The new AD5 competition for translators, with 1177 seats between 8 languages( English , French, Spanish, Maltese, Danish, Greek, Dutch and Italian) is here. You have until 14th January to apply. Do you want to know all the details about it? here you have our latest webinar where we explain it. (Spanish version available here)
After recording our webinar, EPSO informed (see picture below) the exams will take place in 2 different days during the same month (it could be a difference of 1 to 3 weeks). Without further official info, our bet is the first day, you will have to deal with reasoning tests (verbal, numerical and abstract), language knowledge test and comprehension test. During the second day, you will deal with translation and revision test. Check our webinar for further details
The tests – What is key?
The opportunity of this competition deserve we fight for it
Hard work. There are no shortcuts for this test. You need to master 3 languages and the vocabulary and writing style of the institutions, (here a tool «IATE» that can help you with the jargon). This means that you will have to master two levels of the language: formal or legal language and plain language, which should be understood by someone who doesn’t know anything about the EU (like this) .
Also, bear in mind that the tests will be held online and in principle all on the same day, so it’s good if you are ready to spend 198 min (+ breaks between exams) in front of your screen while working hard. Be sure you are in a good shape by them!
Examples of the tests for translators
Do yo want to see some examples to practice for free? Here you have some ideas:
Did you find them useful? Complete mock exams are also available:
YSE – AD5 TRANSLATORS – EXAM 1: L1 – English (reasoning and knowledge in English) / L2 – French or Spanish / L3 – French or Spanish (comprehension, translation and review) – Finished –
YSE – AD5 TRADUCTORES – EXAM 1: L1 – Español (razonamiento y conocimiento en español) / L2 – English o French / L3 – English or French(comprehension, translation and review) – book it via Teachable (here)
Do you know what? For your inconditional support, if you use the code «IAMACROQUETILLA» you will get a 10% discount when purchasing the mock exam.
Welcome back! Autumn has come with good news, EPSO released the new dates for the exam of its active competitions and also announced two more competitions: Scientific Research Administrators (AD7) and Translators (AD5). Do you want to know more? Check our latest webinar with our full analysis!
As usual, you can download the presentation here. To start preparing for any of these competitions, you can find an overview of all our trainings here. If you have any question, send us an email to yasemoseuropeos@gmail.com
May didn’t started as we expected and the original title of this post (Bad?)EPSO news . after EPSO’s announcement of a new model of competition that should be released on these days, the last set backs such as the cancelation of the AST/154 due to technical failures in the online exam and the European court dismissed appeals have forced EPSO to review its plans in relation with the new competitions. Therefore, the publication of the new competitions such as AD5 Generalist, Economist AD6, Transport Experts or Crisis Management that should begin in May, seems to be delayed at least 1 month or 2 but has been announced for this Summer in the #Openday of the European Institutions in Brussels [check the communication below if you don’t believe us – we stole it from EPSO booth risking our lives…joking they were very kind 🙂 ]
In any case, we will have to wait to see the final outcome of a transformation process inside EPSO to make open competitions faster and simple. This started already in 2020 and particularly after the report from the European Court of Auditors where several conclusion where reached (short summary: selection process proved not to be very efficient for recruiting specialists and it was overall too long).
In the meantime, while we wait to see what is the very final format, let’s share with you the latest news on the publication dates for the next competitions and also what we know or you can also watch the video published by EPSO explaining it (nothing like the original sources)
The ‘Assessment Centre’ and its related oral tests, in place since 2010, ceases to exist…
EPSO -dixit
So EPSO we know is dead, and the EPSO will live is the making, the EPSOlution (as the new evaluation model has been called by EPSO) is taking is time to come. Wait a second, before you have a stroke, if you are a candidate in an ongoing EPSO competition, forget this post, your competition sticks to the old model (and check what we can do to help you with your Assessment Centre). However, if you will be a candidate soon or you are interested in working in the EU, this post is for you as you still have plenty of questions: What is gone? What stays? When is this really taking place? Let’s see if we can reply to all of them.
Before we continue, if you are interested in our the trainings for the new competitions, you can leave your contact details here, as soon as EPSO consolidates its new model, so we’ll publish the trainings to guarantee you suceed in it.
What is gone?
Talent Screeners are the first victims. Apparently, they will no longer be necessary because the % system that EPSO has been testing over the past months is good enough to evaluate the candidates’ experience in a given field. In some recent competitions, when filling in the section on the job experience in the application, candidates had to indicate which percentage of their working time was dedicated to a specific task. Well, this system will be now the norm as of now to conduct the eligibility checks and to quantify the relevant experience in the field. If you want to know more on this, we explained them in detail in this webinar. Whether EPSO will do the eligibility and relevant experience check both before the exams or split in two actions will be clarified when the new competitions are released.
Second and more important, the Assessment Centre as we knew it is over. No more interviews with the board of assessors in EPSO premises (previous to COVID-19) or using the platform Cammio. No competence-based interview, oral presentation, situational competency-based interview or any other. If some of these tests re-appear, it will be under the responsibility and supervision of the Institution concerned in the final interviews… What? Keep reading to know more on this.
What stays?
Old rockers never die. The computer based test (CBT) on verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning will stay. Yes, we know it, you don’t like them so much but they can’t get rid of them. The good news is that you will no longer need a high mark in the CBT to make it to the next stage. Now you will only need to get the minimum pass mark. Whatever you get beyond that passing mark, won’t matter. If you are new to this, here in this EPSO examples you can see what kind of tests we are talking about.
What is new?
A multiple-choice questionnairein the field for specialist competitions or an EU knowledge test or generalist competitions will be the norm now. In both cases nothing to fear, further information regarding what to study will be indicated in the notice of competition and in the invitation letter for the exam (EPSO).
Is that really new? Not exactly, we already had some examples, for instance with Data Protection competition, for which we did a webinar where we explained what to study for this test. In the case of the profiles like AST, most likely, there will be a digital skills test, similar to what we saw in the last Secretaries competition.
In the case of Generalist and the EU knowledge test, don’t panic, it won’t be a trivial for EU freaks. EPSO said: it will be on meaningful substance questions related to the functioning of the EU, its policies and procedures. So it has committed to publish the sources they will use to generate the questions and everybody will have access to them (the resources, not the questions).
Written tests for all. Yes, that’s right. This is the single competence-based test that remains on this part of the process. If you have done a case study, you know what you are facing. If not, it’s a (usually) 90 min test where they give you some background documents on a topic you don’t know (and is not related to your competition) where you have to answer or fulfil some assignments given about it. Here is an official example provided by EPSO. Remember that this exam aims to assess competences, including drafting skills, but not knowledge on the subject of the competition.
Another really important question is not what tests will be conducted, but how. All the tests (reasoning tests, multiple-choice tests and written tests will be in one day/session for all in a remote mode. Same system as the remote CBT done in the last competitions, with the difference that it will be longer now. However, important to note that, despite taking all the tests on the same day, your written exam will only be corrected only if you pass the EU knowledge/specialist test and the CBT, making the process much faster.
Our humble visualization on how the new competition model-timeline will be
On this point there is also some controversy, as candidates who were used to the old system (and had easy access to the Prometric facilities), as well as those who miss the physical calculator in the numerical reasoning tests, didn’t welcome the change to remote tests. When you had a Prometric centre near home, logistics were much simpler than online, but to be fair, the remote evaluation gave an excellent opportunity for new candidates and particularly those living far from Prometric facilities. Considering this and the fact the new method is cheaper than the old system, we better embrace it and prepare to live with the new monitored-online exams for a long time.
After passing the tests what?
So if you pass the CBT, the knowledge test and the written test and fulfil all the experience criteria of the competition (that will be stayed in the notice), you will be placed in a reserve list. Only those on the reserve list will have access to the recruitment process organised by each institution. In this process, general competencies will still be reviewed. How? That fall under the criteria of each institution. EPSO will help them only if requested, most likely field-related type interviews will happen, nothing that we can’t not prepare in advance.
When is the change coming?
Who knows now? the new competitions were announced – one for Economists (AD6) and a second one for Administrators in the field of intellectual property (AD6) for May but now all announcements are gone (see below the caption from April, then 3 of May and now, same competitions without dates). Until we get new info, some final changes and adjustments may happen, so with the fresh competition notices in hand, we will update this post with a precise description of the new system and how the competitions will be conducted. In the meantime, we will keep informing you on this and on all the other #eurojobs-related issues, so don’t forget to join our Telegram channel YSE to stay updated.
If you can wait to know how we’ll help with our trainings or you want to be part of the very first study group for the new competitions, register here.
Stay alert! More news coming soon!
Let’s finish with a friky touch in a day like this #Maythe4bewithyou
La semana pasada vino con una sorpesa de esas que hacen que te atragantes: el órgano director de EPSO dio a conocer el nuevo sistema de exámenes/oposiciones y el primer anuncio fue llamativo (en la imagen) [English version here]
The ‘Assessment Centre’ and its related oral tests, in place since 2010, ceases to exist…/ El Assessment y sus examenes orales, que funcionaba desde 2010, ha dejado de existir… glups!
EPSO -dixit
Así que EPSO ha muerto, larga vida a «EPSOlution» (como el nuevo modelo de evaluación ha sido llamado por el propio EPSO)… Espera, antes de que te de un infarto, si eres candidato en una oposición EPSO ya en marcha, olvídate de este post, tu oposición se adhiere al modelo antiguo (y recuerda que si estás en el Asssment Centre, podemos ayudarte con esas pruebas). Sin embargo, si vas a ser un candidato o potencial interesado en trabajar en la UE, este post es para ti. Vamos a responder a la avalancha de preguntas que seguramente te estarás haciendo en este momento: ¿Qué pruebas han quitado? ¿Cuáles se quedan? ¿Qué novedades hay? ¿Cuándo llega el nuevo modelo? ¿Por qué todos estos cambios?
¿Qué pruebas han quitado?
Los dichosos Talent Screener son las primeras víctimas. Al parecer, ya no serán necesarios porque el sistema de porcentajes (%) que se probó en paralelo es lo suficientemente bueno para ello. En algunos concursos recientes, al rellenar la sección sobre la experiencia laboral en la solicitud, los candidatos tenían que indicar qué porcentaje de su tiempo de trabajo se dedicaba a una tarea específica. Bueno, este sistema será la norma a partir de ahora para llevar a cabo los controles de elegibilidad y cuantificar la experiencia pertinente en el campo de especialidad requerido. Si quieres saber más sobre esto, te lo explicamos en detalle en este webinar que hicimos. Está por ver si EPSO hará la verificación de elegibilidad y experiencia pertinente antes de los exámenes o se dividirá en dos acciones. Lo sabremos cuando se publiquen las nuevas oposiciones.
Segundo y más importante, el Assessment Centre tal como la conocíamos se acabó. No más entrevistas con los miembros del tribunal de la oposición en las oficinas de EPSO (como se hacía antes de la COVID-19) o utilizando la plataforma Cammio (en la actualidad). No habrá entrevista basada en competencias (CBI para los amigos), presentación oral, entrevista basada en competencias situacionales (SCBI) ni ninguna otra. Si alguna de estas pruebas reaparece, será bajo la responsabilidad y supervisión de la Institución en cuestión en las entrevistas finales… ¿Qué? Sigue leyendo, ahora lo explicamos.
¿Qué se queda?
Igual que los viejos roqueros, la prueba basada en computadora (CBT) de razonamiento verbal, numérico y abstracto permanecerá viva y coleando. Sí, lo sabemos, hubieras preferido cambiarla por otra, pero la realidad es tozuda y EPSO no puede deshacerse de esta prueba. La buena noticia es que en el CBT solo tendrás que aprobar. Es decir, las calificaciones obtenidas más allá del umbral establecido para aprobar no importarán. Si no sabes de qué te hablamos con esto del CBT, te recomendamos estos post donde lo explicamos largo y tendido.
¿Qué novedades hay?
Nos llega que un cuestionario o test de opción múltiple de conocimiento en el campo (para oposiciones especializadas) y una prueba de conocimientos de la UE (para la oposición de generalistas) serán la norma ahora. ¿Es realmente nuevo? No exactamente, ya teníamos algunos ejemplos anteriores, como la oposición de Protección de datos, para la cual hicimos un webinar donde explicamos qué estudiar para el test de conocimientos. En el caso de los perfiles como AST, lo más probable es que haya una prueba de habilidades digitales, similar a lo que vimos en el último concurso de secretarios.
En el caso de los generalistas y la prueba de conocimiento de la UE, que nadie se asuste, no será un trivial para los fanáticos de la UE. EPSO ha indicado: se tratará de cuestiones de fondo significativas relacionadas con el funcionamiento de la UE, sus políticas y procedimientos. Asimismo, se ha comprometido a publicar las fuentes que utilizarán para generar las preguntas y todos tendrán acceso (a los recursos, no a las preguntas ;-)). Esta fórmula tampoco es nueva, ya que los exámenes internos de la Comisión contienen un examen muy similar (si no el mismo).
Prueba escrita para todos (Written test/case study). Sí, así es. Esta es la única prueba para evaluar competencias que permanece en esta parte del proceso. Si ya has hecho un estudio de caso, sabes a lo que te enfrentas. Si no, es una prueba (generalmente) de 90 minutos donde te dan algunos documentos sobre un tema que no conoces (y no está relacionado con tu competencia) donde tienes que responder o cumplir algunas tareas dadas al respecto. Aquí lo contamos con más detalle y aquí tienes un ejemplo proporcionado por la EPSO. Recuerda que este examen tiene como objetivo evaluar las competencias, incluidas las habilidades de redacción, pero no el conocimiento sobre el tema de la oposición. Para eso último está el test.
Probablemente, lo más importante no es el qué sino el cómo. Todas las pruebas (pruebas de razonamiento, test de conocimiento y y prueba escrita) serán en un día/sesión para todos y se realizarán remotamente. Es el mismo sistema que el CBT remoto realizado en las últimas competiciones, con la diferencia de que será más largo ahora al haber varias pruebas. Sin embargo, ten en cuenta que aunque realices todos los tests en un día, tu examen escrito solo se corregirá si has pasasdo la prueba de conocimiento y el CBT, lo que hace que el proceso sea mucho más rápido.
Nuestra humilde propuesta para visualizar el proceso. *- esta por ver si irá todo junto o separado.
En este punto también hay cierta controversia, ya que los candidatos que estaban acostumbrados al sistema antiguo, en las instalaciones de Prométric (el subcontratista oficial de EPSO para ello), no acogieron muy bien el cambio, así como los que echan en falta la calculadora física en la prueba de razonamiento numérico. Para aquellos con un centro Prometric cerca de casa, la logística era mucho más simple que en línea. Pero siendo justos, la evaluación remota ha dado una excelente oportunidad a los nuevos candidatos y particularmente para aquellos que viven lejos de un centro Prometric para participar. Teniendo en cuenta esto y el hecho de que este método es más barato que el antiguo sistema, será mejor que nos hagamos a la idea de vivir con los nuevos exámenes en línea monitoreados durante mucho tiempo. Por el camino, cruzamos los dedos para que todos los problemillas técnicos propios de un nuevo tipo/plataforma de examen se vayan solucionando.
¿Qué pasa después de pasar las pruebas?
Si pasas el dichoso CBT, el test de conocimientos y la prueba escrita y cumples con todos los criterios de experiencia de la oposición (que se indicarán en la convocatoria), te pondrán en una lista de reserva. Solo los que figuren en la lista de reserva tendrán acceso al proceso de contratación organizado por cada institución. En este proceso se seguirán revisando las competencias generales. ¿Cómo? Eso quedará a criterio de la institución organizadora, EPSO solo les ayudará si lo solicitan. Por ahora, lo más probable es que se realicen entrevistas de campo (field-related interview) sobre la especialidad correspondiente, algo que ya conocemos y se puede preparar de antemano.
¿Cuándo pasaremos al nuevo modelo?
En mayo se publicarán las nuevas oposiciónes, una para Economistas (AD6) y otro para Administradores en el campo de la propiedad intelectual (AD6). Hasta entonces, algunos cambios y ajustes finales pueden ocurrir. Por lo tanto, con los nuevos anuncios de oposición en la mano, actualizaremos nuestro análisis de forma precisa, ajustándonos al nuevo sistema (al igual que nuestras formaciones). Mientras tanto, seguimos informándos sobre este y otros asuntos relacionados con los #eurocurros, así que no olvides unirte a nuestro Canal de Telegram YSE para no perderte nada… pero si quieres saber más sobre lo que haremos, apuntate aquí
Ahora nos queda una última pregunta por responderte…
Aquí lo que se viene por ahora, hay más rumores de otras oposiciones pero nada confirmado aún.
¿Por qué está sucediendo esto?
Estos cambios son el resultado final de un largo proceso de transformación dentro de EPSO para que las oposiciones sean más rápidas y sencillas, queriendo reducirlas de una media de 13 meses a 6 meses de duración. Esto comenzó ya en 2020 y, en particular, después del informe del tribunal de cuentas (Court of Auditors para los amigos), donde se llegó a varias conclusiones y alguna de ellas escoció un poco (resumen breve: el proceso de selección resultaba poco eficiente para la contratación de especialistas y, en general, para todos los perfiles era demasiado largo). Al mismo tiempo que arrancaba la reflexión, llegó la pandemia y fuimos obligados a adoptar el teletrabajo (siempre que fuera posible), de lo cual no se salvó ni el EPSO y cambió a un modo de evaluación online, lo cual también ha influido en el nuevo modelo.
Tampoco olvidemos que durante la pandemia, las oposiciones continuaron, pero a partir de noviembre del año pasado, hubo una pausa de nuevas oposiciones hasta mayo de 2023, igual que generalistas AD5 quedo congelada durante 2021 y 2022. Finalmente, ha llegado el momento de ver los frutos y a principios de 2023, obtuvimos el resultado de esta reflexión, que quedará consolidado cuando tengamos en nuestras manos las nuevas convocatorias.
Last week brought another surprise to our tables: EPSO’s governing body unveiled the new competition system… and the first announcement was striking (see picture below). [versión en Español]
The ‘Assessment Centre’ and its related oral tests, in place since 2010, ceases to exist…
EPSO -dixit
So EPSO is dead, long live the EPSOlution (as the new evaluation model has been called by EPSO). Wait a second, before you have a stroke, if you are a candidate in an ongoing EPSO competition, forget this post, your competition sticks to the old model (and check what we can do to help you with your Assessment Centre). However, if you will be a candidate soon or you are interested in working in the EU, this post is for you as you still have plenty of questions: What is gone? What stays? Why is this happening? When is this really taking place? Let’s see if we can reply to all of them.
What is gone?
Talent Screeners are the first victims. Apparently, they will no longer be necessary because the % system that EPSO has been testing over the past months is good enough to evaluate the candidates’ experience in a given field. In some recent competitions, when filling in the section on the job experience in the application, candidates had to indicate which percentage of their working time was dedicated to a specific task. Well, this system will be now the norm as of now to conduct the eligibility checks and to quantify the relevant experience in the field. If you want to know more on this, we explained them in detail in this webinar. Whether EPSO will do the eligibility and relevant experience check both before the exams or split in two actions will be clarified when the new competitions are released.
Second and more important, the Assessment Centre as we knew it is over. No more interviews with the board of assessors in EPSO premises (previous to COVID-19) or using the platform Cammio. No competence-based interview, oral presentation, situational competency-based interview or any other. If some of these tests re-appear, it will be under the responsibility and supervision of the Institution concerned in the final interviews… What? Keep reading to know more on this.
What stays?
Old rockers never die. The computer based test (CBT) on verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning will stay. Yes, we know it, you don’t like them so much but they can’t get rid of them. The good news is that you will no longer need a high mark in the CBT to make it to the next stage. Now you will only need to get the minimum pass mark. Whatever you get beyond that passing mark, won’t matter. If you are new to this, here in this EPSO examples you can see what kind of tests we are talking about.
What is new?
A multiple-choice questionnairein the field for specialist competitions or an EU knowledge test or generalist competitions will be the norm now. Is that really new? Not exactly, we already had some examples, for instance with Data Protection competition, for which we did a webinar where we explained what to study for this test. In the case of the profiles like AST, most likely, there will be a digital skills test, similar to what we saw in the last Secretaries competition.
In the case of Generalist and the EU knowledge test, don’t panic, it won’t be a trivial for EU freaks. EPSO recently said: it will be on meaningful substance questions related to the functioning of the EU, its policies and procedures. So it has committed to publish the sources they will use to generate the questions and everybody will have access to them (the resources, not the questions). This formula is not new either, as the Internal Competition exams in the Commission contains a very similar (if not the same) exam.
Written tests for all. Yes, that’s right. This is the single competence-based test that remains on this part of the process. If you have done a case study, you know what you are facing. If not, it’s a (usually) 90 min test where they give you some background documents on a topic you don’t know (and is not related to your competition) where you have to answer or fulfil some assignments given about it. Here is an official example provided by EPSO. Remember that this exam aims to assess competences, including drafting skills, but not knowledge on the subject of the competition.
Another really important question is not what tests will be conducted, but how. All the tests (reasoning tests, multiple-choice tests and written tests will be in one day/session for all in a remote mode. Same system as the remote CBT done in the last competitions, with the difference that it will be longer now. However, important to note that, despite taking all the tests on the same day, your written exam will only be corrected only if you pass the EU knowledge/specialist test and the CBT, making the process much faster.
Our humble visualization on how the new competition model-timeline will be
On this point there is also some controversy, as candidates who were used to the old system (and had easy access to the Prometric facilities), as well as those who miss the physical calculator in the numerical reasoning tests, didn’t welcome the change to remote tests. When you had a Prometric centre near home, logistics were much simpler than online, but to be fair, the remote evaluation gave an excellent opportunity for new candidates and particularly those living far from Prometric facilities. Considering this and the fact the new method is cheaper than the old system, we better embrace it and prepare to live with the new monitored-online exams for a long time.
After passing the tests what?
So if you pass the CBT, the knowledge test and the written test and fulfil all the experience criteria of the competition (that will be stayed in the notice), you will be placed in a reserve list. Only those on the reserve list will have access to the recruitment process organised by each institution. In this process, general competencies will still be reviewed. How? That fall under the criteria of each institution. EPSO will help them only if requested, most likely field-related type interviews will happen, nothing that we can’t not prepare in advance.
When is the change coming?
In May, the new competitions will be published – one for Economists (AD6) and a second one for Administrators in the field of intellectual property (AD6). Until then, some final changes and adjustments may happen, so with the fresh competition notices in hand, we will update this post with a precise description of the new system and how the competitions will be conducted. In the meantime, we will keep informing you on this and on all the other #eurojobs-related issues, so don’t forget to join our Telegram channel YSE to stay updated.
If you can wait to know how we’ll help with our trainings or you want to be part of the very first study group for the new competitions, register here.
Why is this happening?
These changes are the final outcome of a transformation process inside EPSO to make open competitions faster and simple. This started already in 2020 and particularly after the report from the European Court of Auditors where several conclusion where reached (short summary: selection process proved not to be very efficient for recruiting specialists and it was overall too long). At the same time, due to the pandemic, we were forced to adopt telework whenever possible, which also affected the EPSO competitions.
In the meantime, competitions continued, but since November, new EPSO competitions were frozen until May 2023 and Generalist AD5 has been under re-evaluation during 2021 and 2022. And now, early 2023, we got the result of this reflection.
Christmas is almost here but before we can enjoy that special time of the year EPSO brings its last competition before the long pause (until May 2023). On the bright side, EPSO has released a new competition offering 101 new positions in 3 different profiles Operational security, Technical security and Occupational health and safety. EPSO aims to close the year with style and offering new opportunities to all of you. Today, we’ll answer the following questions in our analysis of this competition: how many spots are available, languages used in the competition, criteria to be an eligible candidate, the different phases of the competition, as well as our estimated calendar of the competition.
How many spots are available? When does the process begin?
A good number of spots are available, 101 spots in total!!!, distributed in 3 fields. The bad news are that you can only apply to one single field. Be careful! The process began on the 17 November and it will be open for joining until 20 December NOON (let’s say 11.59 AM CET). Until then, you can fill in and validate your application. Approximately, you have been given one month +2 days , that’s more than enough but don’t fall asleep.
if you don’t believe us about the number of spots, just check the notice and do the math
What are the criteria to be a candidate?
The general criteria, as usual: Enjoy full rights as a citizen of a Member State of the EU (of the 27 Member States, sorry, UK is no longer an option), meet any obligations under national laws on military service, and meet the character requirements for the duties concerned.
Specific criteria – languages
Same thing than in the paragraphs but visible in one look. Also you have a similar table in pag 8 of the notice of competition ;-).
I.-LANGUAGE of the APPLICATION: You can choose among the 24 official languages of the EU and you should have, at least, the ability to write your application in that language. Ok, but the question is, in which language should I draft my application? should I do it English? French? Or my native language if it is none of the previous? You have the right to do it in your EU official (one of the 24) language but nobody guarantees someone from the board will be able to read it and, in such case, they would have to translate it. If so, will all the details of your application be properly captured by the translation? If you are uncertain of the answer, better to use a common use language in the institutions, such as English or French. Besides, the check of the CVs for eligibility criteria will be faster if there is a high number of applications in those languages (English and French). For Spanish and Italian speakers, the chances of having someone who can read them are high so the risk of using them is rather mitigated, for other languages, our answer is that you should verify the chances of having fluent readers of your language in the board of evaluators.
Also on languages, bear in mind that, as a candidate (= after you formally submitted your application) of this competition, EPSO will communicate with you (via the EPSO account or by email) in one of the languages that you have declared to have knowledge of at level B2 or higher in the ‘Ability to read’ section in the application. But if you want to complain about an error in the computer-based multiple-choice questions (MCQs) or do a requests for review you have to submit the requests or complaints in English or French. For other questions is any of the 24 official languages (again, the more spoken the language is, the faster they can deal with your communication)
II.-LANGUAGE of the Reasoning test (CBT) or Language 1: You can choose among 24 official languages of the EU (and different from language 2) and you should have, minimum, a C1 level. For your mother tongue, you should qualify yourself as C2 and be CAREFUL! Do not say you have a level below C1 for any language skill (listening, reading, oral communication, written communication…), otherwise you will be disqualified automatically. The computer-based tests or CBT (verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning) will be taken in that language.
III.-LANGUAGE of the ASSESSMENTCENTRE (or langugage 2) : ENGLISH or FRENCH (sorry, you can’t choose others, duty calls and EPSO explains it long and clear why in the notice). Here we need a B2 level minimum of English/French (no need to have a degree to justify it, the tests in the Assessment Centre will be done in this language and if you can work through them, then you will qualify as having the level required). Remember, when describing your level of English/French in the application, not to put any item (written, oral level, or any other) below B2 level. Of course, this language 2 can’t be the same as language 1.
Specific conditions – Work experience and studies or how to be an elegible candidate?
Let’s proceed profile by profile as each one has its own particularities, but before that…
Be careful! In the part «professional experience in the field or relevant» when describing your professional experience in the application (CV – work experience), you must clearly identify the experiences and activities equal or similar to those you are expected to do in the European Institutions and described in the notice twice (please check our table below): first in point 3.3 Specific conditions (do you need more hints?) and later in Annex I – Typical duties, so take a good look at the columns of our tables, explain your experience and keep calm! If you find this task difficult, perhaps one of our past webinars (click to see the recording) can be key to help you fill in your application.
Field 1 – Operational Security
First thing you need to check is the following table
This time, EPSO has prepared a nice table clearly statingthe criteria of what you need to apply
Let’s clarify, ‘a year’ of post-secondary education shall mean a minimum of nine months of effective education or training. Check on page 18 (annex II) onwards to see the corresponding post-secondary degrees by Member State. Also for secondary education you can check the table. Worst case scenario, you don’t have any degree of any type in the areas requested, you will need 6 years of relevant working experience. Knowing this, you can know how many years of working experience (relevant) you need to be eligible.
How to make my experience relevant?
This time it is up to you and to explain it clearly that you have experience in TWO or MORE areas described in the notice (see photo below on the left), by describing your experience on two or more of the areas listed within one of your credited work experience (we insist) and for it, also by using the key words of the task described as a requirement (annex I duties – also copied below on the right). Remember you will have to provide evidence (it must be uploaded before the assessment phase, not now) of all those experiences described (Check annex III point 1 b) to see what it’s accepted to prove it).
In this way, the responses of all the candidates are structured in the same way, which allows the board to make an evaluation (as objective as such a test allows) of the compared merits of all the candidates and see how many years of relevant experience they got. If you think we can be of help, check one of our past webinar (Also this can help especially with the areas of professional experience to be covered in the CV) where we focused on tips to fill in the CV experience and the Talent Screener for past specialist competitions.
Ahhhh!! Last but not least, for this competition, you need a valid security clearance or you will have to through the process to obtain one. And provide proof of successful fiream training or undergo a test for it. (check the notice for full detail)
Field 2 — Technical Security
You need to satisfy one of the following ((i) to (vi) options
Let’s repeat it, ‘a year’ of post-secondary education shall mean a minimum of nine months of effective education or training. Check on page 18 (annex II) onwards to see the corresponding post-secondary degrees by Member State. The table is contains info for secondary education too. Worst case scenario, you don’t have any degree of any type in the areas requested, you will need 7 years of relevant experience.
In your professional experience you need to explain clearly that you have experience in TWO or MORE areas described in the notice (see photo below on the left), by describing your experience on two or more of the areas listed (we insist) with the key words or actions covered in the list of duties (annex I duties – also copied below on the right). Remember that you will have to provide evidence (it must be uploaded before the assessment phase, not now) of all those experiences described (Check annex III point 1 b) to see what it’s accepted to prove it). Watch this video where we explain the mechanism of professional experience in a previous competition
Field 3 – Occupational Health and Safety
Same table as in the previous 2 profiles BUT…
They have added one condition – specialist training – How do I get that? Specialist training referred to in point 3.3.3.(a) (image above) will be taken into account if it amounts to at least 136 hours of cumulated training and is directly related to field 3. For example: prevention advisor or designated worker in either safety, ergonomics or psychosocial risks; radiation protection or safety coordinator, etc. For the purpose of this point, one day shall be equivalent to eight hours of training. So if you got a training that indicates it lasted 17 or more days, it means it had 136 hours or more so it will be valid.
Here the academic part becomes more specific, as the notice describes (point 3.3.3(b). picture below) which diplomas are considerer relevant. So if you have a diploma in one of the points (i) to (ix) below, you need max 3 years of experience. If you have a post secondary diploma in any other area different to those points (i) to (ix) below, you will need 5 years. Finally, in case you only completed secondary education, you will need 6 years.
In your professional experience you need to explain clearly that you have experience in TWO or MORE areas described in the notice (see photo below on the left), by describing your experience on two or more of the areas listed (we insist) with the key words or actions covered in the list of duties (annex I duties – also copied below on the right). Remember you will have to provide evidence (it must be uploaded before the assessment phase, not now) of all those experiences described (Check annex III point 1 b) to see what it’s accepted to prove it). Watch this video where we explain the mechanism of professional experience in a previous competition.
What are the tests that I have to pass? And the competition phases?
Based on the notice of competition + our experience, we split the process in 4 phases: 1) fill in the application, 2) CBT 3) elegibility checking 4) the Assessment Centre. The celebration after you have passed the competition is up to you. Before we continue, short advice, join our Telegram channel YSE to be updated in all the steps of this competition, also on EU-vacancies, our trainings and useful infos.
Phase 1 – Fill in the Application
You’ve got until 20 December (noon) to send your application and before that, fill it in with love and care. This is the first step of the process, and the moment to differentiate yourself from the other candidates and all their experience in relation with the six different profiles. So, keep it focused : Work experience + Academic records – these will be used to confirm your eligibility (= whether you have as many years of working experience in the relevant duties as required) so you need to explain your work experience according to the items described in the notice (central and right side column on the tables below).
Phase 2 – CBT – The reasoning test
For this competition, you can expect the reasoning test next year, January 2023- Yes, right after ending the period of application, usually about couple of weeks later, you can expect the time to book your computer-based tests (CBT) test will open but this time overlaps with Christmas, so expect all this to happen after the holidays, most likely the second week of January, then you will take the test either from home (most likely scenario after what has happened in the previous competitions) or from Prometric centers. This time the CBT’s bring an old concept within.
Pay attention, evil…we mean…the trap is in the details
You will have the usual distribution 20 verbal, 10 numerical and 10 abstract reasoning questions. To pass, you don’t need anything great!! right??? BUT, yes now it comes to the big BUT only those candidates who obtain one of the highest scores in the whole test will have their application checked for eligibility until they got positively checked 3 candidates per position and they will be invited to the assessment.
Phase 3 – Eligibility check
Here you can do nothing but wait. It is the task of the board to read first your CV to see if you have all the years of working experience required. It doesn’t matter if you have 20 or 6 years, once you have passed the threshold of having enough experience you go to the assessment. We remind you that the selection based on compliance with the eligibility conditions will be carried out only for those candidates who pass the CBT and by decreasing order in their overall result. You should therefore include all the relevant information in your application form. The best of all this is, after the evaluations, the number of candidates who will go to the Assessment Centre will be only up to 3 times the amount of openings. We are talking approximately 300 candidates in total and you are one of them because you have written a great application 🏆.
Phase 4 – AssessmentCentre
Congrats! You are one of the candidates with the highest marks in the CBT, you have the required experience and you have been invited to the Assessment Centre. We have reached the final round, in which we will also have to present all our documents related to education and professional experience in digital format (they need to be uploaded into a platform before doing the Assessment Centre tests), so prepare them in advance to avoid a last minute rush with the bureaucracy.
Now talking about the other tests, the competition turns into a classic. You will have to face the following tests: Case Study and Situational Competency-Based Interview. Here you have 7 competences to be assessed (in AD competitions there are eight). Between the two tests you can gather a total of 70 points, with the particularity that you need an overall 35/70 to pass, but no minimum marks per competence. Don’t get over confident, do fine on these two and you will be fine for this part although the more points we get the better (we can help with that).
Some practice, some effort and a some guidance and it will be done 😉
When you see your name on the reserve list
Anyway, the key part is the field-related test where you will have to show your knowledge on the field, explaining, in detail, your relevant experience for this position. The Interview in the Field is also somehow structured but as it has a clear focus on your work experience, is much more interesting and rewarding, you can get up to 100 points in that test (we can help on that too), approx. 60% of all the available points.
Final Step – After a long process and passing the Assessment Centre, EPSO will check the validity of all your records and professional experiences (comparing them to the input of your application). For these, they will use the documents uploaded at the beginning of phase 4 – right before your first test of the Assessment Centre. So, keep your documents ready for upload once you have passed the eligibility check!!! Once you get the final OK for this part, you will see your name on the reserve list and ready to find a job as officer of the European institutions.
What is the timing of the competition? When will EPSO contact me?
All the situations under which EPSO will write you in your profile, not by email, although sometimes we may get a warning message.
The expected calendar for this competition is the following: after the closure date for the submission of the applications, end-december, you will have the opportunity to book your CBT slot, most likely mid-november, then taking the CBT end January or begining of February. After that, they will run the eligibility checks in Winter/early Spring, and then the Assessment will come end-Spring onwards. So get ready to confront the CBT very soon and the Assessment Centre in Spring 2023!!
Many of you ask about when EPSO will tell you that you have passed to the next phase, or have been invited to the Assessment Centre, or…. you read/heard rumors about the development of the competitions somewhere. Better to isolate yourself from that noise and focus on the real messages. EPSO commits itself (it’s in Annex III of the notice of competition) to communicate with you after the applications have been evaluated to inform you on the results and to invite you to the Assessment Centre. In the meantime, it can take weeks or months to receive any informationor being notified that we have passed to the next phase of the competition, so keep calm. If you are feeling desperate for the lack of news, you can always contact EPSO too, as candidates you are entitled to do so but be careful, replies can be a bit cryptic or copy/paste from the notice.
How much will my salary be?
Table of the amounts of basic monthly salaries for each grade and step in function groups AD and AST referred to in Article 66 of the Staff Regulations, applicable from 1 July 2021
One of the most typical questions of the candidates is the salary that you will get. An AST3 (step 2) will join the institutions with a salary starting at 4.500 € and this can be higher depending if you have dependent family members and other conditions. To that amount, you will have to add 16% extra of expatriation allowance and subtract the cost of the taxes (you pay taxes to the European Commission), health insurance and pension, all them proportional to your salary, so expect around the same amount, 4.000 € in net salary. By the way, we refer to step 2 as any first entrant in the institutions can’t join above that step, it means you have at least 3 years of professional experience, what in this competition, is obvious. And if you are worried about life in expensive countries the basic remuneration is supplemented by an allowance linked to the living conditions prevailing at the place of employment, so don’t worry too much.
Can you help me?
Let share some useful links for this competition and any other.
Here we go again! fully loaded of (green) energy, EPSO has launched another AD6 competition in 3 (different?) topics : Energy, Climate and Environment with more than 150 spots (155 to be accurate). Probably they couldn’t have chosen a better moment to do so, nowadays, these are THE TOPICS. Even if tragic events such as the invasion of Ukraine by Russia comes to an end and some stability is back in our lives, climate change and the need to protect the environment will still be there, also the need to tackle these issues by saving energy and using green re-sources. Therefore today’s competition is a competition for the future, are you ready to meet the challenge?
How many spots are available? When does the process begin?
if you don’t believe us about the number of spots, just check the notice and do the math
A good number of spots are available, distributed in 3 fields : 54 for Energy, 49 for Climate and 52 for Environment, so 155 spots in total!!!, The bad news are that you can only apply to one single field, if you have doubts about where you fit best, check the questions in the Talent Screener of each profile. Be careful! The process began on 20 October and it will be open for joining until 22 November NOON (let’s say 11.59 AM CET). Until then, you can fill in and validate your application. Approximately, you have been given one month +2 days , that’s more than enough so charge your environmentally friendly batteries and go for it! If you want some hints on what to next, keep reading.
What are the criteria to be a candidate?
The general criteria, as usual: Enjoy full rights as a citizen of a Member State of the EU (of the 27 Member States, sorry, UK is no longer an option), meet any obligations under national laws on military service, and meet the character requirements for the duties concerned.
Specific criteria – languages
Same thing than in the paragraphs but visible in one look. Also you have a similar table in pag 8 of the notice of competition ;-).
I.-LANGUAGE of the APPLICATION: You can choose among the 24 official languages of the EU and you should have, at least, the ability to write your application in that language. Ok, but the question is, in which language should I draft my application? Should I do it English? French? Or my native language if it is none of the previous? You have the right to do it in your EU official (one of the 24) language but nobody guarantees that someone from the board will be able to read it and, in such case, they would have to translate it. If so, will all the details of your application be properly captured by the translation? If you are uncertain of the answer, better to use a common use language in the institutions, such as English or French. Besides, the check of the CVs for eligibility criteria will be faster if there is a high number of applications in those languages (English and French). For Spanish and Italian speakers, the chances of having someone who can read them are high so the risk of using translation tools is rather mitigated, while for other languages, our answer is that you should verify the chances of having fluent readers of your language in the board of evaluator. BUT also you have to take into account the….
II.-LANGUAGE of the TALENT SCREENER: this time you can’t choose. It must be ENGLISH. So that another good reason to do all your application (CV+Talent Screener) in English, so you can guarantee homogeneity and avoid potential mistakes of mixing languages. But this is only our opinion, at the end, you choose the languages within the possibilities offered by the notice of competition.
Also on languages, bear in mind that, as a candidate (= after you formally submitted your application) of this competition, EPSO will communicate with you (via the EPSO account or by email) in one of the languages that you have declared to have knowledge of at level B2 or higher in the ‘Ability to read’ section in the application. But if you want to complain about an error in the computer-based multiple-choice questions (MCQs) or do a requests for review you have to submit the requests or complaints in English or French. For other questions is any of the 24 official languages (again, the more spoken the language is, the faster they can deal with your communication)
III.-LANGUAGE of the Reasoning test (CBT): You can choose among 24 23 official languages of the EU, all except ENGLISH and you should have, minimum, a C1 level. For your mother tongue, you should qualify yourself as C2 and be CAREFUL! Do not say you have a level below C1 for any language skill (listening, reading, oral communication, written communication…), otherwise you will be disqualified automatically. The computer-based tests or CBT (verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning) will be taken in that language.
IV.-LANGUAGE of the ASSESSMENTCENTRE: ENGLISH or ENGLISH (sorry, you can’t choose, duty calls and EPSO explains it long and clear why in the notice). Here we need a B2 level minimum of English (no need to have a degree to justify it, the tests in the Assessment Centre will be done in this language and if you can work through them, then you will qualify as having the level required). Remember, when describing your level of English in the application, not to put any item (written, oral level, or any other) below B2 level.
Specific conditions – Work experience and studies
Let’s proceed by grouping all the criteria in each field, in an orderly manner so the criteria are more visible to all of you, especially the years of relevant working experience, which depends on your university degree.
Be aware! In the part «professional experience in the field or relevant» when describing your professional experience in the application (CV – work experience), you must clearly identify the experiences and activities equal or similar to those you are expected to do in the European Institutions and described in the notice twice (please check our table above): first in point 3.3 Specific conditions (do you need more hints?) and later in Annex I – Typical duties, so take a good look at the columns of our tables, explain your experience and keep calm! If you find this task difficult, perhaps ournext webinar on this competition that will take place on 24 October can be key to help you fill in your application.
What are the tests that I have to pass? And the competition phases?
Based on the notice of competition + our experience, we split the process in 5 phases: 1) fill in the application, 2) eligibility checking 3) Talent Screener 4) CBT and 5) the Assessment Centre. The celebration after you have passed the competition is up to you. Before we continue, remember you can join our Telegram channel YSE to be updated in all the steps of this competition, vacancies, our trainings and useful infos.
Phase 1 – Fill in the Application and the Talent Screener
You’ve got until 22 November (noon) to send your application and before that, fill it in with love and care. This is the first step of the process, and the moment to differentiate yourself from the other candidates and all their experience in relation with the different profiles. So, keep it focused : Work experience + Academic records/University Degree – these will be used to confirm your eligibility (= whether you have as many years of working experience in the relevant duties as required) so you need to explain your work experience according to the items described in the notice (central and right side column on the tables above,…yes those, so check them again).
… (Wait! we are still in phase 1 and I have two relevant questions)
How can I prove my experience is relevant? This time it is up to you and to explain it clearly, by using the key words of the task described as a requirement. Remember you will have to provide evidence of all those experiences described (Check annex III point 1 b) to see what it’s accepted to prove it).
What is a TALENT SCREENER? This is a list of questions related to your academic and professional background that you must answer in your application, you can find the questions on the Annex II of the notice of competition. The board of the competition is in charge of evaluating the answers. Keep in mind that all candidates in the same profile and field answer the same questions. In this way, the responses of all the candidates are structured in the same way, which allows the board to make an evaluation (as objective as such a type of test allows) of the compared merits of all the candidates. Remember to look at annex IV or the application form for all the details, and if you think we can be of help, come to our our free webinar next webinar on this competition that will take place on 24 October 18:30 (or watch one of our previous ones here the recording).
In this way, the responses of all the candidates are structured in the same way, which allows the board to make an evaluation (as objective as such a test allows) of the compared merits of all the candidates.
Phase 2 – Eligibility check
Here you can do nothing but wait. It is the task of the board to read first your CV to see if you have all the years of working experience required. It doesn’t matter if you have 20 or 6 years, once you have passed the threshold of having enough experience you go to the assessment. We remind you that the selection based on compliance with the eligibility conditions will be carried for all the candidates. You should therefore include all the relevant information in your application form (we insist).
Phase 3 – Talen Screener evaluation
Once you have been deemed eligible and all candidates have been evaluated, you and all the candidates will get an email informing on this and that you advance to the Talent Screener (BUT it doesn’t mean that you have been invited to the Assessment Centre… yet). Talent Screener evaluationwill begin then using solely the information provided in this Talent Screener section (in English), they don’t cross reference with the rest of your application or Google to look for more information about you. You should therefore include all relevant information in your answers, even if already mentioned in other sections of your application form. The questions are published in annex IV of your notice of competition.
The best of all this is, after the evaluations (eligibility and talent and several months of wait), the number of candidates who will go to the Assessment Centre will be only up to 3 times the amount of openings. We are talking approximately 450 candidates in total and you are one of them because you have written a great application 🏆.
Phase 4 – CBT – The reasoning tests
Congrats! You are one of the 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 – AssessmentCentre.
Now talking about the other tests, the competition turns into a classic. You will have to face the following tests: Case Study and Situational Competency-Based Interview. Here you have 8 competences to be assessed. Between the two tests you can gather a total of 80 points, with the particularity that you need an overall 40/80 to pass, but no minimum marks per competence. Don’t get over confident, do fine on these two and you will be fine for this part although the more points we get the better (we can help with that).
Some practice, some effort and a some guidance and it will be done 😉
When you see your name on the reserve list
Anyway, the key part is the field-related test where you will have to demonstrate your know how on the field, explaining, in detail, your relevant experience for this position. The Interview in the Field is also somehow structured but as it has a clear focus on your work experience, is much more interesting and rewarding, you can get up to 100 points in that test (we can help on that too), approx. 60% of all the available points.
Final Step – After a long process and passing the Assessment Centre, EPSO will check the validity of all your records and professional experiences (comparing them to the input of your application). For these, they will use the documents uploaded at the beginning of phase 4 – right before your first test of the Assessment Centre. So, keep your documents ready for upload once you have passed the eligibility check!!! Once you get the final OK for this part, you will see your name on the reserve list and ready to find a job as officer of the European institutions.
What is the timing of the competition? When will EPSO contact me?
All the situations under which EPSO will write you in your profile, not by email, although sometimes we may get a warning message.
The expected calendar for this competition is the following: after the closure date for the submission of the applications, second half of November, you will have the opportunity wait for a long time (winter is coming!) until they have done the eligibility check and the evaluation of the Talent Screener. Do not expect they will finish with the Talent before April 2023. Then you will have to take the CBT by May and the Assessment May-July 2023. After that, they will run the verification of your background documents (Summer time) and publish the reserve list by Autumn 2023. We are living light-speed times!
Many of you ask about when EPSO will tell you that you have passed to the next phase, or have been invited to the Assessment Centre, or…. you read/heard rumors about the development of the competitions somewhere. Better to isolate yourself from that noise and focus on the real messages. EPSO commits itself (it’s in Annex III of the notice of competition) to communicate with you after the applications have been evaluated to inform you on the results and to invite you to the Assessment Centre. In the meantime, it can take weeks or months to receive any informationor being notified that we have passed to the next phase of the competition, so keep calm. If you are feeling desperate for the lack of news, you can always contact EPSO too, as candidates you are entitled to do so but be careful, replies can be a bit cryptic or copy/paste from the notice.
How much will my salary be?
Table of the amounts of basic monthly salaries for each grade and step in function groups AD and AST referred to in Article 66 of the Staff Regulations, applicable from 1 July 2021
One of the most typical questions of the candidates is the salary that you will get. An AD6 (step 2) will join the institutions with a salary starting at 6.000 € and this can be higher depending if you have dependent family members and other conditions. To that amount, you will have to add 16% extra of expatriation allowance and subtract the cost of the taxes (you pay taxes to the European Commission), health insurance and pension, all them proportional to your salary, so expect around the same amount, 6.000 € in net salary. By the way, we refer to step 2 as any first entrant in the institutions can’t join above that step, it means you have at least 3 years of professional experience, what in this competition, is obvious. And if you are worried about life in expensive countries the basic remuneration is supplemented by an allowance linked to the living conditions prevailing at the place of employment, so don’t worry too much.
Can you help me?
Let share some useful links for this competition, our trainings and more.
El otoño está aquí y las hojas de los árboles van cayendo e igualmente lo hacen las vacantes y las oportunidades para trabajar en la institución europea. EPSO ha publicado una nueva oposición que nos ofrece 492 nuevos puestos (casi 500 si eres de los que prefiere números redondos) para una amplia gama de perfiles, desde expertos en gestión financiera y contabilidad hasta expertos en medios de comunicación ( redes sociales, webmaster, diseño gráfico) terminado por expertos en contratación pública y licitaciones. Las instituciones europeas necesitan cada vez más perfiles técnicos altamente especializados, el mundo está cambiando y tú puedes formar parte de ese cambio. Si buscas la versión en inglés de este artículo, pincha aquí
¿Cuántas plazas hay? ¿Hasta cuando puedo presentar la candidatura?
Tenemos un buen número de plazas disponibles ¡¡¡492 plazas en total!!!, distribuidas en 6 ámbitos. Las malas noticias son que sólo puedes presentarte a un ámbito de los seis, así que eligelo con tiento y criterio. El proceso arrancó el 22 de septiembre y cerrará el día 25 de octubre (AL MEDIODIA) Hasta entonces , puedes completar y validar tu candidatura. En total nos han dado un mes y un par de días, asi que nada de dormirse en los laureles.
Si no te crees el númer ode plazas, tan sólo verificalo en la convocatoria de la oposición y haz la suma.
¿Cuáles son los criterios para ser candidato?
Los criterios generales, como de costumbre: Gozar de plenos derechos como ciudadano de uno de los veintisiete Estados miembros de la UE (el Reino Unido ya no es una opción), cumplir las obligaciones derivadas de la legislación nacional en materia de servicio militar y cumplir los requisitos de carácter para las funciones de que se trate.
Criterios específicos – Los idiomas
I.-IDIOMA de la SOLICITUD: Puedes elegir entre las 24 lenguas oficiales de la UE y, como mínimo, deberías tener la capacidad para redactar la candidatura en esa lengua. OK, jajaja muy divertido, pero la pregunta es ¿En qué lengua debo redactar mi solicitud? ¿Debería hacerlo el inglés? ¿francés o en mi lengua materna? Tienes derecho a hacerlo en tu lengua oficial, pero nadie garantiza que alguien del tribunal de la oposición pueda leerlo y, en tal caso, tengan que traducirlo. En ese caso, la siguiente pregunta es ¿sobrevivirán todos los detalles de mi solicitud a la traducción? Si no lo tienes por seguro, plantéate lo siguiente ¿no será mejor utilizar una lengua de uso común en las instituciones, así controlo lo que pongo? Y es ahí entrarán el inglés y el francés. Además, la verificación de los criterios de admisibilidad de los CV será proporcionalmente más rápida al número de solicitudes en esas lenguas (inglés y francés). En el caso de los hablantes españoles e italianos, las posibilidades de que alguien pueda leerlos (aún sin ser nativos) son elevadas, por lo que el riesgo de utilizarlos está bastante mitigado; para otras lenguas, nuestra respuesta es que pienses antes cuales son las posibilidades de tener lectores fluidos de tu lengua en el tribunal de la oposición.
Lo mismo que hemos dicho antes pero ordenado por EPSO. Puedes verlo en la página 8 de la convocatoria 😉
Siguiendo con el tema de los idiomas , ten en cuenta que, como candidato oficial (= después de haber presentado oficialmente su candidatura) de esta oposición, la EPSO se comunicará (a través de la cuenta EPSO o por correo electrónico) contigo en una de las lenguas que hayas declarado tener conocimientos de nivel B2 o superior en la sección «Capacidad de lectura» del formulario de candidatura. Sin embargo, si lo que quieres es denunciar un error en las preguntas de opciones múltiples por ordenador (el CBT) o solicitar una revisión de alguna de los resultados, tienes que presentar las solicitudes o reclamaciones en inglés o francés. Para otras preguntas, cualquiera de las 24 lenguas oficiales (de nuevo, cuanto más hablada sea la lengua, más rápido podrán tratar su comunicación)
II.-IDIOMA de los test psicotécnicos (CBT): Para los clásicos test de razonamiento verbal, razonamiento numérico y razonamiento abstracto, puede elegir entre 24 23 lenguas oficiales de la UE, todas excepto INGLÉS, y debe tener, como mínimo, un nivel C1. Si es tu lengua materna, deberías calificarte como C2 y tener mucho cuidado. No digas que tienes un nivel inferior a C1 para ninguna competencia lingüística (escucha, lectura, comunicación oral, comunicación escrita, etc.), so pena de ser descalificado automáticamente. Las pruebas por ordenador o CBT (razonamiento verbal, numérico y abstracto) se realizarán en esa lengua declarada como lengua 1 (insistimos por si no quedó claro). Y si necesitas apoyo con estos test, puedes unirte a uno de nuestros cursos de CBT (pronto empieza el siguiente) .
III.-IDIOMA del Assessment: INGLÉS o INGLÉS (lo sentimos, estos son lentejas y no puedes elegir, el deber obliga y la EPSO explica las razones de esta elección claramente en la convocatoria). Aquí necesitaremos un nivel B2 mínimo de inglés (no es necesario tener un diploma o título para justificarlo, las pruebas en el Centro de Evaluación se realizarán en esta lengua y si puede trabajar/examinarte con ella, se considerará que tiene el nivel requerido). Recuerda que, al describir su nivel de inglés en la solicitud, no coloques ningún elemento (tú nivel de escrito, oral o lectura) por debajo del nivel B2.
Condiciones específicas – Experiencia profesional y estudios
Vamos poco a poco, agrupando el perfil 1 y 2 y luego hablaremos de los perfiles del 3 al 6, así los criterios de lo que nos piden, serán más visibles para todos.
¡Cuidadín! Para explicar la parte «experiencia profesional en el ámbito», como en este caso, significa que, al describir su experiencia profesional en la solicitud (CV — experiencia laboral), los candidatos deben identificar claramente las experiencias y actividades iguales o similares a las que se espera que realicen en las instituciones europeas y descritas en el anuncio dos veces (consulte nuestro cuadro): en primer lugar, en el punto 3.3 Condiciones específicas (¿necesita más explicaciones?) y más tarde en el anexo I — Funciones atípicas, por lo que mira bien las columnas de nuestros cuadros, explique su experiencia y no desespere. Si considera que esta tarea es difícil, quizás nuestro próximo seminario web (martes 11 octubre 19 h CET)webinar( click para ver el video) sobre esta oposición pueda ser clave para darte ideas de cómo afrontar la oposición.
Las pruebas a superar y las distintas fases de la oposición
Tomando como referencia la convocatoria de oposición + nuestra experiencia, el proceso lo hemos dividido en 4 fases: 1) rellenar la solicitud, 2) CBT 3) verificación de la admisibilidad 4) el Centro de Evaluación. Por último, el fiestorro una vez superada la oposición queda a tu discreción. Antes de arrancar, si quieres que vayamos informando de avances en esta oposición, vacantes y cosillas de utilidad, unete a nuestro canal de Telegram YSE
Fase 1 – Rellenar la candidatura
Tenemos hasta el 25 de octubre (mediodía) para enviar la solicitud y, antes, toca rellenarla con amor y cuidado. Este es el primer paso del proceso y el momento de diferenciarse de los demás candidatos y de toda su experiencia en relación con los seis perfiles diferentes. Así pues, mantente centrado en explicar bien tu Experiencia laboral+ cualificaciones pues estos se utilizarán para confirmar tu admisibilidad (= tienes tantos años de experiencia laboral en las funciones pertinentes como sea necesario). Esto significa que debemos explicar nuestra experiencia laboral con arreglo a los puntos descritos en la convocatoria (columnas central y derecha del cuadro que viene a continuación – están inglés porque asumimos que la mayoría de los candidatos usaréis esa lengua para la candidatura, sino aquí está la convocatoria en español).
Ámbito 3 – Contratación Pública & Ámbito 4 Diseño Gráfico y producción de contenidos visuales & 5 Medios digitales y redes sociales & 6.- webmaster (administradores de sitios web) (haz click en las flechas laterales para ir cambiando de tabla)
… (¡para el carro! Estamos todavía en la fase 1) ¿Cómo puedo demostrar que mi experiencia es pertinente? Esta vez te toca explicarlo claramente utilizando las palabras clave de las tareas descrita como requisito (insistimos). Recuerda que tendrás que aportar evidencias (papeles que la prueben) de todas las experiencias descritas en tu candidatura (consulta el anexo III, punto 1, letra b para ver que papeles se aceptan para justificarlas).
De este modo, las respuestas de todos los candidatos estarán estructuradas de la misma manera, lo que permite al tribunal de la oposición realizar una evaluación (tan objetiva como lo permite el proceso) de los méritos de todos los candidatos. Si crees que podemos ayudarte, echa un vistazo a nuestro anterior webinar, en el que nos centramos en los consejos para rellenar la candidatura y el Talent Screener de oposiciones especializadas. PERO, si está buscando una visión totalmente aplicada a esta oposición, vente a nuestro próximo seminario web (martes 11 octubre 19 h CET) a ver el webinar que hicimos( click para ver el video).
Fase 2- CBT — La prueba de razonamiento
Justo después de finalizar el período de inscripción, unas dos semanas más tarde, podemos esperar esperar que se abra el tiempo para reservar la prueba por ordenador (CBT) y que se realicen la prueba desde casa o desde los centros Prometric durante la segunda quincena de noviembre y principios de diciembre. Y aquí llega la sorpresa, esta vez los CBT aportan una sorpresa oculta.
Para el ámbito 1 — Gestión financiera & ámbito 2 — Contabilidad y tesorería, tendrás 15 preguntas en el razonamiento numérico (5 más de lo habitual), mientras que en el razonamiento verbal sólo 15 (5 menos de lo habitual). Para superarlo necesitarás 8 de cada 15 puntos en el numérico y 12 de 25 de la puntuación combinada de BUT verbal y abstracta, pero ahora viene gran PERO, sólo los candidatos que obtengan una de las puntuaciones más altas en la prueba de razonamiento numérico serán sometidos a una comprobación de su admisibilidad, ya que esta verificación se hará por orden de nota hasta completar 3 veces el número de vacantes disponibles (y siempre que también tengamos el mínimo de 12 sobre 25 para verbal + abstracto). Recuerda que si necesitas apoyo con estos test, puedes unirte a uno de nuestros cursos de CBT (pronto empieza el siguiente)
Presta atención, el diablo se esconde en los detalles
Y si vamos al ámbito 3 — Contratación pública — ámbito 4 — Diseño gráfico y producción de contenidos visuales- ámbito 5 — Medios sociales y digitales, ámbito 6 — Webmaster, la imagen cambiará un poco. Volvemos a la distribución clásica de 20 preguntas verbales, 10 numéricas y 10 abstractas. Para superarlo, necesitarás 10 de 20 verbales y 10 de 20 de la puntuación combinada de numérico y abstracto, sí ahora el gran PERO. También en estos ámbitos o perfiles, las verificaciones de cumplir con los criterios de admisibilidad se harán por orden decreciente de puntuación en el razonamiento verbal (y siempre que tengamos el mínimo de 10 sobre 20 para numérico + abstracto) hasta completar el cupo de 3 candidatos por plaza ofertada ( Permítenos que insistamos, que luego sólo os acordáis de la croqUEta de YSE cuando quedan 2 días para el examen , aquí el enlace para informarte y/o unirte a nuestro próximo curso de CBT )
La distribucion de preguntas y puntos de siempre con la salvedad que tenemos que sacar un buen resultado en verbal.
Fase 3 — Verificación de la admisibilidad
Aquí no puede hacer nada más que esperar. Corresponde al Tribunal de la oposición leer tu candidatura para ver si tiene todos los años de experiencia laboral requeridos(y los estudios correspondientes). No importa si tiene 20 o 6 años, una vez que haya superado el umbral de experiencia suficiente para pasar a la evaluación. Te recordamos que la selección basada en el cumplimiento de las condiciones de admisión solo se llevará a cabo para los candidatos que superen el CBT y por orden decreciente en su resultado numérico (perfil 1 y 2) o verbal (perfiles 3-4-5-6) (por si no quisiste leer la fase 2). Por lo tanto, debe incluir toda la información pertinente en tu formulario de candidatura. Lo mejor es, tras las evaluaciones, solo 3 veces las aperturas se dirigirán al Centro de Evaluación. Hablamos de un total aproximado de 1500 candidatos y estamos seguro que tú serás uno de ellos porque habrás escrito una gran candidatura 🏆 después de asistir a nuestro webinar.
Fase 4 — Centro de evaluación.
¡Enhorabuena! Eres uno de los candidatos que has obtenido las mejores puntuaciones en el CBT, cuentas con la experiencia requerida y por tanto has sido invitado al Centro de Evaluación. Hemos llegado a la ronda final, en la que también tendremos que presentar todos nuestros documentos relacionados con la educación y la experiencia profesional en formato digital (deberán cargarse en una plataforma antes de realizar las pruebas del Centro de Evaluación), por lo que los prepararemos con antelación para evitar una carreras de última hora con la burocracia.
Hablando de las pruebas a las que nos vamos a enfrentar, la oposición pasa a ser clásica. Los candidatos deberán someterse a lo siguiente: Estudio de casos y entrevista basada en competencias situacionales: aquí tienen 7 competencias que deben evaluarse (en las oposiciones AD hay ocho). Entre las dos pruebas, puede reunir un total de 70 puntos, con la particularidad que necesita y, en total, 35/70 para aprobar, pero no las puntuaciones mínimas por competencia, no confían en estas dos pruebas, pero sí lo harás por esta parte, aunque cuantos más puntos obtengamos mejor (con estas pruebas, llegado el momento, también podemos ayudar).
Algo de práctica , un poco de esfuerzo y algo de guía y tenemos la receta perfecta para aprobar.
When you see your name on the reserve list
En cualquier caso, la parte clave es la prueba relacionada con el campo (field related interview), en la que tendrá que demostrar sus conocimientos técnicos sobre el terreno, explicando detalladamente su experiencia pertinente para este puesto. La entrevista en el campo también está de alguna manera estructurada, pero, puesto que se centra claramente en su experiencia laboral, es mucho más interesante y gratificante, puede obtener hasta 100 puntos en esa prueba (también podemos ayudar con esta), aproximadamente el 60 % de todos los puntos disponibles.
Paso final: tras un largo proceso y tras superar el Centro de Evaluación, la EPSO comprobará la validez de todos sus expedientes y experiencias profesionales (comparándolos con las aportaciones de su candidatura). Para ello, utilizarán los documentos cargados al comienzo de la fase 4, justo antes de la primera prueba del Centro de Evaluación. Así pues, mantente listo para cargar los documentos una vez que hayas superado el control de admisibilidad. Una vez que obtenga el OK final para esta parte y tras una espera (larga o corta dependerá de tu paciencia), verás tu nombre en la lista de reserva y estarás listo para encontrar un puesto de funcionario de las instituciones europeas.
¿Cuál es el calendario de la convocatoria? ¿Cúando me va a contactar EPSO?
All the situations under which EPSO will write you in your profile, not by email, although sometimes we may get a warning message.
El calendario previsto para esta competición es el siguiente: después de la fecha de cierre para la presentación de las solicitudes y realizar el test psicotécnicio ( CBT), se llevarán a cabo los controles de elegibilidad en otoño y luego el Talent Screener durante el invierno. ¡Así que prepárate para enfrentarte al CBT este otoño y al Centro de Evaluación en la primavera de 2023!
¿Cuándo se pondrá en contacto conmigo la EPSO? Muchos nos preguntain cuándo os dirá EPSO que habeis pasado a la siguiente fase, o si habéis sido invitados al assessment tras pasar la evaluación de los años de experiencia, o… habeis leído o escuchado rumores sobre el desarrollo de los concursos (el primo de la prima del primo de la…. ha dicho que…). Es mejor aislarse de ese ruido y centrarse en los mensajes reales, EPSO se compromete (en el anexo II del anuncio) a comunicarse con todos los candidatos después de que hayan pasado la fase de elegiblidad e igualmente después del Talent Screener para informar de los resultados e invitarte al Assessment. Mientras tanto, puede llevar semanas o meses recibir cualquier información, así que mantén la calma. En caso de duda, puedes ponerte en contacto con EPSO también, ya que los candidatos teneis derecho a hacerlo, pero ten cuidado, las respuestas pueden ser un poco crípticas o un simple copiar/pegar de la notificación, no esperes grandes aclaraciones.
¿Cuánto voy a ganar?
Table of the amounts of basic monthly salaries for each grade and step in function groups AD and AST referred to in Article 66 of the Staff Regulations, applicable from 1 July 2021
Una de las preguntas más típicas de los candidatos. Un AST3 (paso 2) se incorporará a las instituciones con un salario de salida superior a 4,000 EUR y esto puede ser mayor dependiendo de si tienes familia dependiente de ti y otras condiciones. A eso tendrás que sumar un 16 % extra de tasa de expatriación y restar el coste de los impuestos (pagas impuestos a la Comisión Europea), seguro de salud y pensión, todos ellos proporcionales a tu salario, así entre lo que entra y sale, espera alrededor de la misma cantidad, 4,000 EUR, en salario neto. Por cierto, nos referimos al step 2 ya que cualquiera que entra nuevo en las instituciones no puede entrar por encima de ese «step», ese nivel se adquiere si demuestras que tienes al menos 3 años de experiencia profesional, lo que en esta oposición, es obvio. Y si te preocupa la vida en países caros, la remuneración básica se complementa con una asignación vinculada a las condiciones de vida que prevalecen en el lugar de trabajo, así que no es para tanto
We are now at that time of the year when tree leaves are falling… and so are the vacancies and opportunities to work in the European Institutions! EPSO has released a new competition offering 492 new positions (almost 500 if you prefer round numbers) to a wide range of profiles from experts in financial management, accounting and public procurement to media experts (social, web, graphic design). The European Institutions need more and more highly specialized technical profiles, the world is changing and you can be a part of that change. Spanish version of this post available here.
How many spots are available? When does the process begin?
A good number of spots are available, 492 spots in total!!!, distributed in 6 fields. The bad news are that you can only apply to one single field. Be careful! The process began on the 22 September and it will be open for joining until 25 October NOON (let’s say 11.59 AM CET). Until then, you can fill in and validate your application. Approximately, you have been given one month +2 days , that’s more than enough but don’t fall asleep.
if you don’t believe us about the number of spots, just check the notice and do the math
What are the criteria to be a candidate?
The general criteria, as usual: Enjoy full rights as a citizen of a Member State of the EU (of the 27 Member States, sorry, UK is no longer an option), meet any obligations under national laws on military service, and meet the character requirements for the duties concerned.
Specific criteria – languages
Same thing than in the paragraphs but visible in one look. Also you have a similar table in pag 8 of the notice of competition ;-).
I.-LANGUAGE of the APPLICATION: You can choose among the 24 official languages of the EU and you should have, at least, the ability to write your application in that language. Ok, but the question is, in which language should I draft my application? should I do it English? French? Or my native language if it is none of the previous? You have the right to do it in your EU official (one of the 24) language but nobody guarantees someone from the board will be able to read it and, in such case, they would have to translate it. If so, will all the details of your application be properly captured by the translation? If you are uncertain of the answer, better to use a common use language in the institutions, such as English or French. Besides, the check of the CVs for eligibility criteria will be faster if there is a high number of applications in those languages (English and French). For Spanish and Italian speakers, the chances of having someone who can read them are high so the risk of using them is rather mitigated, for other languages, our answer is that you should verify the chances of having fluent readers of your language in the board of evaluators.
Also on languages, bear in mind that, as a candidate (= after you formally submitted your application) of this competition, EPSO will communicate with you (via the EPSO account or by email) in one of the languages that you have declared to have knowledge of at level B2 or higher in the ‘Ability to read’ section in the application. But if you want to complain about an error in the computer-based multiple-choice questions (MCQs) or do a requests for review you have to submit the requests or complaints in English or French. For other questions is any of the 24 official languages (again, the more spoken the language is, the faster they can deal with your communication)
II.-LANGUAGE of the Reasoning test (CBT): You can choose among 24 23 official languages of the EU, all except ENGLISH and you should have, minimum, a C1 level. For your mother tongue, you should qualify yourself as C2 and be CAREFUL! Do not say you have a level below C1 for any language skill (listening, reading, oral communication, written communication…), otherwise you will be disqualified automatically. The computer-based tests or CBT (verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning) will be taken in that language.
III.-LANGUAGE of the ASSESSMENTCENTRE: ENGLISH or ENGLISH (sorry, you can’t choose, duty calls and EPSO explains it long and clear why in the notice). Here we need a B2 level minimum of English (no need to have a degree to justify it, the tests in the Assessment Centre will be done in this language and if you can work through them, then you will qualify as having the level required). Remember, when describing your level of English in the application, not to put any item (written, oral level, or any other) below B2 level.
Specific conditions – Work experience and studies
Let’s proceed by grouping fields, we will first deal with field 1 and 2 and then with profiles from 3 to 6. in an orderly manner so the criteria are more visible to all you.
Be aware! In the part «professional experience in the field or relevant» when describing your professional experience in the application (CV – work experience), you must clearly identify the experiences and activities equal or similar to those you are expected to do in the European Institutions and described in the notice twice (please check our table below): first in point 3.3 Specific conditions (do you need more hints?) and later in Annex I – Typical duties, so take a good look at the columns of our tables, explain your experience and keep calm! If you find this task difficult, perhaps ournext webinar on this competition that will take place on 11 Octoberwebinar( click to see the recording) can be key to help you fill in your application.
What are the tests that I have to pass? And the competition phases?
Based on the notice of competition + our experience, we split the process in 4 phases: 1) fill in the application, 2) CBT 3) elegibility checking 4) the Assessment Centre. The celebration after you have passed the competition is up to you. Before we continue, remember you can join our Telegram channel YSE to be updated in all the steps of this competition, vacancies, our trainings and useful infos.
Phase 1 – Fill in the Application
You’ve got until 25 October (noon) to send your application and before that, fill it in with love and care. This is the first step of the process, and the moment to differentiate yourself from the other candidates and all their experience in relation with the six different profiles. So, keep it focused : Work experience + Academic records – these will be used to confirm your eligibility (= whether you have as many years of working experience in the relevant duties as required) so you need to explain your work experience according to the items described in the notice (central and right side column on the tables below).
Field 1 – Financial management & Field 2 – Accounting and treasury
Field 3 – Public procurement & Field 4 – Graphic design and visual content production & Field 5 – Social and digital media & Field 6 -Webmaster (click on the side arrows to change the table)
… (Wait! we are still in phase 1) How can I prove my experience is relevant? This time is up to you and to explain it clearly, by using the key words of the task described as a requirement. Remember you will have to provide evidence of all those experiences described (Check annex III point 1 b) to see what it’s accepted to prove it).
In this way, the responses of all the candidates are structured in the same way, which allows the board to make an evaluation (as objective as such a test allows) of the compared merits of all the candidates. If you think we can be of help, check our past webinar where we focused on tips to fill in the Talent Screener for past specialist competitions. BUT if you are looking for a fresh view on this competition, check our next webinar on the subject on 11 October.webinar( click to see the recording)
Phase 2 – CBT – The reasoning test
Right after ending the period of application, about couple of weeks later, you can expect the time to book your computer-based tests (CBT) test will open, then you will take the test either from home or from Prometric centers during the second half of November and early December. This time the CBT’s bring a hidden surprise.
For Field 1 -Financial management & Field 2 – Accounting and treasury, you will have 15 questions in the numerical reasoning (5 more than usual), while in the verbal only 15 (5 less than usual). To pass, you will need 8 out of 15 in numerical and 12 out of 25 from the combined score of verbal and abstract. BUT, yes now it comes the big BUT, only those candidates who obtain one of the highest scores in the numerical reasoning test will have their application checked for eligibility (and minimum 12 out of 25 for verbal + abstract) by order of results and until they have as many candidates as 3 times the number of spots offered. So it doesn’t matter if you have 10 , 20 or 30 years of relevant working experience, you need a high result in the numerical reasoning.
Pay attention, evil…we mean…the numerical is in the details
And if we go for Field 3 – Public procurement & Field 4 – Graphic design and visual content production & Field 5 – Social and digital media & Field 6 – Webmaster, the picture changes a bit. You will have the usual distribution 20 verbal, 10 numerical and 10 abstract reasoning questions. To pass, you will need 10 out of 20 in verbal and 10 out of 20 from the combined score of numerical and abstract reasoning. BUT, yes now it comes the big BUT for these ones too, only those candidates who obtain one of the highest scores in the verbal reasoning test will have their application checked for eligibility (and also the minimum 10 out of 25 for numerical + abstract).
Almost business as usual but still highest mark in verbal is needed
Phase 3 – Eligibility check
Here you can do nothing but wait. It is the task of the board to read first your CV to see if you have all the years of working experience required. It doesn’t matter if you have 20 or 6 years, once you have passed the threshold of having enough experience you go to the assessment. We remind you that the selection based on compliance with the eligibility conditions will be carried out only for those candidates who pass the CBT and by decreasing order in their result of numerical (profile 1 and 2) or verbal (profiles 3-4-5-6) . You should therefore include all the relevant information in your application form. The best of all this is, after the evaluations, the number of candidates who will go to the Assessment Centre will be only up to 3 times the amount of openings. We are talking approximately 1500 candidates in total and you are one of them because you have written a great application 🏆.
Phase 4 – AssessmentCentre.
Congrats! You are one of the candidates with the highest marks in the CBT, you have the required experience and you have been invited to the Assessment Centre. We have reached the final round, in which we will also have to present all our documents related to education and professional experience in digital format (they need to be uploaded into a platform before doing the Assessment Centre tests), so prepare them in advance to avoid a last minute rush with the bureaucracy.
Now talking about the other tests, the competition turns into a classic. You will have to face the following tests: Case Study and Situational Competency-Based Interview. Here you have 7 competences to be assessed (in AD competitions there are eight). Between the two tests you can gather a total of 70 points, with the particularity that you need an overall 35/70 to pass, but no minimum marks per competence. Don’t get over confident, do fine on these two and you will be fine for this part although the more points we get the better (we can help with that).
Some practice, some effort and a some guidance and it will be done 😉
When you see your name on the reserve list
Anyway, the key part is the field-related test where you will have to demonstrate your know how on the field, explaining, in detail, your relevant experience for this position. The Interview in the Field is also somehow structured but as it has a clear focus on your work experience, is much more interesting and rewarding, you can get up to 100 points in that test (we can help on that too), approx. 60% of all the available points.
Final Step – After a long process and passing the Assessment Centre, EPSO will check the validity of all your records and professional experiences (comparing them to the input of your application). For these, they will use the documents uploaded at the beginning of phase 4 – right before your first test of the Assessment Centre. So, keep your documents ready for upload once you have passed the eligibility check!!! Once you get the final OK for this part, you will see your name on the reserve list and ready to find a job as officer of the European institutions.
What is the timing of the competition? When will EPSO contact me?
All the situations under which EPSO will write you in your profile, not by email, although sometimes we may get a warning message.
The expected calendar for this competition is the following: after the closure date for the submission of the applications, mid-November you will have the opportunity to book your CBT slot, then taking the CBT end November, early December. After that, they will run the eligibility checks in Winter, and then the Assessment will come in mid-Spring onwards. So get ready to confront the CBT very soon and the Assessment Centre in Spring 2023!!
Many of you ask about when EPSO will tell you that you have passed to the next phase, or have been invited to the Assessment Centre, or…. you read/heard rumors about the development of the competitions somewhere. Better to isolate yourself from that noise and focus on the real messages. EPSO commits itself (it’s in Annex III of the notice of competition) to communicate with you after the applications have been evaluated to inform you on the results and to invite you to the Assessment Centre. In the meantime, it can take weeks or months to receive any informationor being notified that we have passed to the next phase of the competition, so keep calm. If you are feeling desperate for the lack of news, you can always contact EPSO too, as candidates you are entitled to do so but be careful, replies can be a bit cryptic or copy/paste from the notice.
How much will my salary be?
Table of the amounts of basic monthly salaries for each grade and step in function groups AD and AST referred to in Article 66 of the Staff Regulations, applicable from 1 July 2021
One of the most typical questions of the candidates is the salary that you will get. An AST3 (step 2) will join the institutions with a salary starting at 4.500 € and this can be higher depending if you have dependent family members and other conditions. To that amount, you will have to add 16% extra of expatriation allowance and subtract the cost of the taxes (you pay taxes to the European Commission), health insurance and pension, all them proportional to your salary, so expect around the same amount, 4.000 € in net salary. By the way, we refer to step 2 as any first entrant in the institutions can’t join above that step, it means you have at least 3 years of professional experience, what in this competition, is obvious. And if you are worried about life in expensive countries the basic remuneration is supplemented by an allowance linked to the living conditions prevailing at the place of employment, so don’t worry too much.
Can you help me?
Let share some useful links for this competition and any other.
It looks like yesterday when the last competition for Heads of Administration in EU Delegations took place… wait, it was 2018/19!! In fact the results were published in October 2019. Apparently there is still a need for brave people willing to face the challenge of working around the globe and alternating those places periodically with Brussels… to do what? Well, that is clearly explained in the image below:
Pay attention to the security clearance, if you are a Russian spy, it might be a problem to get one
And yes! We know you count on an earlier post analysing this competition but let’s be honest, everybody was on holidays (even us). Now is the time when you are preparing your application, so we are just in time with this post… and one extra announcement: We have already released our Youtube video explaining the TALENT SCREENER.
How many spots are available? When does it begin?
A good number of spots are available (40 spots in total, same as in the previous competition) and you will have more than 2 months to apply. Be careful! The process will be openuntil 27 September NOON (let’s say 11.59 AM CET). Until then, you can fill in and validate your application. Approximately, you have been given more than two months, but as we said before, now that you are back from the holidays is when have probably started to fill in your application, so as of now you have 3 weeks ahead (if you are reading this around the time of publication), more than enough but don’t fall asleep.
What are the criteria to be a candidate?
The general criteria, as usual: Enjoy full rights as a citizen of one of the 27 Member States of the EU (UK is no longer an option), meet any obligations under national laws on military service, and meet the character requirements for the duties concerned.
Specific criteria – languages
Here you have the language mix for this competition.
LANGUAGE 1: You can choose among the 24 official languages of the EU and you should have, minimum, a C1 level. If you are a native speaker, you should qualify yourself as C2 and CAREFUL! Do not put any item of the level of language under C1 (otherwise you will be disqualified automatically). The CBT (verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning) test will take place in this language 1 and also we can fill in our application (except the Talent Screener) in this language.
LANGUAGE 2: ENGLISH or FRENCH (and must be different from language 1). Here we need a B2 level minimum (no need for a degree to justify it, the assessment centre will be in this language and if you can work through it, then you have the level required). Remember not to put any item (written, oral level, or any other) below B2 level in your application.
REMINDER – Language 1 and language 2 (English) cannot be the same. Even if you try, the application form will alert you. The communication with EPSO can take place in one of the languages you have declared in your application form at B2 level or higher.
preparing great cocktails doesn’t count as relevant professional experience in the field …yet
Specific conditions – Work experience and studies
Be aware! To explain the part «relevant professional experience » in this case, means that when describing your professional experience in the application (CV- work experience), you must clearly identify the experiences and activities equal or similar to those you are expected to do in the European Institutions and described in the notice (annex I – DUTIES). And don’t despair, if you find this task difficult, our free webinar (here the recording) on this competition can be key to give you some useful tips for the talent
What are the competition phases? What are the test I have to pass?
Based on the notice of competition + our experience we split the process in 5 phases : 1) Fill in the application, 2) CBT- computer based test, 3) Eligibility check, 4) The Talent evaluation, 5) the Assessment Centre and the party at the end is optional.
Phase 1 – Fill in the Application – You’ve got until 27 September (noon) to send your application and before that, to fill it in with love and care. This is the first step of the competition and the way to differentiate yourself from the other candidates and all their experience (honestly, we don’t think EPSO expects thousands of candidates, but a few hundreds with good and long CVs) in relation with the profile.
There you go! all the questions you need to answer – hint – if you speak other EU languages beyond English, French, Portuguese and Spanish,, you can set them as language 1 (so your cbt is in that language) and set those languages to gain merits in question 10.
(wait we are still in phase 1) What is a TALENT SCREENER? This is a list of questions related to your academic and professional background that you must answer in your application, you can find the questions on the Annex II of the notice of competition. The board of the competition is in charge of evaluating the answers. Keep in mind that all candidates in the same profile and field answer the same questions. Like this, the responses of all the candidates are structured in the same way, which allows the board to make an evaluation (as objective as such a type of test allows) of the compared merits of all the candidates. Remember to look at annex IV or the application form for all the details, and if you think we can be of help, come to our our free webinar (here the recording – click on like if you found it useful). If not convenient, take a look to our past webinar on a Talent Screener.
PHASE 2 – CBT Once you submit your application, the first challenge that you will have to face is the CBT (computer-based test). We know, you thought you had escaped it (most competitions have it at the end now, but not the case for this one)… So, keep dreaming. Still, you don’t need a high mark to pass the CBT, only 20 points out of 40 are enough to pass it.
PHASE 3 – Eligibility. Here you can do nothing but wait until you pass the CBT, and it will take long until you know the outcome, several months at least. It is now up for the board to read your CV and check whether you have enough years of relevant experience (6 years minimum or 9 depending on your academic records) and can therefore be deemed eligible. This will be done solely based on your application (CV part) that you filled in in language 1.
PHASE 4 – Talent Screener evaluation. Once you have been deemed eligible (by December/January hopefully) and all candidates have been evaluated, you and all the candidates will get an email letting you know whether you made it to the Talent Screener (BUT it doesn’t mean that you are in the assessment yet). The Talent screener evaluationwill be conducted using only the information you provided within the Talent Screener section (in language 2), they don’t cross reference with the rest of your application or Google. You should therefore include all the relevant information in your answers, even if already mentioned in other sections of your application form. The questions are published in annex IV of your notice of competition (see picture above), we spoke about this in phase 1. The best of all this is that up to a total of 3 times the openings will go to the Assessment Centre. We are talking about about 120 candidates in total (if our math is right… yes it is :-)!
PHASE 5 – AssessmentCentre. Congrats! You are one of the hundred and twenty candidates with the highest marks in the Talent Screener and you have been invited to the Assessment Centre, the final round. In this round, you will also have to present all your papers in digital format (it used to be a USB memory stick before, now in the online Assessment Centre you will have to upload the pertinent papers before having the test), so prepare them in advance to avoid rushing in the last minute.
Now talking about the tests that you will have to face at the Assessment Centre, the competition turns into a classic. You will need to sit the Case Study and the Situational Competence Based Interview (SCBI). Between these two tests you can gather a total of 70 points, with the particularity that you need a combined overall 35/70 to pass but no minimum marks per competence. It means that you should avoid doing a bad Case Study or SCBI in general, but you have some margin to fail some of the specific questions within each test.
Some practice, some effort and a some guidance and it will be done 😉
The more points we get in the competences part, the better (we can help with that). Still, the key part is the field-related test, where you will have to demonstrate your knowledge, and above all, your relevant experience for this position. To do so, you will have the Interview in the Field (also structured but with a clear focus on your work experience), a test wherte you can get up to 100 points (we can help with that too).
Once you are done with the Assessment Centre, EPSO will check your documents, starting from those who got the highest score and until they got 40 candidates. Then, after 2 or a few more months waiting for it, you will get the results the final list with those chosen to go to the Olympus of the reserve list (and from the Olympus to any other part in the world, remember the Olympus is in Greece and there not EU delegations there, only in non-EU countries).
Now lets go with 3 of your most typical questions: Salary, work expectations and when EPSO will contact you (timing of the competition).
How much will my salary be?
Table of the amounts of basic monthly salaries for each grade and step in function groups AD and AST referred to in Article 66 of the Staff Regulations, applicable from 1 January 2022, in red the salary for AST4
One of the most typical questions of the candidates is the salary that you will get. An AST3 (step 2) will join the institutions with a salary starting at 4.500 € and this can be higher depending if you have family dependent on you and other conditions. To that you will have to add 16% extra of expatriation allowance and subtract the cost of the taxes (you pay taxes to the European Commission), health insurance and pension, all them proportional to your salary, so expect around the same amount, 4.500 € in net salary. By the way, we refer to step 2 as any first entrant in the institutions can’t join above that step, it means you have at least 3 years of professional experience, what in this competition, is obvious. And if you are worried about life in expensive countries the basic remuneration is supplemented by an allowance linked to the living conditions prevailing at the place of employment, so don’t worry too much.
What can I expect of this job?
We invite you to check the Annex from the notice of competition. As you can see from the image, it sends you to Annex I to find all the details of your expected tasks to be performed once you are a Head of Administration in an EU Delegation. If you are to lazy to check there, click on the images below:
Pay attention, these are your future task at work, so you know wnat to do but not where to do it (yet).
When will EPSO contact me? timing of the competition?
All the situations under which EPSO will write you in your profile, not by email, although sometimes we may get a warning message.
The expected calendar for this competition is the following: after the closure date for the submission of the applications and the CBT, they will run the eligibility checks in Autumn, and then the Talent Screener during the Winter. So get ready to confront the CBT this Autumn and the Assessment Centre in Spring 2023!!
When will EPSO contact me? Many of you ask about when EPSO will tell you that you have passed to the next phase, or have been invited to the Assessment, or…. you read/heard rumors about the development of the competitions. Better to isolate yourself from that noise and focus on the real messages. EPSO commits itself (it’s in Annex II of the notice) to communicate with you after the Talent Screeners have been evaluated to inform you on the results and to invite you to the Assessment Centre. In the meantime, it can take weeks or months to receive any information, so keep calm. You can always contact EPSO too, as candidates you are entitled to do so but be careful, replies can be a bit cryptic or copy/paste from the notice.
Ya semos europeos 