Analysis of Administrators (AD6) in the fields of energy ; climate and environment a.k.a EPSO/AD/401/22 competition

Dear all,

Here we go again! fully loaded of (green) energy, EPSO has launched another AD6 competition in 3 (different?) topics : Energy, Climate and Environment with more than 150 spots (155 to be accurate). Probably they couldn’t have chosen a better moment to do so, nowadays, these are THE TOPICS. Even if tragic events such as the invasion of Ukraine by Russia comes to an end and some stability is back in our lives, climate change and the need to protect the environment will still be there, also the need to tackle these issues by saving energy and using green re-sources. Therefore today’s competition is a competition for the future, are you ready to meet the challenge?

How many spots are available? When does the process begin?

if you don’t believe us about the number of spots, just check the notice and do the math

A good number of spots are available, distributed in 3 fields : 54 for Energy, 49 for Climate and 52 for Environment, so 155 spots in total!!!, The bad news are that you can only apply to one single field, if you have doubts about where you fit best, check the questions in the Talent Screener of each profile. Be careful! The process began on 20 October and it will be open for joining until 22 November NOON (let’s say 11.59 AM CET). Until then, you can fill in and validate your application. Approximately, you have been given one month +2 days , that’s more than enough so charge your environmentally friendly batteries and go for it! If you want some hints on what to next, keep reading.

What are the criteria to be a candidate?

The general criteria, as usual: Enjoy full rights as a citizen of a Member State of the EU (of the 27 Member States, sorry, UK is no longer an option), meet any obligations under national laws on military service, and meet the character requirements for the duties concerned.

Specific criteria – languages

Same thing than in the paragraphs but visible in one look. Also you have a similar table in pag 8 of the notice of competition ;-).

I.-LANGUAGE of the APPLICATION: You can choose among the 24 official languages of the EU and you should have, at least, the ability to write your application in that language. Ok, but the question is, in which language should I draft my application? Should I do it English? French? Or my native language if it is none of the previous? You have the right to do it in your EU official (one of the 24) language but nobody guarantees that someone from the board will be able to read it and, in such case, they would have to translate it. If so, will all the details of your application be properly captured by the translation? If you are uncertain of the answer, better to use a common use language in the institutions, such as English or French. Besides, the check of the CVs for eligibility criteria will be faster if there is a high number of applications in those languages (English and French). For Spanish and Italian speakers, the chances of having someone who can read them are high so the risk of using translation tools is rather mitigated, while for other languages, our answer is that you should verify the chances of having fluent readers of your language in the board of evaluator. BUT also you have to take into account the….

II.-LANGUAGE of the TALENT SCREENER: this time you can’t choose. It must be ENGLISH. So that another good reason to do all your application (CV+Talent Screener) in English, so you can guarantee homogeneity and avoid potential mistakes of mixing languages. But this is only our opinion, at the end, you choose the languages within the possibilities offered by the notice of competition.

Also on languages, bear in mind that, as a candidate (= after you formally submitted your application) of this competition, EPSO will communicate with you (via the EPSO account or by email) in one of the languages that you have declared to have knowledge of at level B2 or higher in the ‘Ability to read’ section in the application. But if you want to complain about an error in the computer-based multiple-choice questions (MCQs) or do a requests for review you have to submit the requests or complaints in English or French. For other questions is any of the 24 official languages (again, the more spoken the language is, the faster they can deal with your communication)

III.-LANGUAGE of the Reasoning test (CBT): You can choose among 24 23 official languages of the EU, all except ENGLISH and you should have, minimum, a C1 level. For your mother tongue, you should qualify yourself as C2 and be CAREFUL! Do not say you have a level below C1 for any language skill (listening, reading, oral communication, written communication…), otherwise you will be disqualified automatically. The computer-based tests or CBT (verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning) will be taken in that language.

IV.-LANGUAGE of the ASSESSMENT CENTRE: ENGLISH or ENGLISH (sorry, you can’t choose, duty calls and EPSO explains it long and clear why in the notice). Here we need a B2 level minimum of English (no need to have a degree to justify it, the tests in the Assessment Centre will be done in this language and if you can work through them, then you will qualify as having the level required). Remember, when describing your level of English in the application, not to put any item (written, oral level, or any other) below B2 level.

Specific conditions – Work experience and studies

Let’s proceed by grouping all the criteria in each field, in an orderly manner so the criteria are more visible to all of you, especially the years of relevant working experience, which depends on your university degree.

Be aware! In the part «professional experience in the field or relevant» when describing your professional experience in the application (CV – work experience), you must clearly identify the experiences and activities equal or similar to those you are expected to do in the European Institutions and described in the notice twice (please check our table above): first in point 3.3 Specific conditions (do you need more hints?) and later in Annex I – Typical duties, so take a good look at the columns of our tables, explain your experience and keep calm! If you find this task difficult, perhaps our next webinar on this competition that will take place on 24 October can be key to help you fill in your application.

What are the tests that I have to pass? And the competition phases?

Based on the notice of competition + our experience, we split the process in 5 phases: 1) fill in the application, 2) eligibility checking 3) Talent Screener 4) CBT and 5) the Assessment Centre. The celebration after you have passed the competition is up to you. Before we continue, remember you can join our Telegram channel YSE to be updated in all the steps of this competition, vacancies, our trainings and useful infos.

Phase 1 – Fill in the Application and the Talent Screener

You’ve got until 22 November (noon) to send your application and before that, fill it in with love and care. This is the first step of the process, and the moment to differentiate yourself from the other candidates and all their experience in relation with the different profiles. So, keep it focused : Work experience + Academic records/University Degree – these will be used to confirm your eligibility (= whether you have as many years of working experience in the relevant duties as required) so you need to explain your work experience according to the items described in the notice (central and right side column on the tables above,…yes those, so check them again).

… (Wait! we are still in phase 1 and I have two relevant questions) 

How can I prove my experience is relevant? This time it is up to you and to explain it clearly, by using the key words of the task described as a requirement. Remember you will have to provide evidence of all those experiences described (Check annex III point 1 b) to see what it’s accepted to prove it).

What is a TALENT SCREENER? This is a list of questions related to your academic and professional background that you must answer in your application, you can find the questions on the Annex II of the notice of competition. The board of the competition is in charge of evaluating the answers. Keep in mind that all candidates in the same profile and field answer the same questions. In this way, the responses of all the candidates are structured in the same way, which allows the board to make an evaluation (as objective as such a type of test allows) of the compared merits of all the candidates. Remember to look at annex IV or the application form for all the details, and if you think we can be of help, come to our our free webinar next webinar on this competition that will take place on 24 October 18:30 (or watch one of our previous ones here the recording).

In this way, the responses of all the candidates are structured in the same way, which allows the board to make an evaluation (as objective as such a test allows) of the compared merits of all the candidates.

Phase 2 – Eligibility check

Here you can do nothing but wait. It is the task of the board to read first your CV to see if you have all the years of working experience required. It doesn’t matter if you have 20 or 6 years, once you have passed the threshold of having enough experience you go to the assessment. We remind you that the selection based on compliance with the eligibility conditions will be carried for all the candidates. You should therefore include all the relevant information in your application form (we insist).

Phase 3 – Talen Screener evaluation

Once you have been deemed eligible and all candidates have been evaluated, you and all the candidates will get an email informing on this and that you advance to the Talent Screener (BUT it doesn’t mean that you have been invited to the Assessment Centre… yet)Talent Screener evaluation will begin then using solely the information provided in this Talent Screener section (in English), they don’t cross reference with the rest of your application or Google to look for more information about you. You should therefore include all relevant information in your answers, even if already mentioned in other sections of your application form. The questions are published in annex IV of your notice of competition.

The best of all this is, after the evaluations (eligibility and talent and several months of wait), the number of candidates who will go to the Assessment Centre will be only up to 3 times the amount of openings. We are talking approximately 450 candidates in total and you are one of them because you have written a great application 🏆.

Phase 4 – CBT – The reasoning tests

Congrats! You are one of the four hundred fifty candidates with the highest marks in the Talent Screener and you have been invited to the Assessment Centre, the final round. In this round, you will also have to present all your papers in digital format (it used to be a USB memory stick before, now in the online Assessment Centre you will have to upload the pertinent papers before having the test), so prepare them in advance to avoid rushing in the last minute. First we’ll have the CBT (computer-based test), not so terrible as it looks, as you don’t need much to pass it (like an ordinary CAST exam) and there is no need of having a high mark, only passing it is enough.

Pay attention, you still need to pass this one, although not a big deal

Phase 4 – 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 8 competences to be assessed. Between the two tests you can gather a total of 80 points, with the particularity that you need an overall 40/80 to pass, but no minimum marks per competence. Don’t get over confident, do fine on these two and you will be fine for this part although the more points we get the better (we can help with that).

Some practice, some effort and a some guidance and it will be done 😉
When you see your name on the reserve list

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

Final Step – After a long process and passing the Assessment Centre, EPSO will check the validity of all your records and professional experiences (comparing them to the input of your application). For these, they will use the documents uploaded at the beginning of phase 4 – right before your first test of the Assessment Centre. So, keep your documents ready for upload once you have passed the eligibility check!!! Once you get the final OK for this part, you will see your name on the reserve list and ready to find a job as officer of the European institutions.

What is the timing of the competition? When will EPSO contact me?

All the situations under which EPSO will write you in your profile, not by email, although sometimes we may get a warning message.

The expected calendar for this competition is the following: after the closure date for the submission of the applications, second half of November, you will have the opportunity wait for a long time (winter is coming!) until they have done the eligibility check and the evaluation of the Talent Screener. Do not expect they will finish with the Talent before April 2023. Then you will have to take the CBT by May and the Assessment May-July 2023. After that, they will run the verification of your background documents (Summer time) and publish the reserve list by Autumn 2023. We are living light-speed times!

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

How much will my salary be?

Table of the amounts of basic monthly salaries for each grade and step in function groups AD and AST referred to in Article 66 of the Staff Regulations, applicable from 1 July 2021

One of the most typical questions of the candidates is the salary that you will get. An AD6 (step 2) will join the institutions with a salary starting at 6.000 € and this can be higher depending if you have dependent family members and other conditions. To that amount, you will have to add 16% extra of expatriation allowance and subtract the cost of the taxes (you pay taxes to the European Commission), health insurance and pension, all them proportional to your salary, so expect around the same amount, 6.000 € in net salary. By the way, we refer to step 2 as any first entrant in the institutions can’t join above that step, it means you have at least 3 years of professional experience, what in this competition, is obvious. And if you are worried about life in expensive countries the basic remuneration is supplemented by an allowance linked to the living conditions prevailing at the place of employment, so don’t worry too much.

Can you help me?

Let share some useful links for this competition, our trainings and more.

List of useful resources

  1. El CBT o los test psicotécnicos (ES)
  2. The Assesment centre (EN)
  3. 10 free resources (EN/ES).
  4. YSE trainings (English and Spanish) :
    1. CBT (in Spanish)
    2. Assessment sessions – for all the Assessment test (Theory in English or Spanish. Practice can be done in EN,FR,ES)
    3. Application review (EN/ES/FR/IT/DE)
    4. CAST Sessions -have you been invited to a job interview? Do you want to improve your chances of being selected in a CAST process?

Análisis de la oposición de Assistentes (AST 3) en 6 ámbitos: 1. Gestión financiera; 2. Contabilidad y tesorería; 3. Contratación pública; 4. Diseño gráfico; 5. Redes sociales; 6. Webmaster y todo dicho en corto oposición EPSO/AST/154/22 .

Queridos todos,

El otoño está aquí y las hojas de los árboles van cayendo e igualmente lo hacen las vacantes y las oportunidades para trabajar en la institución europea. EPSO ha publicado una nueva oposición que nos ofrece 492 nuevos puestos (casi 500 si eres de los que prefiere números redondos) para una amplia gama de perfiles, desde expertos en gestión financiera y contabilidad hasta expertos en medios de comunicación ( redes sociales, webmaster, diseño gráfico) terminado por expertos en contratación pública y licitaciones. Las instituciones europeas necesitan cada vez más perfiles técnicos altamente especializados, el mundo está cambiando y tú puedes formar parte de ese cambio. Si buscas la versión en inglés de este artículo, pincha aquí

¿Cuántas plazas hay? ¿Hasta cuando puedo presentar la candidatura?

Tenemos un buen número de plazas disponibles ¡¡¡492 plazas en total!!!, distribuidas en 6 ámbitos. Las malas noticias son que sólo puedes presentarte a un ámbito de los seis, así que eligelo con tiento y criterio. El proceso arrancó el 22 de septiembre y cerrará el día 25 de octubre (AL MEDIODIA) Hasta entonces , puedes completar y validar tu candidatura. En total nos han dado un mes y un par de días, asi que nada de dormirse en los laureles.

Si no te crees el númer ode plazas, tan sólo verificalo en la convocatoria de la oposición y haz la suma.

¿Cuáles son los criterios para ser candidato?

Los criterios generales, como de costumbre: Gozar de plenos derechos como ciudadano de uno de los veintisiete Estados miembros de la UE (el Reino Unido ya no es una opción), cumplir las obligaciones derivadas de la legislación nacional en materia de servicio militar y cumplir los requisitos de carácter para las funciones de que se trate.

Criterios específicos – Los idiomas

I.-IDIOMA de la SOLICITUD: Puedes elegir entre las 24 lenguas oficiales de la UE y, como mínimo, deberías tener la capacidad para redactar la candidatura en esa lengua. OK, jajaja muy divertido, pero la pregunta es ¿En qué lengua debo redactar mi solicitud? ¿Debería hacerlo el inglés? ¿francés o en mi lengua materna? Tienes derecho a hacerlo en tu lengua oficial, pero nadie garantiza que alguien del tribunal de la oposición pueda leerlo y, en tal caso, tengan que traducirlo. En ese caso, la siguiente pregunta es ¿sobrevivirán todos los detalles de mi solicitud a la traducción? Si no lo tienes por seguro, plantéate lo siguiente ¿no será mejor utilizar una lengua de uso común en las instituciones, así controlo lo que pongo? Y es ahí entrarán el inglés y el francés. Además, la verificación de los criterios de admisibilidad de los CV será proporcionalmente más rápida al número de solicitudes en esas lenguas (inglés y francés). En el caso de los hablantes españoles e italianos, las posibilidades de que alguien pueda leerlos (aún sin ser nativos) son elevadas, por lo que el riesgo de utilizarlos está bastante mitigado; para otras lenguas, nuestra respuesta es que pienses antes cuales son las posibilidades de tener lectores fluidos de tu lengua en el tribunal de la oposición.

Lo mismo que hemos dicho antes pero ordenado por EPSO. Puedes verlo en la página 8 de la convocatoria 😉

Siguiendo con el tema de los idiomas , ten en cuenta que, como candidato oficial (= después de haber presentado oficialmente su candidatura) de esta oposición, la EPSO se comunicará (a través de la cuenta EPSO o por correo electrónico) contigo en una de las lenguas que hayas declarado tener conocimientos de nivel B2 o superior en la sección «Capacidad de lectura» del formulario de candidatura. Sin embargo, si lo que quieres es denunciar un error en las preguntas de opciones múltiples por ordenador (el CBT) o solicitar una revisión de alguna de los resultados, tienes que presentar las solicitudes o reclamaciones en inglés o francés. Para otras preguntas, cualquiera de las 24 lenguas oficiales (de nuevo, cuanto más hablada sea la lengua, más rápido podrán tratar su comunicación)

II.-IDIOMA de los test psicotécnicos (CBT): Para los clásicos test de razonamiento verbal, razonamiento numérico y razonamiento abstracto, puede elegir entre 24 23 lenguas oficiales de la UE, todas excepto INGLÉS, y debe tener, como mínimo, un nivel C1. Si es tu lengua materna, deberías calificarte como C2 y tener mucho cuidado. No digas que tienes un nivel inferior a C1 para ninguna competencia lingüística (escucha, lectura, comunicación oral, comunicación escrita, etc.), so pena de ser descalificado automáticamente. Las pruebas por ordenador o CBT (razonamiento verbal, numérico y abstracto) se realizarán en esa lengua declarada como lengua 1 (insistimos por si no quedó claro). Y si necesitas apoyo con estos test, puedes unirte a uno de nuestros cursos de CBT (pronto empieza el siguiente) .

III.-IDIOMA del Assessment: INGLÉS o INGLÉS (lo sentimos, estos son lentejas y no puedes elegir, el deber obliga y la EPSO explica las razones de esta elección claramente en la convocatoria). Aquí necesitaremos un nivel B2 mínimo de inglés (no es necesario tener un diploma o título para justificarlo, las pruebas en el Centro de Evaluación se realizarán en esta lengua y si puede trabajar/examinarte con ella, se considerará que tiene el nivel requerido). Recuerda que, al describir su nivel de inglés en la solicitud, no coloques ningún elemento (tú nivel de escrito, oral o lectura) por debajo del nivel B2.

Condiciones específicas – Experiencia profesional y estudios

Vamos poco a poco, agrupando el perfil 1 y 2 y luego hablaremos de los perfiles del 3 al 6, así los criterios de lo que nos piden, serán más visibles para todos.

¡Cuidadín! Para explicar la parte «experiencia profesional en el ámbito», como en este caso, significa que, al describir su experiencia profesional en la solicitud (CV — experiencia laboral), los candidatos deben identificar claramente las experiencias y actividades iguales o similares a las que se espera que realicen en las instituciones europeas y descritas en el anuncio dos veces (consulte nuestro cuadro): en primer lugar, en el punto 3.3 Condiciones específicas (¿necesita más explicaciones?) y más tarde en el anexo I — Funciones atípicas, por lo que mira bien las columnas de nuestros cuadros, explique su experiencia y no desespere. Si considera que esta tarea es difícil, quizás nuestro próximo seminario web (martes 11 octubre 19 h CET) webinar( click para ver el video) sobre esta oposición pueda ser clave para darte ideas de cómo afrontar la oposición.

Las pruebas a superar y las distintas fases de la oposición

Tomando como referencia la convocatoria de oposición + nuestra experiencia, el proceso lo hemos dividido en 4 fases: 1) rellenar la solicitud, 2) CBT 3) verificación de la admisibilidad 4) el Centro de Evaluación. Por último, el fiestorro una vez superada la oposición queda a tu discreción. Antes de arrancar, si quieres que vayamos informando de avances en esta oposición, vacantes y cosillas de utilidad, unete a nuestro canal de Telegram YSE

Fase 1 – Rellenar la candidatura

Tenemos hasta el 25 de octubre (mediodía) para enviar la solicitud y, antes, toca rellenarla con amor y cuidado. Este es el primer paso del proceso y el momento de diferenciarse de los demás candidatos y de toda su experiencia en relación con los seis perfiles diferentes. Así pues, mantente centrado en explicar bien tu Experiencia laboral + cualificaciones pues estos se utilizarán para confirmar tu admisibilidad (= tienes tantos años de experiencia laboral en las funciones pertinentes como sea necesario). Esto significa que debemos explicar nuestra experiencia laboral con arreglo a los puntos descritos en la convocatoria (columnas central y derecha del cuadro que viene a continuación – están inglés porque asumimos que la mayoría de los candidatos usaréis esa lengua para la candidatura, sino aquí está la convocatoria en español).

Ámbito 1 -Gestión Financiera & Ámbito 2 – Contabilidad y tesorería

Ámbito 3 – Contratación Pública & Ámbito 4 Diseño Gráfico y producción de contenidos visuales & 5 Medios digitales y redes sociales & 6.- webmaster (administradores de sitios web) (haz click en las flechas laterales para ir cambiando de tabla)

… (¡para el carro! Estamos todavía en la fase 1) ¿Cómo puedo demostrar que mi experiencia es pertinente? Esta vez te toca explicarlo claramente utilizando las palabras clave de las tareas descrita como requisito (insistimos). Recuerda que tendrás que aportar evidencias (papeles que la prueben) de todas las experiencias descritas en tu candidatura (consulta el anexo III, punto 1, letra b para ver que papeles se aceptan para justificarlas).

De este modo, las respuestas de todos los candidatos estarán estructuradas de la misma manera, lo que permite al tribunal de la oposición realizar una evaluación (tan objetiva como lo permite el proceso) de los méritos de todos los candidatos. Si crees que podemos ayudarte, echa un vistazo a nuestro anterior webinar, en el que nos centramos en los consejos para rellenar la candidatura y el Talent Screener de oposiciones especializadas. PERO, si está buscando una visión totalmente aplicada a esta oposición, vente a nuestro próximo seminario web (martes 11 octubre 19 h CET) a ver el webinar que hicimos( click para ver el video).

Fase 2- CBT — La prueba de razonamiento

Justo después de finalizar el período de inscripción, unas dos semanas más tarde, podemos esperar esperar que se abra el tiempo para reservar la prueba por ordenador (CBT) y que se realicen la prueba desde casa o desde los centros Prometric durante la segunda quincena de noviembre y principios de diciembre. Y aquí llega la sorpresa, esta vez los CBT aportan una sorpresa oculta.

Para el ámbito 1 — Gestión financiera & ámbito 2 — Contabilidad y tesorería, tendrás 15 preguntas en el razonamiento numérico (5 más de lo habitual), mientras que en el razonamiento verbal sólo 15 (5 menos de lo habitual). Para superarlo necesitarás 8 de cada 15 puntos en el numérico y 12 de 25 de la puntuación combinada de BUT verbal y abstracta, pero ahora viene gran PERO, sólo los candidatos que obtengan una de las puntuaciones más altas en la prueba de razonamiento numérico serán sometidos a una comprobación de su admisibilidad, ya que esta verificación se hará por orden de nota hasta completar 3 veces el número de vacantes disponibles (y siempre que también tengamos el mínimo de 12 sobre 25 para verbal + abstracto). Recuerda que si necesitas apoyo con estos test, puedes unirte a uno de nuestros cursos de CBT (pronto empieza el siguiente)

Presta atención, el diablo se esconde en los detalles

Y si vamos al ámbito 3 — Contratación pública — ámbito 4 — Diseño gráfico y producción de contenidos visuales- ámbito 5 — Medios sociales y digitales, ámbito 6 — Webmaster, la imagen cambiará un poco. Volvemos a la distribución clásica de 20 preguntas verbales, 10 numéricas y 10 abstractas. Para superarlo, necesitarás 10 de 20 verbales y 10 de 20 de la puntuación combinada de numérico y abstracto, sí ahora el gran PERO. También en estos ámbitos o perfiles, las verificaciones de cumplir con los criterios de admisibilidad se harán por orden decreciente de puntuación en el razonamiento verbal (y siempre que tengamos el mínimo de 10 sobre 20 para numérico + abstracto) hasta completar el cupo de 3 candidatos por plaza ofertada ( Permítenos que insistamos, que luego sólo os acordáis de la croqUEta de YSE cuando quedan 2 días para el examen , aquí el enlace para informarte y/o unirte a nuestro próximo curso de CBT )

La distribucion de preguntas y puntos de siempre con la salvedad que tenemos que sacar un buen resultado en verbal.

Fase 3 — Verificación de la admisibilidad

Aquí no puede hacer nada más que esperar. Corresponde al Tribunal de la oposición leer tu candidatura para ver si tiene todos los años de experiencia laboral requeridos(y los estudios correspondientes). No importa si tiene 20 o 6 años, una vez que haya superado el umbral de experiencia suficiente para pasar a la evaluación. Te recordamos que la selección basada en el cumplimiento de las condiciones de admisión solo se llevará a cabo para los candidatos que superen el CBT y por orden decreciente en su resultado numérico (perfil 1 y 2) o verbal (perfiles 3-4-5-6) (por si no quisiste leer la fase 2). Por lo tanto, debe incluir toda la información pertinente en tu formulario de candidatura. Lo mejor es, tras las evaluaciones, solo 3 veces las aperturas se dirigirán al Centro de Evaluación. Hablamos de un total aproximado de 1500 candidatos y estamos seguro que tú serás uno de ellos porque habrás escrito una gran candidatura 🏆 después de asistir a nuestro webinar.

Fase 4 — Centro de evaluación.

¡Enhorabuena! Eres uno de los candidatos que has obtenido las mejores puntuaciones en el CBT, cuentas con la experiencia requerida y por tanto has sido invitado al Centro de Evaluación. Hemos llegado a la ronda final, en la que también tendremos que presentar todos nuestros documentos relacionados con la educación y la experiencia profesional en formato digital (deberán cargarse en una plataforma antes de realizar las pruebas del Centro de Evaluación), por lo que los prepararemos con antelación para evitar una carreras de última hora con la burocracia.

Hablando de las pruebas a las que nos vamos a enfrentar, la oposición pasa a ser clásica. Los candidatos deberán someterse a lo siguiente: Estudio de casos y entrevista basada en competencias situacionales: aquí tienen 7 competencias que deben evaluarse (en las oposiciones AD hay ocho). Entre las dos pruebas, puede reunir un total de 70 puntos, con la particularidad que necesita y, en total, 35/70 para aprobar, pero no las puntuaciones mínimas por competencia, no confían en estas dos pruebas, pero sí lo harás por esta parte, aunque cuantos más puntos obtengamos mejor (con estas pruebas, llegado el momento, también podemos ayudar).

Algo de práctica , un poco de esfuerzo y algo de guía y tenemos la receta perfecta para aprobar.
When you see your name on the reserve list

En cualquier caso, la parte clave es la prueba relacionada con el campo (field related interview), en la que tendrá que demostrar sus conocimientos técnicos sobre el terreno, explicando detalladamente su experiencia pertinente para este puesto. La entrevista en el campo también está de alguna manera estructurada, pero, puesto que se centra claramente en su experiencia laboral, es mucho más interesante y gratificante, puede obtener hasta 100 puntos en esa prueba (también podemos ayudar con esta), aproximadamente el 60 % de todos los puntos disponibles.

Paso final: tras un largo proceso y tras superar el Centro de Evaluación, la EPSO comprobará la validez de todos sus expedientes y experiencias profesionales (comparándolos con las aportaciones de su candidatura). Para ello, utilizarán los documentos cargados al comienzo de la fase 4, justo antes de la primera prueba del Centro de Evaluación. Así pues, mantente listo para cargar los documentos una vez que hayas superado el control de admisibilidad. Una vez que obtenga el OK final para esta parte y tras una espera (larga o corta dependerá de tu paciencia), verás tu nombre en la lista de reserva y estarás listo para encontrar un puesto de funcionario de las instituciones europeas.

¿Cuál es el calendario de la convocatoria? ¿Cúando me va a contactar EPSO?

All the situations under which EPSO will write you in your profile, not by email, although sometimes we may get a warning message.

El calendario previsto para esta competición es el siguiente: después de la fecha de cierre para la presentación de las solicitudes y realizar el test psicotécnicio ( CBT), se llevarán a cabo los controles de elegibilidad en otoño y luego el Talent Screener durante el invierno. ¡Así que prepárate para enfrentarte al CBT este otoño y al Centro de Evaluación en la primavera de 2023!

¿Cuándo se pondrá en contacto conmigo la EPSO? Muchos nos preguntain cuándo os dirá EPSO que habeis pasado a la siguiente fase, o si habéis sido invitados al assessment tras pasar la evaluación de los años de experiencia, o… habeis leído o escuchado rumores sobre el desarrollo de los concursos (el primo de la prima del primo de la…. ha dicho que…). Es mejor aislarse de ese ruido y centrarse en los mensajes reales, EPSO se compromete (en el anexo II del anuncio) a comunicarse con todos los candidatos después de que hayan pasado la fase de elegiblidad e igualmente después del Talent Screener para informar de los resultados e invitarte al Assessment. Mientras tanto, puede llevar semanas o meses recibir cualquier información, así que mantén la calma. En caso de duda, puedes ponerte en contacto con EPSO también, ya que los candidatos teneis derecho a hacerlo, pero ten cuidado, las respuestas pueden ser un poco crípticas o un simple copiar/pegar de la notificación, no esperes grandes aclaraciones.

¿Cuánto voy a ganar?

Table of the amounts of basic monthly salaries for each grade and step in function groups AD and AST referred to in Article 66 of the Staff Regulations, applicable from 1 July 2021

Una de las preguntas más típicas de los candidatos. Un AST3 (paso 2) se incorporará a las instituciones con un salario de salida superior a 4,000 EUR y esto puede ser mayor dependiendo de si tienes familia dependiente de ti y otras condiciones. A eso tendrás que sumar un 16 % extra de tasa de expatriación y restar el coste de los impuestos (pagas impuestos a la Comisión Europea), seguro de salud y pensión, todos ellos proporcionales a tu salario, así entre lo que entra y sale, espera alrededor de la misma cantidad, 4,000 EUR, en salario neto. Por cierto, nos referimos al step 2 ya que cualquiera que entra nuevo en las instituciones no puede entrar por encima de ese «step», ese nivel se adquiere si demuestras que tienes al menos 3 años de experiencia profesional, lo que en esta oposición, es obvio. Y si te preocupa la vida en países caros, la remuneración básica se complementa con una asignación vinculada a las condiciones de vida que prevalecen en el lugar de trabajo, así que no es para tanto 

¿Podéis ayudarme?

Van unos enlaces de interés

List of useful resources

  1. El CBT o los test psicotécnicos (ES)
  2. The Assesment centre (EN)
  3. 10 free resources (EN/ES).
  4. YSE trainings (English and Spanish) :
    1. CBT (in Spanish)
    2. Assessment sessions – for all the Assessment test (Theory in English or Spanish. Practice can be done in EN,FR,ES)
    3. Application review (EN/ES/FR/IT/DE)
    4. CAST Sessions -have you been invited to a job interview? Do you want to improve your chances of being selected in a CAST process?

Analysis of Assistants (AST 3) in 6 the fields: 1. Financial management; 2. Accounting; 3. Public procurement; 4. Graphic design; 5. Social media; 6. Webmaster, a.k.a EPSO/AST/154/22 competition

Dear all,

We are now at that time of the year when tree leaves are falling… and so are the vacancies and opportunities to work in the European Institutions! EPSO has released a new competition offering 492 new positions (almost 500 if you prefer round numbers) to a wide range of profiles from experts in financial management, accounting and public procurement to media experts (social, web, graphic design). The European Institutions need more and more highly specialized technical profiles, the world is changing and you can be a part of that change. Spanish version of this post available here.

How many spots are available? When does the process begin?

A good number of spots are available, 492 spots in total!!!, distributed in 6 fields. The bad news are that you can only apply to one single field. Be careful! The process began on the 22 September and it will be open for joining until 25 October NOON (let’s say 11.59 AM CET). Until then, you can fill in and validate your application. Approximately, you have been given one month +2 days , that’s more than enough but don’t fall asleep.

if you don’t believe us about the number of spots, just check the notice and do the math

What are the criteria to be a candidate?

The general criteria, as usual: Enjoy full rights as a citizen of a Member State of the EU (of the 27 Member States, sorry, UK is no longer an option), meet any obligations under national laws on military service, and meet the character requirements for the duties concerned.

Specific criteria – languages

Same thing than in the paragraphs but visible in one look. Also you have a similar table in pag 8 of the notice of competition ;-).

I.-LANGUAGE of the APPLICATION: You can choose among the 24 official languages of the EU and you should have, at least, the ability to write your application in that language. Ok, but the question is, in which language should I draft my application? should I do it English? French? Or my native language if it is none of the previous? You have the right to do it in your EU official (one of the 24) language but nobody guarantees someone from the board will be able to read it and, in such case, they would have to translate it. If so, will all the details of your application be properly captured by the translation? If you are uncertain of the answer, better to use a common use language in the institutions, such as English or French. Besides, the check of the CVs for eligibility criteria will be faster if there is a high number of applications in those languages (English and French). For Spanish and Italian speakers, the chances of having someone who can read them are high so the risk of using them is rather mitigated, for other languages, our answer is that you should verify the chances of having fluent readers of your language in the board of evaluators.

Also on languages, bear in mind that, as a candidate (= after you formally submitted your application) of this competition, EPSO will communicate with you (via the EPSO account or by email) in one of the languages that you have declared to have knowledge of at level B2 or higher in the ‘Ability to read’ section in the application. But if you want to complain about an error in the computer-based multiple-choice questions (MCQs) or do a requests for review you have to submit the requests or complaints in English or French. For other questions is any of the 24 official languages (again, the more spoken the language is, the faster they can deal with your communication)

II.-LANGUAGE of the Reasoning test (CBT): You can choose among 24 23 official languages of the EU, all except ENGLISH and you should have, minimum, a C1 level. For your mother tongue, you should qualify yourself as C2 and be CAREFUL! Do not say you have a level below C1 for any language skill (listening, reading, oral communication, written communication…), otherwise you will be disqualified automatically. The computer-based tests or CBT (verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning) will be taken in that language.

III.-LANGUAGE of the ASSESSMENT CENTRE: ENGLISH or ENGLISH (sorry, you can’t choose, duty calls and EPSO explains it long and clear why in the notice). Here we need a B2 level minimum of English (no need to have a degree to justify it, the tests in the Assessment Centre will be done in this language and if you can work through them, then you will qualify as having the level required). Remember, when describing your level of English in the application, not to put any item (written, oral level, or any other) below B2 level.

Specific conditions – Work experience and studies

Let’s proceed by grouping fields, we will first deal with field 1 and 2 and then with profiles from 3 to 6. in an orderly manner so the criteria are more visible to all you.

Be aware! In the part «professional experience in the field or relevant» when describing your professional experience in the application (CV – work experience), you must clearly identify the experiences and activities equal or similar to those you are expected to do in the European Institutions and described in the notice twice (please check our table below): first in point 3.3 Specific conditions (do you need more hints?) and later in Annex I – Typical duties, so take a good look at the columns of our tables, explain your experience and keep calm! If you find this task difficult, perhaps our next webinar on this competition that will take place on 11 October webinar( click to see the recording) can be key to help you fill in your application.

What are the tests that I have to pass? And the competition phases?

Based on the notice of competition + our experience, we split the process in 4 phases: 1) fill in the application, 2) CBT 3) elegibility checking 4) the Assessment Centre. The celebration after you have passed the competition is up to you. Before we continue, remember you can join our Telegram channel YSE to be updated in all the steps of this competition, vacancies, our trainings and useful infos.

Phase 1 – Fill in the Application

You’ve got until 25 October (noon) to send your application and before that, fill it in with love and care. This is the first step of the process, and the moment to differentiate yourself from the other candidates and all their experience in relation with the six different profiles. So, keep it focused : Work experience + Academic records – these will be used to confirm your eligibility (= whether you have as many years of working experience in the relevant duties as required) so you need to explain your work experience according to the items described in the notice (central and right side column on the tables below).

Field 1 – Financial management & Field 2 – Accounting and treasury

Field 3 – Public procurement & Field 4 – Graphic design and visual content production & Field 5 – Social and digital media & Field 6 -Webmaster (click on the side arrows to change the table)

… (Wait! we are still in phase 1) How can I prove my experience is relevant? This time is up to you and to explain it clearly, by using the key words of the task described as a requirement. Remember you will have to provide evidence of all those experiences described (Check annex III point 1 b) to see what it’s accepted to prove it).

In this way, the responses of all the candidates are structured in the same way, which allows the board to make an evaluation (as objective as such a test allows) of the compared merits of all the candidates. If you think we can be of help, check our past webinar where we focused on tips to fill in the Talent Screener for past specialist competitions. BUT if you are looking for a fresh view on this competition, check our next webinar on the subject on 11 October. webinar( click to see the recording)

Phase 2 – CBT – The reasoning test

Right after ending the period of application, about couple of weeks later, you can expect the time to book your computer-based tests (CBT) test will open, then you will take the test either from home or from Prometric centers during the second half of November and early December. This time the CBT’s bring a hidden surprise.

For Field 1 -Financial management & Field 2 – Accounting and treasury, you will have 15 questions in the numerical reasoning (5 more than usual), while in the verbal only 15 (5 less than usual). To pass, you will need 8 out of 15 in numerical and 12 out of 25 from the combined score of verbal and abstract. BUT, yes now it comes the big BUT, only those candidates who obtain one of the highest scores in the numerical reasoning test will have their application checked for eligibility (and minimum 12 out of 25 for verbal + abstract) by order of results and until they have as many candidates as 3 times the number of spots offered. So it doesn’t matter if you have 10 , 20 or 30 years of relevant working experience, you need a high result in the numerical reasoning.

Pay attention, evil…we mean…the numerical is in the details

And if we go for Field 3 – Public procurement & Field 4 – Graphic design and visual content production & Field 5 – Social and digital media & Field 6 – Webmaster, the picture changes a bit. You will have the usual distribution 20 verbal, 10 numerical and 10 abstract reasoning questions. To pass, you will need 10 out of 20 in verbal and 10 out of 20 from the combined score of numerical and abstract reasoning. BUT, yes now it comes the big BUT for these ones too, only those candidates who obtain one of the highest scores in the verbal reasoning test will have their application checked for eligibility (and also the minimum 10 out of 25 for numerical + abstract).

Almost business as usual but still highest mark in verbal is needed

Phase 3 – Eligibility check

Here you can do nothing but wait. It is the task of the board to read first your CV to see if you have all the years of working experience required. It doesn’t matter if you have 20 or 6 years, once you have passed the threshold of having enough experience you go to the assessment. We remind you that the selection based on compliance with the eligibility conditions will be carried out only for those candidates who pass the CBT and by decreasing order in their result of numerical (profile 1 and 2) or verbal (profiles 3-4-5-6) . You should therefore include all the relevant information in your application form. The best of all this is, after the evaluations, the number of candidates who will go to the Assessment Centre will be only up to 3 times the amount of openings. We are talking approximately 1500 candidates in total and you are one of them because you have written a great application 🏆.

Phase 4 – Assessment Centre.

Congrats! You are one of the candidates with the highest marks in the CBT, you have the required experience and you have been invited to the Assessment Centre. We have reached the final round, in which we will also have to present all our documents related to education and professional experience in digital format (they need to be uploaded into a platform before doing the Assessment Centre tests), so prepare them in advance to avoid a last minute rush with the bureaucracy.

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

Some practice, some effort and a some guidance and it will be done 😉
When you see your name on the reserve list

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

Final Step – After a long process and passing the Assessment Centre, EPSO will check the validity of all your records and professional experiences (comparing them to the input of your application). For these, they will use the documents uploaded at the beginning of phase 4 – right before your first test of the Assessment Centre. So, keep your documents ready for upload once you have passed the eligibility check!!! Once you get the final OK for this part, you will see your name on the reserve list and ready to find a job as officer of the European institutions.

What is the timing of the competition? When will EPSO contact me?

All the situations under which EPSO will write you in your profile, not by email, although sometimes we may get a warning message.

The expected calendar for this competition is the following: after the closure date for the submission of the applications, mid-November you will have the opportunity to book your CBT slot, then taking the CBT end November, early December. After that, they will run the eligibility checks in Winter, and then the Assessment will come in mid-Spring onwards. So get ready to confront the CBT very soon and the Assessment Centre in Spring 2023!!

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

How much will my salary be?

Table of the amounts of basic monthly salaries for each grade and step in function groups AD and AST referred to in Article 66 of the Staff Regulations, applicable from 1 July 2021

One of the most typical questions of the candidates is the salary that you will get. An AST3 (step 2) will join the institutions with a salary starting at 4.500 € and this can be higher depending if you have dependent family members and other conditions. To that amount, you will have to add 16% extra of expatriation allowance and subtract the cost of the taxes (you pay taxes to the European Commission), health insurance and pension, all them proportional to your salary, so expect around the same amount, 4.000 € in net salary. By the way, we refer to step 2 as any first entrant in the institutions can’t join above that step, it means you have at least 3 years of professional experience, what in this competition, is obvious. And if you are worried about life in expensive countries the basic remuneration is supplemented by an allowance linked to the living conditions prevailing at the place of employment, so don’t worry too much.

Can you help me?

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

List of useful resources

  1. El CBT o los test psicotécnicos (ES)
  2. The Assesment centre (EN)
  3. 10 free resources (EN/ES).
  4. YSE trainings (English and Spanish) :
    1. CBT (in Spanish)
    2. Assessment sessions – for all the Assessment test (Theory in English or Spanish. Practice can be done in EN,FR,ES)
    3. Application review (EN/ES/FR/IT/DE)
    4. CAST Sessions -have you been invited to a job interview? Do you want to improve your chances of being selected in a CAST process?

Are you a candidate in an EU-competition facing a proofreading tests? Or a finalisation of a text? Some useful ideas on how to prepare them

Dear all,

We know that among our readers there are candidates of the competition of proofreaders/language editorsGreek, Spanish, Estonian, Gaelic, Italian, Portuguese (EPSO/AST/148/21) and Linguistic Assistants EstonianCroatian(HR)ItalianDutch(NL)PolishPortuguese (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.

Proofreaders/language editors – Greek, Spanish, Estonian, Gaelic, Italian, Portuguese (EPSO/AST/148/21)

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 (SpanishFrench; ItalianGerman). 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.

  1. First step: copy the two texts to be reviewed in a Word document,
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. Fourth step: correct the texts by comparing them to the original text. Analyse the part where you have made mistakes and why.
  5. 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 :

  1. First step: copy a text (1000 words should do it) to be reviewed in a Word document,
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. Fith step: go back to the first step and repeat.

Can you help me further with my tests?

Of course, if you think we can help you with our training, you can check out 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.

Finally, let’s share some useful links for this competition and any other.

List of useful resources for EU competitions

  1. El CBT o los test psicotécnicos (ES)
  2. The Assesment centre (EN)
  3. 10 free resources (EN/ES).
  4. YSE trainings (English and Spanish) :
    1. CBT (in Spanish)
    2. Assessment sessions – for all the Assessment test (Theory in English or Spanish. Practice can be done in EN,FR,ES)
    3. Application review (EN/ES/FR/IT/DE)
    4. CAST Sessions -have you been invited to a job interview? Do you want to improve your chances of being selected in a CAST process?

Who said Holidays? EPSO and the competitions keep moving forward

Dear all,

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 :

AD-Administrators competitions

  1. EPSO/AD/376-7-8/20 – Greek-Language (EL) Lawyer-Linguists French-Language (FR) Lawyer-Linguists Polish-Language (PL) Lawyer-Linguists
  2. EPSO/AD/382/20 (AD5 and AD7) -Administrators in the field of external relations
  3. EPSO/AD/396/21 Irish-Language (GA) Lawyer-Linguists
  4. EPSO/AD/397/21 Administrators in the field of maritime affairs and fisheries
  5. 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
  6. Bonus – Schengen acquis

AST and AST/SC competitions

  1. EPSO/AST/148/21 Proofreaders/language editors – Greek, Spanish, Estonian, Gaelic, Italian, Portuguese
  2. EPSO/AST/150/21 ( AST3) Technicians in Audiovisual, Building and Laboratory.
  3. 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
  4. 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.

1.- Greek-Language (EL) ; French-Language (FR) ; Polish-Language (PL) Lawyer-Linguists EPSO/AD/376-7-8/20 –

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.

Of course, if you think we can help you with our training, 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.

2.-Administrators in the field of external relations EPSO/AD/382/20 (AD5 and AD7)

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.

3.- Irish-Language (GA) Lawyer-Linguists EPSO/AD/396/21

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.

Remember the number of test in the assessment was reduced to one test per competence.

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 😉

4.-Administrators in the field of maritime affairs and fisheries EPSO/AD/397/21

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!

5.-EPSO/AD/398/22 -All ICT competitions (AD Level) : 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

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.

Assessment distribution after February modification

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!

AST competitions

1.-Proofreaders/language editors – Greek, Spanish, Estonian, Gaelic, Italian, Portuguese EPSO/AST/148/21

Do you recognize yourself?

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!!!!

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.

3.-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

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 ETHRITNLPLPT

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 information or being notified that we have passed to the next phase of the competition, so keep calm. If you are feeling desperate for the lack of news, you can always contact EPSO too, as candidates you are entitled to do so but be careful, replies can be a bit cryptic or copy/paste from the notice.

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

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.

List of useful resources for EU competitions

  1. El CBT o los test psicotécnicos (ES)
  2. The Assesment centre (EN)
  3. 10 free resources (EN/ES).
  4. YSE trainings (English and Spanish) :
    1. CBT (in Spanish)
    2. Assessment sessions – for all the Assessment test (Theory in English or Spanish. Practice can be done in EN,FR,ES)
    3. Application review (EN/ES/FR/IT/DE)
    4. CAST Sessions -have you been invited to a job interview? Do you want to improve your chances of being selected in a CAST process?

Analysis of Administrators (AD 7) and experts (AD 9) in the fields of defence industry and space EPSO/AD/400/22

Dear all,

3,2,1…..lift-off! The final countdown is over and after a long wait, the EPSO/AD/400/22 competition is taking off, so dear candidates take your helmets, get ready your intellectual weapons and launch yourself to the cosmic adventure for a position as an Administrator (Ad 7) or Expert (Ad 9) In The Fields Of Defence Industry And Space (link to the formal notice of competition).

If you are an expert in one or several of the wide range of fields related to space (Air and space law, economics, International relations of space organisations, Earth observation etc.) or defence (technology, law, procurements, etc.) (check the image for full detail), this is your competition. The Directorate General for Defence industry and Space (DG DEFIS for friends) is looking for 100 new (but veteran) recruits to join their ranks. So get the Neil Armstrong or the Napoleon Bonaparte in you and prepare your application.

How many spots are available? When does it begin?

A good number of spots are available (100 spots in total!!!), distributed in 2 fields split in 2 grades respectively. The bad news are that you can only apply for one single field and grade. Be careful! The process began on the 16 June and it will be open until 19 July  NOON (let’s say 11.59 AM CET). Until then, you can fill in and validate your application. Approximately, you have been given one month +3 days, that’s more than enough but don’t fall asleep.

Plenty of options to chose but you have to select only one!!

What are the criteria to be a candidate?

The general criteria, as usual: Enjoy full rights as a citizen of one of the 27 Member States of the EU (UK is no longer an option), meet any obligations under national laws on military service (quite a paradox if you go for the field o experts in defence and you haven’t done it yet), and meet the character requirements for the duties concerned.

Specific criteria – languages

Here you have the language mix for this competition. Unfortunately, Klingon doesn’t count for Space experts.

LANGUAGE 1: You can choose among the 23 official languages of the EU, yes 23 because ENGLISH is not an option this time for language 1 and you should have, minimum, C1. If you are a native speaker, you should qualify yourself as C2 and CAREFUL! do not put any item of the level of language under C1 (otherwise you will be disqualified automatically). The CBT (verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning) test will be taken in this language 1 and also we can fill in our application (except the Talent Screener) in this language.

LANGUAGE 2: ENGLISH or FRENCH (sorry, you can only choose between ENGLISH or ENGLISH, duty calls for it and EPSO explained long and clear why in the notice). Here we need a B2 level minimum (no need of having a degree to justify it, the assessment centre will be in this language and if you can work through it, then you have the level required). Remember not to put any item (written, oral level, or any other) below B2 level in your application.

REMINDER – language 1 and language 2 (English) can not be the same. Even if you try, the application form will alert you. On the bright side, communication with EPSO can take place in one of the languages you have declared in your application form at B2 level or higher.

Specific conditions – Work experience and studies

Be aware! To explain the part «professional experience in the field » in this case, means that when describing your professional experience in the application (CV- work experience), you must clearly identify the experiences and activities equal or similar to those you are expected to do in the European Institutions and described in the notice (annex I), so take a good look at the fourth column (relevant duties) of our tables. And don’t despair, if you find this task difficult, our free webinar (here the recording). on this competition can be key to give you some useful tips for the talent (also you can check our latest one on youtube)

Now let’s go field by field

Field 1: Defense industry

This comes from the notice of competition, we just rearranged it for your convenience 😉 (click to enlarge)

Field 2: Space industry

If you go for AD9, don’t forget to explain your experiencie in negotation and coordination actitivities (click to enlarge)

To explain the part «professional experience in the field» means that when describing your professional experience in the application (CV- work experience), you must clearly identify the experiences and activities equal or similar to those you are expected to do in the European Institutions and describe in the notice.

What are test I have to pass? and the competition phases?

Based on the notice of competition + our experience we split the process in 3 phases : 1) fill in the application, 2) The Talent evaluation 3) the Assessment Centre and the party at the end is optional.

  • Phase 1 – Fill in the Application – You’ve got until 19 July (noon) to send your application and before that, fill it in with love and care. This is the first step of a competition and the way to differentiate yourself from the other candidates and all their experience (honestly, we don’t think EPSO expects thousands of candidates, but a few hundreds with good and long CVs) in relation with the two different profiles.
  • (wait we are still in phase 1) What is a TALENT SCREENER? This is a list of questions related to your academic and professional background that you must answer in your application, you can find the questions on the Annex II of the notice of competition. The board of the competition is in charge of evaluating the answers. Keep in mind that all candidates in the same profile and field answer the same questions. In this way, the responses of all the candidates are structured in the same way, which allows the board to make an evaluation (as objective as such a type of test allows) of the compared merits of all the candidates. Remember to look at annex IV or the application form for all the details, and if you think we can be of help, come to our our free webinar (here the recording – click on like if you found it useful). If not convenient, take a look to our past webinar on a Talent Screener.
  • PHASE 2 – Eligibility . Here you can do nothing but wait. It is the task of the board to read first your CV and check you have enough years of relevant experience (6 years minimum for AD7 or 10 for AD9) therefore deemed eligible. This will be done solely based on your application (CV part) that you filled in in language 1. Note that if the Selection Board considers that a candidate for AD 9 grade does not meet the eligibility requirements for that grade, it can reassign the candidate’s application to grade AD 7 in the same field provided the candidate : a) meets the eligibility requirements for grade AD 7 and b) the candidate concerned gave consent in the application form for reassignment to grade AD 7 (so click the dam box in your application!!!).
  • PHASE 3 – Talent Screener evaluation. Once you have been deemed eligible and all candidates have been evaluated, you and all the candidates will get an email informing on this and that you advance to the Talent Screener (BUT it doesn’t mean that you are not in the assessment yet). Talent screener evaluation will begin then using solely the information provided in this Talent Screener section (in language 2), they don’t cross reference with the rest of your application or Google. You should therefore include all relevant information in your answers, even if already mentioned in other sections of your application form. The questions are published in annex IV of your notice of competition. The best of all this is that up to a total of 3 times the openings will go to the Assessment Centre. We are talking about about 300 candidates in total (if our math is right… yes it is :-)!
yes, we said 300 and let us guess, if you are one of the, you won’t surrender or retreat at that stage,right?
  • Phase 4 – Assessment Centre. Congrats! you are one of the three hundred candidates with the highest marks in the Talent Screener and you have been invited to the Assessment Centre, the final round. In this round, you will also have to present all your papers in digital format (it used to be a USB memory stick before, now in the online Assessment Centre you will have to upload the pertinent papers before having the test), so prepare them in advance to avoid rushing in the last minute. First we’ll have the CBT (computer-based test). We know, you thought you have escape it… keep dreaming. 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.
  • Now talking about the other tests, the competition turns into a classic. In front of you two of the most classic test you may face : Oral presentation 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 (we can help with that).
Some practice, some effort and a some guidance and it will be done 😉
  • The more points we get in 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 clear focus on your work experience) up to 100 points in that test (we can help with that too).

Now lets go with 3 of your most typical questions : Salary, work expectations and when EPSO will contact you (timing of the competition).

How much will my salary be?

Table of the amounts of basic monthly salaries for each grade and step in function groups AD and AST referred to in Article 66 of the Staff Regulations, applicable from 1 January 2022

One of the most typical questions of the candidates. 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. For an AD9 (step 2) it will be 8.761 €. To that you will have to add 16% extra of expatriation rate and subtract the cost of the taxes (you pay taxes to the European Commission), health insurance and pension, all them proportional to your salary, so expect around 6.000 € for AD7 and 8.000€ for AD9 in net salary.

By the way, we refer to step 2 as any first entrant in the institutions can’t join above that step, it means you have at least 3 years of professional experience, what in this competition, is obvious.

What can I expect of this job?

We invite you to check the Annex from the notice of competition. As you can see from the image, it sends you to Annex I to find all the details of your expected tasks to be performed once you are an administrator in the area of Defence or Space in DG DEFIS. IF you are to lazy to check there, click on the images below

When will EPSO contact me? timing of the competition?

All the situations under which EPSO will write you in your profile, not by email, although sometimes we may get a warning message.

The expected calendar for this competition is the following: after the closure date for the submission of the applications, they will run the eligibility checks in Autumn, and then the Talent Screener during the winter. So get ready to confront the Assessment Centre in Spring 2023!!

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

Can you help me?

Let share some useful links for this competition and any other. First we can help you with the application (here more info). Also don’t forget our training for Assessment and our next webinar on this competition (use this form to get an invitation) .

List of useful resources

  1. El CBT o los test psicotécnicos (ES)
  2. The Assesment centre (EN)
  3. 10 free resources (EN/ES).
  4. YSE trainings
  5. YSE – youtube
  6. YSE – Telegram (info on vacancies, competitions and trainings)

They are here!!! EPSO opens the Assessment Centre for more 10 competitions (major update of all competitions)

Dear all,

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):

AD-Administrators competitions

  1. Administrator – Anti-fraud investigations EPSO/AD/394/21 4 profiles (AD7 & AD9)
  2. Administrator in the field of Data protection EPSO/AD/393/21
  3. Administrators in policymaking and law-making in the field of health, food safety, auditing inspection and evaluation EPSO/AD/392/21
  4. Member States’ Structural Reforms and Experts in the Schengen acquis EPSO/AD/391/21
  5. Administrators in the field of Chemicals Policy EPSO/AD/390/21
  6. Lawyer-Linguist – (BG); (CS); (FR); (GA); (HU); (PL) EPSO/AD/383 to 388/21
  7. Administrators in the field of external relations EPSO/AD/382/20 (AD5 and AD7)

AST and AST/SC competitions will be in a different post.

Almost finalised Competitions

  1. Administrators in the field of sustainable agriculture and rural development EPSO/AD/389/21 – AD6
  2. Administrators in the field of European Law EPSO/AD/381/20
  3. 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.

1.- Administrator – Anti-fraud investigations EPSO/AD/394/21 4 profiles (AD7 & AD9)

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!).

3.-Administrators in policymaking and law-making in the field of health EPSO/AD/392/21 – 1 food safety EPSO/AD/392/21 – 2 auditing inspection and evaluation in the field of health and food safety EPSO/AD/392/21 – 3

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.

Remember the number of test in the assessment was reduced

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.

4.-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

Dates also apply to Structural reforms

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.

Assessment distribution after February modification

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.

Remember there is a new Assessment distribution after February .

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.

7.-Administrators in the field of external relations EPSO/AD/382/20 (AD5 and AD7)

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

Remember this was the Assessment distribution after February .

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

This is how the Assessment test distribution looks after February modification

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 the General 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 – AD7 and 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».

Get ready!!!

Analysis of Assistants (AST 4) in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) EPSO/AST/151/22 competition

Dear all,

This competitions is calling for you IT expert

If you believe a public administration can leave paper behind, and become a reference on IT and offer cutting-edge IT opportunities for hard workers professionals with sound careers, this competition is for you. Even more, if you think you can help a charismatic and sometimes awkward administration to be on the top of the digitalization, this competition is still for you. The European Institutions need more and more highly specialized technical profiles, the world is changing and you can be a part of that change. If you are looking for our analysis on the AD7-8 competition, find it here.

How many spots are available? When does the process begin?

A good number of spots are available, 205 spots in total!!!, distributed in 4 fields. The bad news are that you can only apply to one single field. Be careful! The process began on the 17 February and it will be open for joining until 22 Mars NOON (let’s say 11.59 AM CET). Until then, you can fill in and validate your application. Approximately, you have been given one month +2 days , that’s more than enough but don’t fall asleep.

205 post of AST 4 waiting for you, what are you waiting?

What are the criteria to be a candidate?

The general criteria, as usual: Enjoy full rights as a citizen of a Member State of the EU (UK is no longer an option), meet any obligations under national laws on military service, and meet the character requirements for the duties concerned.

Specific criteria – languages

Same thing than in the paragraphs of the left but visible in one look. Also you have a similar table in pag5 of the notice of competition.

LANGUAGE 1: You can choose among the 24 official languages of the EU and you should have, minimum, a C1 level. If you are a native speaker, you should qualify yourself as C2 and be CAREFUL! Do not say you have a level below C1 for any language skill (listening, reading, oral communication, written communication…), otherwise you will be disqualified automatically. The computer-based tests or CBT (verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning) will be taken in Language 1 and also we can fill in our application (except the Talent Screener) in this language.

LANGUAGE 2: ENGLISH or FRENCH (sorry, you can only choose between these 2, duty calls for it and EPSO explain long and clear why). Here we need a B2 level minimum (no need to have a degree to justify it, the tests in the Assessment Centre will be done in this language and if you can work through them, then you will qualify as having the level required). Remember not to put any item (written, oral level, or any other) below B2 level in your application.

REMINDER – Language 1 and Language 2 cannot be the same. Even if you try, the application form will alert you. On the bright side, communication with EPSO can take place in any of the languages you have declared in your application form at B2 level or higher.

Specific conditions – Work experience and studies

Let’s go one by one and in a re-orderly manner so the criteria are more visible to all you.

Be aware! To explain the part «professional experience in the field» or «ICT» as this case, means that when describing your professional experience in the application (CV – work experience), you must clearly identify the experiences and activities equal or similar to those you are expected to do in the European Institutions and described in the notice, so take a good look at the fourth column (relevant duties) of our tables. And don’t despair, if you find this task difficult, our webinar on this competition can be key to give you tips on the talent screener

Field 1: ICT infrastructures, cloud, networks and middleware:

Don’t forget to check the notice of competition for the full detail on the duties

Field 2: Digital workplace, office automation and mobile computing

Don’t forget to check the notice of competition for the full detail on the duties

Field 3: Development/configuration, testing, operation and maintenance of IT applications and off-the-shelf solutions; Data management, data analytics and artificial intelligence

Don’t forget to check the notice of competition for the full detail on the duties

Field 4 : Design, development/configuration, testing, operation and maintenance of IT applications and off-the-shelf solutions; Data management, data analytics and artificial intelligence

Don’t forget to check the notice of competition for the full detail on the duties

What are the test I have to pass? and the competition phases?

Based on the notice of competition + our experience we split the process in 3 phases: 1) fill in the application, 2) Talent Screener evaluation 3) the Assessment Centre. The celebration after you have passed the competition is up to you.

  • Phase 1 Fill in the Application – You’ve got until 22 March (noon) to send your application and before that, fill it in with love and care. This is the first step of the process, and the moment to differentiate yourself from the other candidates and all their experience (honestly, we don’t think EPSO expects a lot of candidates, but rather a few good ones with long CVs) in relation with the five different profiles. There are two clear pillars in your application
    • Work experience + Academic records – these will be used to confirm your eligibility = you have as many years of working experience in the relevant duties as required
    • Talent Screener – reply to the questions in the form within the application…yes! the competition begins here!! (see in the gallery below the list of questions per field)
  • …(Wait! we are still in phase 1) What is a TALENT SCREENER? The Talent Screener is a set of questions (see images above) related to your academic and professional background that you must answer in your application, you can find the questions on the Annex IV of the notice of competition. A couple of things to remember:
    • 1) The board of the competition is in charge of evaluating the answers
    • 2) Keep in mind that all candidates in the same profile and field answer the same questions.

In this way, the responses of all the candidates are structured in the same way, which allows the board to make an evaluation (as objective as such a type of test allows) of the compared merits of all the candidates. Remember to look at Annex IV or the application form for all the details, and if you think we can be of help, check our past webinar where we focused on tips to fill in the Talent Screener for specialist competitions. BUT if you are looking for a fresh view on your competition, check our webinar on the Administrators and the Assistants-ICT Talent Screener.

  • PHASE 2 – Eligibility & Talent Screener evaluation. Here you can do nothing but wait. It is the task of the board to read first your CV to see if you have all the years of working experience required and then, in a next step, read your Talent Screener and rate it. We remind you that the selection based on qualifications will be carried out only for those candidates deemed eligible, using solely the information provided in this Talent Screener section (in language 2) WITHOUT cross-checking with the rest of your application. [Yes, this was mentioned in Phase I but just in case you skipped that part]. You should therefore include all relevant information in your answers, even if already mentioned in other sections of your application form. The best of all this is, after the evaluations, only up to 3 times the openings will go to the Assessment Centre. We are talking about about 1050 candidates in total and you are one of them because you have written a great application 🏆.
  • Phase 3 – Assessment Centre. Congrats! You are one of the candidates with the highest marks in the Talent Screener and you have been invited to the Assessment Centre. We have reached the final round, in which we will also have to present all our documents related to education and professional experience in digital format (they need to be uploaded into a platform before doing the Assessment Centre tests), so prepare them in advance to avoid a last minute rush.

First, we’ll have the computer-based tests (CBT). We know, you though you have escape 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.
  • Now talking about the other tests, the competition turns classic. You will have to face the following tests: Case Study and Competence-Based Interview. Between the two tests you can gather a total of 70 points, with the particularity that you need and overall 35/80 to pass, but not minimum marks per competence. Also pay attention, here you have 7 competences to be assessed, in AD competitions there are eight.
Some practice, some effort and a some guidance and it will be done 😉
When you see your name on the reserve list
  • Anyway, although the more points we get in competences part the better (we can help with that), 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 clear focus on your work experience) up to 100 points in that test (we can help on that).
  • Final Step – after a long process and passing the Assessment Centre, EPSO will check the validity of all your records and professional experiences (comparing them to the input of your application). For these, they will use the documents uploaded at the beginning of phase 3 – right before your first test of the Assessment Centre. So, keep your documents ready for upload once you have passed the Talent Screener!!! Once you get the final OK for this part, you will see your name on the reserve list and ready to find a job as officer of the European institutions.

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

What can I expect of this job? Is my degree valid?

Table of the amounts of basic monthly salaries for each grade and step in function groups AD and AST referred to in Article 66 of the Staff Regulations, applicable from 1 July 2021

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 AST4 (step 2) will join the institutions with a net salary above 4.200 € 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.

List of useful resources

  1. El CBT o los test psicotécnicos (ES)
  2. The Assesment centre (EN)
  3. 10 free resources (EN/ES).
  4. YSE trainings (English and Spanish) :
    1. CBT (in Spanish)
    2. Assessment sessions – for all the Assessment test (Theory in English or Spanish. Practice can be done in EN,FR,ES)
    3. Application review (EN/ES/FR/IT/DE)
    4. CAST Sessions -have you been invited to a job interview? Do you want to improve your chances of being selected in a CAST process?

Revolution in the Assessment – EPSO cuts them in half in several competitions

Dear all,

Last Tuesday (1st February), the afternoon coffee ended on our trousers rather in our stomach, as EPSO announced changes. Which ones? Easy, as they acknowledge the long long backlog of some competitions (see the list below) they have decided to cut a big chunk of the Assessment test to make the process faster without harming your chances or passing it. Is that true? Will my chances remain the same? In principle yes, as the core of the evaluations (competences) remains, this time assessed through one single test rather than two tests, your chances should remain intact. Then what’s different? The margin of error. Now, you need to perform well or excellent in each one of the tests, no margin to make mistakes or obtain a low mark in one competence. Also bear in mind a reference for the uploading of the scanned documents (instead of bringing them in a USB) has been added.

If you are looking for the piece of news, here you have it.
Breath and keep reading, help is on its way (or at least more info).

Warning! as EPSO indicates, the information shared is intended for publication in the Official Journal (OJ) of the EU. It is made available in advance to information the candidates, but please make sure you check the text published in the DOUE to verify there are no differences (i.e we’ll check the final publication and update this post accordingly)

Can you be more specific about the changes? Sure! In this post, you will find the information for all the competitions affected by the change (by reference number order, just scroll down until you find the ones that interest you) and what is the new and how to tackle it. Also we have made an extra effort to make all this a bit more palatable and funny. You can pass the competitions with a smile!

AD-Administrators competitions

  1. Administrators in policymaking and law-making in the field of health, food safety, auditing inspection and evaluation EPSO/AD/392/21
  2. Member States’ Structural Reforms and Experts in the Schengen acquis EPSO/AD/391/21
  3. Administrators in the field of Chemicals Policy EPSO/AD/390/21
  4. Administrators in the field of sustainable agriculture and rural development EPSO/AD/389/21 – AD6
  5. Lawyer-Linguist – (BG); (CS); (FR); (GA); (HU); (PL) EPSO/AD/383 to 388/21
  6. Administrators in the field of external relations EPSO/AD/382/20 (AD5 and AD7)
  7. Administrators in the field of European Law EPSO/AD/381/20

AST and AST/SC competitions

  1. Proofreaders/language editors – Greek, Spanish, Estonian, Gaelic, Italian, Portuguese – EPSO/AST/148/21
  2. Secretaries SC 1 and SC2 EPSO/AST-SC/10/20

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.

1.-Administrators in policymaking and law-making in the field of health EPSO/AD/392/21 – 1 food safety EPSO/AD/392/21 – 2 auditing inspection and evaluation in the field of health and food safety EPSO/AD/392/21 – 3

The new menu of tests for the 3 profiles
  • Situation : 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), after the initial eligibility check, the numbers of those who passed to the Talent were 240, 245 and 190 respectively for 47, 30 and 30 spots (then up to 141,90 and 90 can be invited to the Assessment). At this moment the Talent Screener evaluation is ongoing.
  • What to expect: This was one of the competitions less impacted by the changes. When the Assessment Centre comes, probably March or April, you will have to prepare the following: Case Study (of competences) and the Situational Competency base interview (SCBI) and Field test interview. The Written test in the field is gone and its points transferred to the Field test interview (now it counts 100 points). If you think we can help you with our trainings, you can check our next sessions or register for the next ones.

2.-Experts in technical support to Member States’ Structural Reforms EPSO/AD/391/21 – 1 Experts in the Schengen acquis EPSO/AD/391/21 – 2

Nothing to write on this assessment
  • Situation: 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 (again) candidates must be patient and wait for the results of the Talent Screener. After that, for those of you with the highest marks, around 135 for structural reforms and 75 for Schengen acquis will be invited to the Assessment Centre (Spring of 2022 most likely).
  • What to expect: When the Assessment Centre comes, you can forget about the Case Study . The General competency-based interview and Situational Competency base interview (SCBI) both remain and split the competences to evaluate them in one single round and the minimum mark per competence disappears, you only need to obtain 40 points or more in total. What remains the same is the Field test (interview and written test). If you think we can help you with our training, remember to check our next sessions or join our Telegram information channel where we’ll alert you when the moment comes.

3.-Administrators in the field of Chemicals Policy EPSO/AD/390/21

This assessment is still about mixing the right elements to pass it.
  • Situation: 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 lucky candidates are …….expected in any of 2022. EPSO announced the delay of the Talent screener results without a clear hint of when the publication of the results, so the 135 candidates to be invited to the Assessment Centre will have to wait
  • What to expect: When the Assessment Centre comes, you can forget about the Case Study . The General competency-based interview and Situational Competency base interview (SCBI) both remain and split the competences to evaluate them in one single round. The minimum mark per competence disappears, you only need to obtain 40 points or more in total. What remains the same is the Field test (interview and written test). If you think we can help you with our training, remember to check our next sessions or join our Telegram information channel where we’ll alert you when the moment comes.

4.-Administrators in the field of sustainable agriculture and rural development EPSO/AD/389/21 – AD6

In this one, the case study has growth strong roots
  • Situation : So the CBT was done in summer but results took time to settle on the earth and germinate (bad joke). Then, the new year brought the results of the Talent Screener and 175 brave candidates were invited to the Assessment…and its first test will take place 8 of March
  • What to expect: The Assessment Centre is coming in Spring just as we predicted and the winter is there to prepare ourselves. In this competition, Situational competency-based interview is gone with the wind, but Case study and General competency-based interviews remain, which are the two big classic test are ready to evaluate our competences. Besides, to assess your knowledge in the Field, you will face the interview and the written test in the filed. For all this test, we’ll offer further trainings , stay tuned on our next sessions .

5.-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)

Some changes but not too many… perhaps
  • Situation : The brave candidates of this competition faced the CBT in summer, then in Autumn, almost winter, were called to to the Translation Test (up to 8 times the number of available spots). After its evaluation, those with the highest marks (4 times the number of spots) will be invited to the Assessment Centre.
  • What to expect: The correction of this kind of test takes time, we don’t expect further news until end February or later, and the Assessment Centre for Spring. For that, the Situational competency-based interview is gone and 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). Don’t forget to stay tuned for what will come next by joining our telegram channel where we’ll alert you when the moment comes.

6.-Administrators in the field of external relations EPSO/AD/382/20 (AD5 and AD7)

Yes! One day, you will enjoy this assessment.
  • Situation: After a very long wait, candidates received their results by the end of September. But no further information was provided. EPSO is currently running the eligibility checks (yes, since September) and we expect to know who has passed to the Talent Screener evaluation phase one day.
  • What to expect: 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. Don’t miss the opportunity! 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.

7.-Administrators in the field of European Law EPSO/AD/381/20

Pity, you won’t longer be able to play the role of the European Perry Mason in the EU court while in the assessment.
  • Situation: It looks like yesterday when we shared our analysis and the sources to study EU law. Then, we spent summer 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. Good news!!! The results were published mid November and candidates got their invitation to the Assessment Centre at the begining of this year, but only two test were set, the role play remained uncertain.
EU law results are in the balance. Hope it will be swing in your favour!

  • What to expect : Now, forget about the role plays, they are gone, the Oral presentation and General competency-based interview remain at the same time that the minimum mark per competence disappears, you only need to obtain 40 points or more. What is even more important, the Field Written test is still marked up to 100 points and set for the 11 of February. Get ready!! In case you have skipped the previous clarifications, let us say that If you think we can help you with our training, you can check or register for the next ones or join our Telegram channel where we’ll alert you when more are available.

AST and AST/SC competitions

1.-Proofreaders/language editors – EPSO/AST/148/21 – Greek, Spanish, Estonian, Gaelic, Italian, Portuguese

Please, don’t proofread this article, enjoy the sunny day outside.
Do you recognize yourself?
  • Situation: It has been a while since candidates were informed that this competition was moving towards the Talent Screener evaluation. Results should be soon published.
  • What to expect: Sooner than later the results of the Talent Screener should be published and the invitation to the Assessment Centre should arrive for 135 candidates. Stay alert and ready! Regarding the test, Case study is gone for good and you will face the General competency-based interview and the Situational competency-based interview where the minimum mark per competence disappears, you only need to obtain 35 (over 70) points to pass but better if you get more. Above them, the Field related tests (Proofreading and correcting a text) will set the real threshold. Check our next training sessions if you think we can help you (we think we can).

3.-Secretaries EPSO/AST-SC/10/20 – SC 1 and SC2

  • Situation: After a long summer struggling with the Word test, (Word-MS Office skills to be EPSO-precise) and a long waiting until some candidates left behind could take their exam (their Prometric centre was not available), the results were published , without further notice until the eligibility checks were performed
  • What to expect: end of winter should be the right time to get the invitation for the Assessment Centre, remember that if you pass the Word test and have a CV that matches the profile of this competition, your chances of being invited to the Assessment Centre are quite high (the number of candidates who took the Word test was relatively low, nearly 2 times those who will be invited to the Assessment Centre). Then, when the Assessment Centre comes, you will face only ONE role play test (yes, a new type of test but not such a big deal ;-)) and the Field-related interview, which, in addition to your knowledge of the field, this time will also assess some other competences (Resilience, Communication, Analysis and Problem Solving) at the same time. The positive thing about this Assessment Centre is still that you can focus all your strengths on the preparation on only two types of tests. Of course, if you think we can help you with our training, you can check our next sessions or register for the next ones or join our Telegram channel where we’ll alert you when the moment comes.

When should I start to prepare the Assessment Centre?

We found the way to the way to the Assessment!!!

This a recurring question and very relevant to prepare successfully for the Assessment Centre. Our answer is based on our experience and the experience of our successful candidates. We would advise you to begin the preparation for the Assessment Centre the moment you get an invitation for it. Assessment Centres (or at least the EPSO ones) are based on (or aim to measure your) competences and your expertise on a certain domain, they don’t require you to show knowledge, you will rather have to present to the board all that you can offer to the European institutions. To do so, you need practice above all.

What if I start to prepare as soon as I get a message saying that my competition is in the Talent Screener phase? Well, of course you can do it. However, you need to consider several elements :

  • It can take months until the Talent Screener evaluations are over . EPSO doesn’t have a standard duration so you study without a clear horizon and you may run of stamina before the process really begins.
  • There are more candidates than spots in the Assessment Centre. Depending on the competition, the proportion of candidates who make it to the Talent Screener evaluation phase varies from 8 up to 12 times the number of openings. So it’s not easy. You can end up studying without being selected afterward. Is this a waste of time? NO! It can be reused in other EPSO competitions and other selection processes but it could also trigger some lose of hope in our chances to work in the EU. Lack of motivation is probably your worse enemy in this process.
  • Waiting time can be used to set up an action plan when you get the invitation for Assessment Centre. Because the moment you get the invitation, you have to run! Time and energy must be devoted to this goal. And don’t mind if EPSO is ruining your holidays because you have to prepare for the Assessment Centre. It is for your own good! (it happened to us too!)

If you missed them- all of our 2021 posts in one list (from older to more recent)

we know, 2021 is already gone but it’s always good to have some perspective about it and its competitions
  1. The CBT tests are back : EU law, Secretaries, External relations and more!
  2. Analizamos la convocatoria de Administradores AD6 en el ámbito de la agricultura- EPSO/AD/389/21
  3. Analizamos la convocatoria de Correctores de pruebas / verificadores lingüísticos EPSO/AST/148/21
  4. Analysis of the Administrators in the field of Chemicals Policy- EPSO/AD/390/21
  5. La Agencia Europea de Investiación (REA) saca ¡¡¡65 plazas!!!
  6. Análisis de la oposición de Administradores AD6 en el área de la política de sustancias y preparados químicos- EPSO/AD/390/21
  7. Análisis de la oposición para Inspectores Nucleares AST – EPSO/AST/149/21
  8. Análisis de la oposición de Administradores AD7 – Expertos/as en apoyo técnico a las reformas estructurales de los Estados miembros y expertos/as en el acervo de Schengen- EPSO/AD/391/21
  9. Análisis al anuncio de EPSO para AD5 generalistas
  10. Administrators (AD 7) in the Field of HEALTH & FOOD SAFETY – Profile policymaking and law-making in the field of food safety- EPSO/AD/392/21 – 2
  11. Administrators (AD 7) in the Field of HEALTH and FOOD SAFETY – Profile policymaking and law-making in the field of health- EPSO/AD/392/21 – 1
  12. Administrators AD7 in the Field of HEALTH & FOOD SAFETY – Profile in auditing, inspection and evaluation in the field of health and food safety- EPSO/AD/392/21 – 3
  13. The competitions are moving!! EU law, Secretaries, External relations and more!
  14. Analysis of the Administrators (AD 6) in the field of DATA PROTECTION -EPSO/AD/393/21
  15. Analizamos la convocatoria de Técnicos y asistentes EPSO/AST/150/21-ámbito 1-Técnicos audiovisuales y 2- Técnicos de construcción.
  16. Analizamos la convocatoria de Técnicos y asistentes EPSO/AST/150/21-ámbito 3 Técnicos de laboratorio y EPSO/AST-SC/11/21 asistentes de laboratorio
  17. Analysis of ANTI-FRAUD INVESTIGATORS (AD 7) AND ANTI-FRAUD EXPERTS (AD 9) competition-EPSO/AD/394/21
  18. Analysis of Administrators in digital forensics and in operational and strategic analysis competition-EPSO/AD/395/21
  19. Winter is coming!!! Well… Assessment Centres are coming (major update of all competitions)
  20. Guide to practice(for free) the translation test of the European Parliament Language Professional competitions
  21. Analysis of the Administrators in the field of maritime affairs and fisheries competition- EPSO/AD/397/21

Goodbye 2021, welcome 2022. The EPSO-year in one post

Dear all,

Our best wishes go with this photo

The year is coming to an end and it’s time to recapitulate a little bit. What a year, right!? Nobody expected we would still have to keep suffering from COVID and its consequences, but there it is, making us score 10 points in resilience, altering our peaceful existence, and above all, altering our beloved EPSO competitions. Still, 2021 brought us quite many things, let’s see it. [If you want to read the Spanish version of this article – click here]

What were the 2021 EPSO competitions like from the candidate‘s perspective?

Mr Galileo and his ideas

Long, very long, but as our favorite Pisan physicist used to say «Eppur si muove». Competitions that started in 2019 and got blocked by the pandemic, like Administrators in Competition Law EPSO/AD/374/19, Administrators in the field of Audit EPSO/AD/372/19 – AD 5 and AD 7 , Graduate Administrators EPSO/AD/373/19, went through and reached their end. Competition law and Audit were particularly challenging, part of the candidates took the Assessment Centre in person, while others did so online. Last, the candidates in Administrators in international cooperation and managing aid to non-EU countries EPSO/AD/380/19 – AD7 and AD7, after the longest Assessment Centre ever (each test was done in separate dates for each candidate, the tortu… Assessmen Centre lasted from May until the end of October). Now, we are waiting, fingers crossed for their results.

2021: a year full of hope… or new competitions

Despite the bleak prospect, life and EPSO went on and new competitions came to life, so we published more than 15 posts analysing different competitions, among others: Administrators AD6 in the area of Agriculture- EPSO/AD/389/21; Administrators in the field of Chemicals Policy- EPSO/AD/390/21 ; Administrators (AD 6) in the field of DATA PROTECTION -EPSO/AD/393/21; Anti-fraud investigators (AD7) and Anti-fraud experts (AD9) -EPSO/AD/394/21 and Administrators in the field of maritime affairs and fisheries competition- EPSO/AD/397/21. In total, more than 500 vacancies were released in 2021, in addition to the 700 coming from 2020 competitions that were still going on (EU law, Secretaries, External relations).

After so many competitions released in 2021 and more still lagging from 2020, candidates are facing a fantastic traffic jam of assessments, talent screeners and eligibility checks that drive them crazy. We tried to update all of them at once several times (in January, July and November- info still valid). We also organized some free webinars to tackle the talent screeners, which were uploaded to our Youtube channel. Sometimes we received bad news, such as the announcement of no-competition for AD5 generalist in 2021, of which we tried to make semse in the broader context. Finally, in other occasions we gave you a boost when an Agency announced large hiring processes.

2022 is coming

Full of new opportunities, 2022 will open with 9 competitions for IT profiles (AD7, AD8 and AST 4 levels), right after Auditors will open again, with Space and Defense in parallel and many more. To be seen if AD5 generalist is back in town too, and what other specialist competitions are coming.

This is only the beginning, stay tuned and ready!

EPSO opportunities right before the year ends, we’ll see what 2022 brings more

And the YSE team did…

Each of these croqUEtillas (tender nickname for our candidates) has a name and a story behind, we are very happy we helped them to join the reserve list and soon, become EU-officials. We’ll be even happier when we can celebrate this properly

For us 2021 was hectic too, the team increased and we came up with new possibilities to help you. Wether it is our classic CBT trainings our Assessment sessions ( Competency based interview, Oral presentation, Situational Competency Based Interview, Field related interview, Case Study, Written test, etc.) CAST sessions , coaching or application review, we did our best to assist you. Did we succeed? We would like to think so. Dozens of candidates joined the reserve list in Competition law, Generalist AD5 (Graduate administrators), Audit or in specialized profiles such as Lawyer linguist, where we helped 2 of our candidates to get into the reserve list. However, our record is for one of our candidates who passed… 3 competitions! in 2 years. Last but not least, the Graduate Administrators in Spanish language, who suffered all possible curses with their case study and after a long long wait, got their results (4 months later than the rest of the candidates) but as the good stories, it ended well (at least for our candidates).

In the meantime, we have managed to create a TELEGRAM channel (EN/ES): Haz click aquí para unirte/Click here to join to keep you updated on vacancies, new competitions and all kinds of useful information for you. We also try to keep up to the expectations in our instagram,linkedin, facebook (don’t forget to subscribe and click on «like» 🙂 ).

Now it’s time to wish you a happy new year 2022!!! We are getting ready to help you achieve your goal of starting or continuing your career in the European institutions.

All of our 2021 posts in one list (from older to more recent)

  1. The CBT tests are back : EU law, Secretaries, External relations and more!
  2. Analizamos la convocatoria de Administradores AD6 en el ámbito de la agricultura- EPSO/AD/389/21
  3. Analizamos la convocatoria de Correctores de pruebas / verificadores lingüísticos EPSO/AST/148/21
  4. Analysis of the Administrators in the field of Chemicals Policy- EPSO/AD/390/21
  5. La Agencia Europea de Investiación (REA) saca ¡¡¡65 plazas!!!
  6. Análisis de la oposición de Administradores AD6 en el área de la política de sustancias y preparados químicos- EPSO/AD/390/21
  7. Análisis de la oposición para Inspectores Nucleares AST – EPSO/AST/149/21
  8. Análisis de la oposición de Administradores AD7 – Expertos/as en apoyo técnico a las reformas estructurales de los Estados miembros y expertos/as en el acervo de Schengen- EPSO/AD/391/21
  9. Análisis al anuncio de EPSO para AD5 generalistas
  10. Administrators (AD 7) in the Field of HEALTH & FOOD SAFETY – Profile policymaking and law-making in the field of food safety- EPSO/AD/392/21 – 2
  11. Administrators (AD 7) in the Field of HEALTH and FOOD SAFETY – Profile policymaking and law-making in the field of health- EPSO/AD/392/21 – 1
  12. Administrators AD7 in the Field of HEALTH & FOOD SAFETY – Profile in auditing, inspection and evaluation in the field of health and food safety- EPSO/AD/392/21 – 3
  13. The competitions are moving!! EU law, Secretaries, External relations and more!
  14. Analysis of the Administrators (AD 6) in the field of DATA PROTECTION -EPSO/AD/393/21
  15. Analizamos la convocatoria de Técnicos y asistentes EPSO/AST/150/21-ámbito 1-Técnicos audiovisuales y 2- Técnicos de construcción.
  16. Analizamos la convocatoria de Técnicos y asistentes EPSO/AST/150/21-ámbito 3 Técnicos de laboratorio y EPSO/AST-SC/11/21 asistentes de laboratorio
  17. Analysis of ANTI-FRAUD INVESTIGATORS (AD 7) AND ANTI-FRAUD EXPERTS (AD 9) competition-EPSO/AD/394/21
  18. Analysis of Administrators in digital forensics and in operational and strategic analysis competition-EPSO/AD/395/21
  19. Winter is coming!!! Well… Assessment Centres are coming (major update of all competitions)
  20. Guide to practice(for free) the translation test of the European Parliament Language Professional competitions
  21. Analysis of the Administrators in the field of maritime affairs and fisheries competition- EPSO/AD/397/21