Hello everyone
I took the Scientific research administrators exam (AD7) in February and, to be honest, it would take a lot of luck for me to succeed in passing the reasoning tests (I answered randomly on at least half of the questions in the numerical test because I couldn't use the interface properly).
Rather than despair, I told myself that I would try to prepare again for the future generalist administrators exam (AD5). However, although I've noted that there's no age limit for the competition, I'm wondering whether this is reasonable in my case. I'm 43 years old and, taking into account the deadlines and assuming I succeed in the AD5 competition, I could expect to be employed by the time I'm 45.
That may sound naive, but I'm thinking that might be a bit too old for this type of position. My thinking has nothing to do with skills as such, but rather in terms of integration within the system of European institutions.
In short, I'd be happy to get feedback from people already employed to get their opinion.
In the meantime, I wish you all the best for your exams.
Hi, you´re perfectly fine. I
Hi, you´re perfectly fine. I was first hired as a temporary agent when I was 43 after a full career in many other places, countries and sectors. I´ve been doing competitions to become a permanent official for a while now. There´s no ageism in the EU, at least I have noticed none. On the contrary, they will appreciate all the experience and knowledge you might bring. I´ve met 'stagiers' who were in their forties too, looking for a career change. Long-life learning is highly appreciated. Most of the profiles of the people around me have incredibly heterogenous careers. I have met only two or three people who became permanent agents in their late twenties. Given the set of skills expected of officials, the more experience you have, the better.
Thank you very much for your
Thank you very much for your feedback and for sharing your experience.
Yes indeed, I was thinking that having more experience compared to “newbies” would be appreciated.
Now, my question had more to do with the “atmosphere” within the teams. Even though I'm 43, I still feel “young” :-), but being surrounded by a new contingent of twenty-somethings would make me feel a bit weird. However, I understand from your message that age is not a problem, and I'm very happy to read that.
What about a guy in his late
What about a guy in his late fifties? Asking for a friend :)
On a related note, I see that the retirement age for the EU institutions is 65. I'm one of those people who fully intends to keep working until they die, preferably sitting at their desk. Are officials required to retire, or can they stay on and keep working? I've looked for info on this but everywhere just says, "Retirement age is 65".
Nowadays it is pretty rare
Nowadays it is pretty rare that twentysomthings are recruited as permanent officials. Most people will have significant prior work experience and the average age is beyond 40 if I'm not mistaken. Even the average age for recruitment is late 30ies. So you would mostly have colleagues in the same age group.
Retirement age for newcomers is 66, not 65. And yes under cerain conditions it is possible to work longer (but it seems to be rare and mostly for higher functions).