of the big competitions to organise the CBT fully online (no possibility of taking the exam in a Prometric centre) gave as result a controversial outcome. Many candidates had issues with the procedure and/or the platform. Several even have complaint to the Ombudsman (and the European Court?) but considering the length of the procedure, EPSO could continue the competition and finalize it before the Court have time to fail against EPSO. Then it can be repeated among the candidates who didn’t make it (i.e Pachitis case or as many other failed (in Court competitions). So, let’s focus on the competition itself for the moment and the fact candidates .
If you want to take a pause to check youtube, you can revisit our webinar on this competition, otherwise, we can share with you our forecast on the threshold marks. Based on very conservative assumptions (all candidates are eligible, only 25% of the candidates failed the CBT and final mars are equally distributed), we see for field 1 if you have 13 or above your chances are quite high of passing to the assessment, 12 points if you are in field 2. For fields 3,4,6 looks it will be 17 in verbal reasoning the mark , for field 6, considering the big number of candidates, it will 18 our forecast. In any case, we stick to our advice to wait until you are confirmed for the assessment, at that moment give your 100% to prepare it.
Now talking about the other tests, the competition turns into a classic. You will have to face the following tests: Case Study and Situational Competency-Based Interview. Here you have 7 competences to be assessed (in AD competitions there are eight). Between the two tests you can gather a total of 70 points, with the particularity that you need an overall 35/70 to pass, but no minimum marks per competence. Don’t get over confident, do fine on these two and you will be fine for this part although the more points we get the better (we can help with that).
Some practice, some effort and a some guidance and it will be done
Anyway, the key part is the field-related test where you will have to demonstrate your know how on the field, explaining, in detail, your relevant experience for this position. The Interview in the Field is also somehow structured but as it has a clear focus on your work experience, is much more interesting and rewarding, you can get up to 100 points in that test (we can help on that too), approx. 60% of all the available points. Remember you can also join our Telegram information channel where we’ll alert you of any news regarding your competition.
Status: The CBT took place in January this year, hopefully with fewer issues, and had no minimum passing mark. The key element is that only those candidates who obtain one of the highest scores in the whole test will have their application checked for eligibility. Applications will be checked until they positively check 3 candidates per position, who will be invited to the Assessment Centre. Considering that they need 300 candidates for the Assessment Centre, from an initial amount of almost 2400 (1587 , 244, 558 respectively for 44; 24; 33 places offered in the competition), it will take time and we don’t see the Assessment Centre happening before May this year.
Assessment Centre: Now talking about the other tests, the competition turns into a classic. You will have to face the following tests: Case Study and Situational Competency-Based Interview. Here you have 7 competences to be assessed (in AD competitions there are eight). Between the two tests you can gather a total of 70 points, with the particularity that you need an overall 35/70 to pass, but no minimum marks per competence. Don’t get over confident, do fine on these two and you will be ok for this part, although the more points we get the better (we can help with that).
Some practice, some effort and a some guidance and it will be done
Anyway, the key part is the field-related interview where you will have to show your knowledge on the field, explaining, in detail, your relevant experience for this position. The Interview in the Field is also somehow structured but as it has a clear focus on your work experience, is much more interesting and rewarding, you can get up to 100 points in that test (we can help on that too), approx. 60% of all the available points. And don’t miss the opportunity to join our Telegram information channel where we’ll alert you of any news regarding your competition.
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 made it to the next phase, or have been invited to the Assessment Centre, or…. you read/heard rumors about the development of the competitions somewhere. Better to isolate yourself from that noise and focus on the real messages. EPSO commits itself (it’s in Annex II of the notice of competition) to communicate with you after the Talent Screeners have been evaluated to inform you on the results and to invite you to the Assessment Centre. In the meantime, it can take weeks or months to receive any 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, above you find the table with the gross salaries for each grade (the net amount is usually similar to the gross one, and it can be higher depending if you have family dependent on you and other conditions).
Can you help me?
Let share some useful links for this competition and any other.
2023 has started with striking news. In May the new competition model will start but until then EPSO is doing its best to finalise all the competitions still in motion. Are you a candidate in one of them? Then this post is for you. Are you a future candidate? Then this post (link) is the one you are looking for. Yes, believe it or not, this time EPSO has not hung the «closed for refurbishment» sign and keeps working.
Ok, but you are not here to chit chat about EPSO competitions in general but about yours, because you have received excellent news from EPSO and you have been invited to the Assessment Centre, or because you are waiting for those news. Nevertheless, you still feel a bit lost and you are not sure what or when to expect in your competition, right? Keep reading, we’ll tell you what will happen with all the EPSO competitions in motion at this moment, with the latest information available. In this post, you will find the information by reference number order, just scroll down until you find the AD competitions of interest to you [AST competitions can be found here] :
AD-Administrators competitions
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/AD/399/22 – Administrators in the field of Audit
EPSO/AD/400/22 -Administrators and experts in the field of space; Administrators and experts in the field of defence industry
EPSO/AD/401/22 – Administrators in the field of energy : Administrators in the field of climate and Administrators in the field of environment.
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.
Status: Do you remember the analysis we did on this competition? Still fresh despite being from February last 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 favorable, 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.
So, this is the status of the competition. As expected, some fields didn’t need (or almost) a passing mark for the talent
About the Assessment Centre: First, it’s expected it will begin after Easter (6-10 April), pay attention to any warning/email on your EPSO account. If EPSO proceeds as usual, we’ll have the computer-based tests (CBT) first. 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 (SCBI). 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. Don’t forget the SCBI booklet is published 2 weeks in advance of the first candidate having his/her exam. Anyway, although the more points we get in competences part the better, the key part is the Interview in the Field where you will have to demonstrate your capacities on the area of it (not exactly the same as your knowledge), and above all, your relevant experience for this position. In the Interview in the Field, you can get up to 100 points.
Most likely, you’ll take the case study first and the interviews will go by blocks, with all the candidates in one field having their SCBI and then all again having the field related. 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.
As you can see, the Talent was the big wall for the candidates, only 1 out 7 made it.
Status and about the Assessment Centre: Not bad, at this stage is the most advanced ongoing competition. After more or less one year (application period closed 12th April 2022), they are having their Assessment Centre online. As we speak, field-related interviews are taking place and they already did the Situational Based Interview and the Competence based interview for general competences. Good luck to all our candidates who have trusted us to prepare these test.
Status : yes , we know, this competition is rocket science but its speed is closer to paper airplanes. Still, remember that for science and defence patience is key (check our webinar-analysis if you want to recapitulate). EPSO announced the results of the eligibility checks right before Christmas (what a present!) but as you can see, between 1 out of 2 or 3 made it. Those were the bad news, the good ones being that the threshold to pass the Talent Screener is expected to be low. As you can see on our table below, places for the Assessment Centre are not far from the number of candidates.
As we speak, the evaluation of the Talent Screener is taking place and we expect the results will come out soon (any time as we write this post) have been published the day after we released this post so now we have 97, 48, 108, 54 respectively (see table below) candidates who have passed the Talent phase, meaning their Assessment Centrewill take place (most likely) between late April and June.
About the Assessment Centre: First we’ll have the CBT (computer-based test) as usual in a specialist competition. Still 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.
No news from this EPSO-front, our old CBT as usual.
Then the competition turns into a classic. In front of you, you have two of the most classic test you may face: Oral presentation (a typical test in EU-law or generalist AD5) and Situational Competence Based Interview (remember, the booklet for this test is published 2 weeks in advance of the first candidate taking the exam). 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. The more points we get in competences part, the better (we can help with that).
Still, the key part are the field-related tests, 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 (with clear focus on your work experience) and the field-related written test (where you will have to demonstrate your know-how, and all the information/knowledge you need is provided as part of the documents related to the assignment). The pass mark in each of these two tests is 25 out of 50 (we can help with that too).
Status: This competition has the honor of being the last AD competition of the old EPSO model but it doesn’t mean it will move faster than the competitions that preceded it. You also need to consider the big amount of candidates in this competition, as we speak we know there are 1762; 917; 1853 candidates respectively in the 3 fields, when the finals spots are 54 for Energy, 49 for Climate and 52 for Environment. We assume you have diligently followed our first webinar-analysis and the second webinar for some hints so hopefully you will be among the 450 (+/-) candidates invited to the Assessment Centre.
Considering that they are still in eligibility phase and EPSO is fully involved in the new model, there is a likely scenario where the Assessment Centreof this competition will take place in Autumn this year. Fingers crossed.
About the Assessment Centre: First we’ll have the CBT (computer-based test), not so terrible as it looks, as 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
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 😉
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, it 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 are at the stake here.
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 a 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 (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 well 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.
Dear colleagues, despite all odds, the internal competitions are moving forward. Recently, the organisers have published an update of the indicative calendar for AD5, as well as some addenda to the other competitions.
What do we know and what to expect?
As we speak, only the AD/03/22 (AD5) has published an indicative planning of the competition. As for the other internal competitions, let’s make a split between AD7, AD9 and AD12 on the one hand, and AST/SC2, AST2 and AD6 on the other.
As regards AD7, AD9 and AD12, we don’t know much and we can only wait. Applications were submitted before Christmas and now the eligibility check and talent screener review are going on. Will the board let us know if we just passed the eligibility? Yes, as set out in the point 4.2.1. Disclosure of information of your notices. This means that eligibility checks are ongoing as we speak and HR will then evaluate the talent screeners of those who fulfill the eligibility requirements (several hundreds of colleagues). Being optimistic, the oral interview for these competitions won’t happen until May in these competitions.
For AST/SC2, AST2, AD6 we just saw the addenda published last Friday (3rd February) where the organisers decided to change the order of the phases. Now, the eligibility checks will take place before the tests (MCQ and Written test). In practical terms, this helps them to reduce the amount of candidates in the competition, remember that only in AD6 we had more than 1700 applications submitted and there are only 100 laureates sought. The MCQ and the written test were announced for March.
Dates foreseen for each phase
We have done our best to map what we can expect in the competitions AD5 + AST/SC2, AST2, AD6. Further below you can find some details on each competition.
COM/AD/03/22(AD5) has a month of advantage in the eligibility checks. The results of the eligibility checks have been announced for February (more than two months after the submission of the applications) and the exam is scheduled for March, most probably the first half, which leaves us 4-5 weeks to get ready for it. Don’t panic, it is feasible, remember you just need 30 out of 50 points to pass the MCQ and you can still practice with 1 or 2 written tests per week.
For AD6, AST and AST/SC2, if we consider a similar period for their eligibility checks as for AD5 (a bit optimistic due to the higher number of candidates), exams should not come sooner than second half of March. As Easter time is early April, probably the organizers will do their best to organize the exam prior to it. Although we have more time to prepare, the difficulty will be higher (you need to get 35 out of 50 points in the MCQ) so we need to do an exhaustive work studding policies and institutions. For the written test, we can practice with 1 or 2 tests per week.
Planing for AD7-AD9-AD12, let’s see if HR respect it
For AD7, AD9,AD12 we can only wait to have the outcome of the eligibility and talent, whether they will assess the talents profile by profile of each level, so they can move faster to the oral test on that profile or they will release the results all at the same time, is not clear. Considering the total amount of candidates in the 3 profiles (641, 898 and 515 respectively) it seems unlikely the will have finalised the talent screener of all the candidates by mid-April. Let’s wait.
How can I prepare?
For the MCQ, the resources are simple and publicly accessible. First thing, you have The Treaties, and the ABC-EU law, which contain the basics of the institutions and our policies. To go deeper in policies, our suggestion is to check the European Parliament factsheets and the different materials develop by our Communication colleagues to explain the Commission’s policies and actions, always following the 6 priorities of the current Commission. Altogether, this is a lot of material and should be more than enough to pass the test, but don’t forget to elaborate your own notes and mind maps to retain it.
For the written test, it’s important to underline what is said in the notice of your competitions:
A written assignment (e.g. a briefing, letter or note) based on various documents on EU policies and institutions. This written test will assess the competencies required to perform the duties of an administrator in the Commission in your field of the competition.
Therefore, this is not like the MCQ. The written tests does not test knowledge, but competencies (or skills if you want). Besides, as most of you are familiar with the EPSO materials, our first advice is to take the EPSO case studies (here the one available from EPSO web page) for practice, which will give you a fair idea on how to handle an assignment under a strict time constraint. Complementary, you could do some of your briefings and work-related tasks against the clock, setting the time every time you had to deliver a briefing or contribution and then checking afterwards before sending it (we don’t want to cause any harm 🙂
Regarding the oral interviews of any competition, as the number of candidates is huge and the invitations to the interviews few, sour surprises may happen. at this moment, using whole numbers of candidates and the total spots offered for a rough estimate, the chances of being invited to the interview are of 1 in 3 for AD12, 1 in 8 AD9 and 1 in 4 for AD7.
Therefore we don’t advice to prepare the oral interview in such an early stage. Wait until you had confirmation of passing the eligibility checks at least.
What can YSE do for you?
We will do our best to help you passing the test. Based on our experience and success in previous internal competitions (the last AD5 had a 90% success rate in the MCQ and the written test), we have developed an online training that allows you to advance at your own peace. We offer to you:
A set of 650 original questions for the MCQ with a collection of supporting materials
6 written tests that will guarantee you get the practice you need.
Each MCQ and written test contain a video-feedback highlighting the most relevant aspects of the test.
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… pero si quieres saber más sobre lo que haremos, apuntate aquí
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.
If you can wait to know how we’ll help with our trainings or you want to be part of the very first study group for the new competitions, register here.
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.
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.
We don’t know if it was the sun over brussels during the first weeks of the Spring season that made the competition flourish or simply the willingness to end the traffic jam of competitions caused by the pandemics, but in last weeks, the candidates of more than 10 different competitions have received excellent news and have been informed they made it to the Assessment phase. With all the changes that have taken place and the sudden rush, many of you are are asking about what will happen in your competitions, particularly: what are the next steps? How should I prepare my Assessment Centre? Then let’s try to answer to all of you with the latest information available. In this post, you will find the information for the following competitions (by reference number order, just scroll down until you find the ones that interest you):
Administrators in the field of external relations EPSO/AD/382/20 (AD5 and AD7)
AST and AST/SC competitionswill be in a different post.
Almost finalised Competitions
Administrators in the field of sustainable agriculture and rural development EPSO/AD/389/21 – AD6
Administrators in the field of European Law EPSO/AD/381/20
Administrators in international cooperation and managing aid to non-EU countries EPSO/AD/380/19 – AD7 and AD7
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).
Will the new competences change anything in my competition?
Business as usual, no changes here. The fact the old competences are defined in the notice of competition guarantee they will remain stable for your competitions, otherwise EPSO should amend it to introduce the new ones. Probably, they will wait until these competitions come to an end before introducing changes to the competences that will be evaluated. We expect to see the new competences in future competitions as Space & Defense, we’ll keep you posted.
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 webpage and our experience as candidates (yes, we once were where you are now) and trainers.
This is how it looks the situation of the competition
Status: At the moment we are writing this, a total of 205 candidates have made it to the Assessment Centre for 68 spots (if you want to see the precise data, check the table on the left), what leaves a proportion of one spot per three candidates, not bad at all! The case study has a date (5 of May), the rest of the assessment will take place between end of April and end of June. Remember that the on-line strategy for the Assessment Centre is to do each test at a different moment, not all the tests at once, but don’t forget to check your invitation to the Assessment Centre for the full detail (believe it or not, EPSO provides a lot of info in their communication to you – hint- click on the links!!!)
About the assessment: First, our old classic test – the Case Study (of competences) with 40 points. Then another classic among the classics, the Competency base interview (CBI) with another 40 points. Together they should add, minimum, 40 points (out of 80). On top of that, the Field test interview (it counts 100 points out of which you need 50 points. Of course, If you think we can help you with our trainings, you can check our next sessions or register for the next ones. And yes, we also prepare the field-related interview, it’s all about the methodology 😉 Remember you can join our Telegram information channel too where we’ll alert you of any news regarding your competition and our trainings.
2.-Administrator in the field of Data protection EPSO/AD/393/21
That’s all the info we got. EPSO is publishing some dates step by step and updating
Status: At the moment we are writing this, 230 candidates passed the MCQ (multiple choice questionnaire) on data protection and (a quite fast evaluated) Talent Screener. As we write this, only the case study has indicative date (20 of May), the rest of the Assessment Centre tests are expected to take place from mid May until the end of June. Also, don’t forget the CBT Test, this competition has the particularity where there is no passing mark of CBT but its results (up to 40 points) is added to the total. Then a candidate can get up to 300 points (40 from CBT + 40 from MCQ on Data protection + 80 competences + 140 field related). Also, don’t forget to check your EPSO profile twice per week! We did our full analysis of this competition here that we suggest to read, specially because the marking system is a bit different from what we are used to.
About the assessment: Old classic test the Case Study (of competences), scheduled originally for May, now it seems to be for June and in May only the CBT. Complementarily we got the Situational Competency base interview (SCBI) and on top of that the Field test interview that counts almost double than the competence test (so you know where you need to put your higher effort). All things considered, better to be a proven expert in Data protection to have a fair chance of passing this competition but don’t undervalue the points from the other test. Of course, If you think we can help you with our trainings, you can check our next sessions to prepare all assessment test or register for the next ones and don’t miss the opportunity of adding some points with the CBT (all points count!).
We have chosen the profile 1 for the photo (lazy day) but it’s the same dates for profile 2 and 3.
Status: Remember our analysis of this competition (profile 1, profile 2 and profile 3)? Well, not much has changed. In total, there has been 1454 applications (split in 710, 465 and 289 respectively on each profile). As for the spots available, there are 47, 30 and 30 respectively. So the wise EPSO decided to do the eligibility check first (CV screening) and then continue to the Talent Screener evaluation. Now, 125, 90 and 90 candidates for profile 1,2,3 respectively have been invited to the Assessment.
About the assessment: It’s becoming tendency to begin in specialist competition with the CBT. For this one in particular, candidates will have between 27 and 29 of April to take the test and obtain 10 points verbal and 10 points (minimum) from numerical and abstract test combined to pass (if you need some hints, we got our post about the CBT) . When the Assessment Centre comes, you will have to prepare the following: Case Study (scheduled for the 5 of May. The rest will come between May and June: Situational Competency base interview (SCBI) and Field related interview in two different days. If you think we can help you with our trainings, you can check our next sessions or register for the next ones.
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 ( more or less as expected) out 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 end of Spring and beginning of Summer (June-July) , 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 is confirmed as the first test on the 30th May. Get ready!!! If you think we can help you with our training (including the field related part, as many of our successful candidates can confirm), remember to check our next sessions (case study + written test on the 26th April) or join our Telegram information channel where we’ll alert you when the moment comes.
5.-Administrators in the field of Chemicals Policy EPSO/AD/390/21
With so many different dates, looks like the EPSO-assessment molecule
Status: It has been a long time since we did our analysis of this competition but it’s still valid. The eligibility checks were done and the Talent Screener evaluation results for 518 candidates were long expected. Finally 140 have been invited to the assessment.
About the assessment: This time, the calendar for this competition is full of particularities. First the CBT test will take place beginning of June (2nd and 3rd to be precise) but much earlier, will be the written test in the field, on the 26th April. Candidates will face the following tests: General competency-based interview (CBI); Situational competency-based interview (SCBI) and the Field-related ones (Interview and written test). Check our next training sessions if you think we can help you (we think we can).
6.-LAWYER-LINGUISTS (AD 7) EPSO/AD/383/21 – Bulgarian (BG); EPSO/AD/384/21 – Czech (CS); EPSO/AD/385/21 – French (FR); EPSO/AD/386/21 – Irish (GA); EPSO/AD/387/21 – Hungarian (HU); EPSO/AD/388/21 – Polish (PL)
This is valid for French, Czech, Bulgarian and Hungarian profiles
Status: The brave candidates of this competition faced the CBT last summer and then were called to to the Translation Test in December. After that test, those candidates with the highest marks (up to 4 times the number of spots) have been invited to the Assessment Centre, starting with the Summary test the 12th May. About the assessment: After a long wait, the Assessment Centre is here, as we foresaw. Remember it has a new configuration and the Situational competency-based interview is gone but the classics remain: General competency-based interview and the Oral presentation, where the minimum mark per competence disappears, you only need to obtain 40 points or more in total. As for the the Field-related tests, there will be another Oral presentation and a summary in language 1 from the Language 3 without dictionary (that will be tough). Glad to help you to prepare all these test. Check our next training sessions if you are interested.
This is how the Assessment of external relation will look like.
Status: After a very long wait, candidates received their results of the elegibility checks in April. But no further information was provided. EPSO is currently running the Talent Screener checks and we expect to know who will pass to the Assessment Center soon. Considering this, we don’t expect the Assessment Centre will take place before September 2022 (we indicate the year as the competition started in September 2020).Please, consider the evaluation of the Talent Screeners will take a couple of months (at least), so we bet its results will be published right before or right after the summer break (yes, not very concrete but this is EPSO, we mean c’est la vie!).
About the assessment: After all the struggle, could it be EPSO accelerates and releases the results of the talent so the approximately 258 candidates (AD5+AD7) invited to the assessment can receive their invitations before Easter? Fingers crossed. Meanwhile, Situational competency-based interview and the minimum mark per competence are gone, instead the Case study and the General competency-based interview remain and you will need to obtain 40 points or more in total in the competence part; For the Field related tests (Interview and written test) all remains the same, up to 50 points each.
Some of you having asking when to prepare the Assessment, our best advice, if you are not in any other competition that allows you to create synergies, wait until summer. Of course, stay tuned for our next training sessions if you think we can help you with them. Another way of staying tuned is to join our telegram channel where we’ll alert you when the moment comes.
Almost finalised
1.-Administrators in the field of sustainable agriculture and rural development EPSO/AD/389/21 – AD6
Status: So the Assessment Centre started in February 2022 then, during the Spring time, the candidates have been working hard to get it done despite the changes in the assessment distribution. The written test part was tough and long with two tests (and the agriculture part not exempt of controversy).
We thought about putting a screenshot from the competition but you know that one too well so we found our Agri-croqueta funnier and more encouraging.
What is left: As we speak, a bunch of the very last few candidates are taking their Assessment interviews. So now it’s a matter of patience (guess people in the area of agriculture cultivate plenty of it… sorry) and expect the results germinate but as late fruit, don’t wait for them until the summer break is over.
2.-Administrators in the field of European Law EPSO/AD/381/20
Status: It looks like yesterday when we shared our analysis and the sources to study EU law. Then, we spent the summer of 2021 struggling with the intermediate EU Law test (big applause for the 70 candidates who spent this summer with us and suffered our hard tests to prepare for this phase), and then came the long wait to get the results. Finally, as a snow storm in the middle of the hard winter, candidates got their invitation to the Assessment Centre and have spent the last 3 months working hard to prepare them.
EU law results are in the balance. Hope it will be swing in your favour!
What is left: After the modifications to the test in February, we missed the opportunity to see the role play in action but still theGeneral competency-based interview and a very interesting Oral Presentation were left. And last but not least, well it’s even more important, the Field Written test with its dose of controversy. We did our best to help more than 60 candidates (1 out of 5) in this final phase. And now we’ll be expecting the results as they do but better not to expect them before September. They take their time.
3.-Administrators in international cooperation and managing aid to non-EU countries EPSO/AD/380/19 – AD7and AD7
Evidence of the last try to publish the results. We don’t post all the previous attempts or this will look like an never ending soap-opera.
Status: Your are right, this competition opened in December 2019 and we have been reporting about it since then. However, as international cooperation projects experts know, nobody said it would be easy or short. The COVID crisis made things quite difficult and this competition got stuck for many months. Then the Assessment Centre was organised on a test by test basis, instead of taking all the Assessment Centre tests in the same day, which took a big part of 2021. But the «best» came at the end: the Case study and the Field written test, put the candidates in a very difficult situation as the interface/platform of the exam didn’t work as expected (or at all) and many candidates have to repeat the exam that finally took place by November 2021. What is left: Patience and resignation. Counting the days to see if EPSO releases the results by April (8 days left as we write this post) or a new date will be set on the web, after all, the dates on the web are indicative, only those received through official EPSO communication in your profile are valid and «cast on stone?»… better say «official».
Ya semos europeos 