APPLICATIONS OPEN! 2023 Nuclear AD7 | EPSO Exams

Applications have officially opened for EPSO's, not only the last of the year but the last competition for a while until further notice. This Notice of Competition, released on 19 October 2023, calls for administrators, grade AD7, in two fields of nuclear energy. The aim of this competition is to select future permanent officials in these two fields to put on a reserve list so they can then be recruited by EU institutions and agencies mainly to Luxembourg, but also possibly Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Belgium, or Spain.

EU Training will host a live webcast on Friday, 20 October 2023 at 12:30 PM (Brussels time / CEST). Andras Korizs will guide candidates through the, sometimes confusing, details in EPSO's Notice of Competition. You can register for this free event here: Nuclear Inspectors & Policy Officers AD7 | 2023 EPSO Exams | Info Webcast

The two main profiles being sought in the EPSO/AD/411/23 competition are as follows:

1. Nuclear safeguards inspectors
2. Policy officers in the area of nuclear energy

We will take a deep dive into all the specifics of this competition below, but first some useful resources for you, the EPSO candidate:

Become part of your EPSO community
Get to know fellow candidates, share tips, and find out about the latest EU rumours by joining the Nuclear Inspectors EPSO Exams Facebook group.

Getting ready for this EPSO competition?

• Practice test questions and packages for:
  1. Nuclear safeguards inspectors
  2. Policy officers in the area of nuclear energy​​​
• Browse available online training sessions here (for EPSO Computer-Based Tests)
• EPSO Case Study Insights webinar

Moving on to taking a good, long look at the EPSO Notice of Competition:

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COMPETITION SNAPSHOT

• Open for Applications: 19 October 2023
• Application Deadline: 21 November 2023 (12:00 PM Brussels time zone/CEST)
• Grade: AD7
• This competition covers two profiles - you may apply for only one - and you cannot change profiles after you have validated your application
• Posts will be based in mainly in Luxembourg, but also possibly Geel (Belgium), Petten (The Netherlands), Karlsruhe (Germany), Ispra (Italy), Brussels (Belgium), Seville (Spain)

Under this competition, the following TWO reserve lists have been advertised, from which the various European Institutions may recruit new members:

Please read the Notice of Competition's Point 2 for "what duties can I expect to perform", this sections details the main roles covered by each field. Annex II goes into more even more detail about the duties. 

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ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

GENERAL criteria:

• Have EU citizenship
• Fulfilled any military service requirements
• Meet the character requirements for the duties concerned

SPECIFIC criteria:

 Nuclear safeguards inspectors | EPSO/AD/411/23 - 1

• Have knowledge of at least TWO official EU languages:
  • Language 1 - candidate has thorough knowledge (minimum C1 level) of one of the 24 official EU languages.
  • Language 2 - candidate has a good command (minimum B2 level) of English OR French
  • The two languages must be different

  Policy officers in the area of nuclear energy | EPSO/AD/411/23 - 2

• Have knowledge of at least TWO official EU languages:
  • Language 1 - candidate has thorough knowledge (minimum C1 level) of one of the 24 official EU languages.
  • Language 2 - candidate has a good command (minimum B2 level) of English
  • The two languages must be different

Qualifications & Work Experience:

• See the section starting from "3.3. Specific conditions — qualifications and work experience" for the specific requirements according to which profile you choose. 

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SELECTION PROCESS

Competition Phases

1. APPLICATION

Candidates applying to this competition must submit their application online through the EPSO website by 21 November 2023 at 12:00 noon / Brussels time (CEST). The application can be submitted in any official EU language.

Candidates must also upload, through their EPSO accounts, scanned copies of documents that support the declarations made in their applications. This has to be done latest by 10 January 2024 at 12:00 noon / Brussels time (CEST).

2. TESTS

All EPSO candidates who submitted and validated their applications by the due date will be invited to sit a series of tests:

a) REASONING TESTS - Language 1

These tests are done in one of the 24 official languages of the EU - but NOT English (or French if you are profile 1). These are multiple choice tests that assess your logical reasoning skills.

b) FIELD-RELATED MCQ Test - Language 2

IMPORTANT: Only those candidates who reach the passmarks on the CBT will have the results of their MCQ test processed. 

The EPSO field-related MCQ will be specific to the field chosen by candidates, must be taken in your Language 2 and will be organised as follows:

Candidates need to reach the pass mark, as well as be among those who score the highest overall. Candidates who reach the passmark will be ranked in descending order of the scores obtained. The ranking will be used to determine whether or not candidates will have their case study scored and for the purpose of establishing the reserve lists.

c) CASE STUDY

The EPSO Case Study is used to assess written communication skills. The scoring is 0/10 and the passmark is 5/10. 

The Selection Board will then assess and score the case studies of candidates based on the ranking order determined by candidates' MCQ scores (highest first), until the number of candidates is reached that is not more than 1.5 times the number of places on the Reserve List for each field.

3. ELIGIBILITY CHECK

The case study scoring and eligibility check are done in tandem. The Selection Board will determine a candidate's eligibility by comparing the declarations made by the candidate in the application with the supporting documents uploaded by the candidate to their EPSO account. 

4. RESERVE LIST

Candidates are only eligible for the reserve list if they:

• reached the relevant pass mark on all the tests
• has one of the highest scores on the field-related MCQ
• were found eligible

After checking candidates’ supporting documents and scores, the EPSO Selection Board will draw up the Reserve Lists of eligible candidates for each profile. Once the number of places on the reserve list for each profile has been reached, eligibility of the remaining candidates will not be checked.

The candidates who made it on to the reserve list will be notified directly by EPSO. The reserve lists will then be made available to the relevant recruiting services.

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HOW CAN YOU APPLY?

ALWAYS read and re-read the official EPSO Notice of Competition to understand the specific conditions for your competition, to be sure you meet the requirements and satisfy the eligibility criteria before submitting your application. For further information on the EPSO selection procedure read the General Rules Governing Open Competitions.

To start the application process, make sure your EPSO account is created, then click on your chosen profile. EPSO usually publishes the NoC and adds the link to apply here:

1. Nuclear safeguards inspectors
2. Policy officers in the area of nuclear energy

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New to EPSO competitions? 

• New to EU exams - everything you need to know about the EPSO selection process
• EPSO prep tips and tricks articles - to make sure you are best prepared for the EPSO exams
• The EPSO selection process - free webcast to bring you up

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GOOD LUCK ON YOUR EPSO EXAMS!

The EU Training Customer Service Team is here to help - contact us for free advice on EPSO competitions and how to prepare.