Hello,
I have met several people who are currently working at the EU (one for ten years) who did not take the examinations to have a permanent position. Is this possible? Do you need several years of previous work experience in EU related matters to be accepted as temporary staff? I keep hearing that is extremely important to be inside the EU to actually pass the examinations.(or at least have been inside at some point). I understand that, however it is very hard to get an internship there, I tried and keep trying but I haven't had any luck so far... Therefore, would it be realistic to apply for a temporary position when I can't even get a position as an intern? And also, what exactly are they looking for in an intern?
Thank you,
Kind regards,
Raquel
Hi Raquel,
Hi Raquel,
So what your question is actually about? Regarding the traineeship, it's quite simple. Taking the European Commission as an example, they are looking for people who:
- speak usually at least 3 EU languages
- lived/worked in different EU countries
- studied EU-related topics or have some knowledge about the EU from experience (internships in goverment, international organisations)
- many candidates already have two master degrees usually in domains such as: law, politics, international relations, communication, economics
- are motivated (it matter what you put in your application form)
As I trainee you are supposed to carry out/assist in AD5 type of work. So your education and background must be appropriate to carry out such works. Of course, there are sometimes people with no experience or education in very specific fields which do a trainesship but it's not a general rule. Please also remember that the number of trainees quite strictly applies geographical representation. So as a Spanish or Italian citizen, it will be quite harder than for others. In any case, if you don't fit the profile described above, your chances are small. Getting a job is quite different, because type of experience you have will be more important especially for specific competitions.
I have heard of such people who stay in the Commission for a long time without passing EPSO. This can mean, however, different things. Maybe they worked as a contract agent and then passed an internal compeition? The rules were different in the past. Even if you want to be contract agent or temporary agent, there is a certain procedure which will include some sort of tests. So if I were you, I wouldn't hope for getting a job like that. I would suggest you to go on EPSO website to check what are the requirements for the current temporary agents positions. Everything is clearly written.
Kind regards,
Ada
Thank you for your thorough
Thank you for your thorough answer! I did not know that it was harder for Spanishs and Italians, but I am glad at least to meet the requirements you mentioned. I will look into the requirements for temporary agents, although, now that you mentioned it, the people I know in this situation are in their forties.
Thanks again,
Kind regards,
Raquel
Did you try all different
Did you try all different institutions and agencies? There are many traineeships opportunities: EC, EP, EESC, CoR, the Court... and plenty of agencies in Brussels an in different Member States.
Just FYI to show you this geographical division: https://ec.europa.eu/stages/online/cv/application_statistics.cfm?session=92
As you can see, there are 20 Italians per one spot while 10 Germans/French per spot. But this statistics is only for the Commission.
Good luck in any case!
Kind regards,
Ada