Hi all,
So, I've been on an AD reserve list for more than eight months now and so far things have been highly uneventful. I knew beforehand that being on a reserve list is no guarantee to land an actual job. I also knew that the wait might be long. Yet reading some of the comments on this forum I get the impression that most laureates have the opportunity to apply for positions on a relatively regular basis and are invited to interviews from time to time. Just wondering if that impression is correct?
In my case there have only been three vacancies posted in my EPSO account so far for which I was eligible. I did not apply for the first vacancy, thinking it wasn't exactly what I was looking for and I still had plenty of time left before the end of the validity period of my reserve list (it's still valid for another two and a half years). In the second case, my application was not pursued any further. I am currently still awaiting a response with regard to my last application and to my frustration, the deadline for applications has already been extended with several weeks... twice.
Are there any linguists here with similar experiences? Also, I would be very grateful for any tips for concrete steps I can take to improve my chances. I find it rather unnatural to sit around waiting for a phone call.
Hi!
Hi!
Normally, as for any other job in the Institutions, you should be actively contacting heads of unit of relevant departments regardless of the positions that you can see in the system.
I'm not sure how does it work with linguist profiles (you mean lawyer linguist, translator?) and what you want to do but I know people who passed linguist competition and they are working now in a related field in the institutions. I knew somebody who passed the competition for a lawyer linguist in a rare EU language and still she didn't get the job as she wasn't really applying anywhere and was saying same as you that there are no jobs to apply. Well.. you need to create opportunities for yourself.
Good luck!
Ada
Hi Ada,
Hi Ada,
Thank you for your reply. What you're saying is actually what I've been contemplating all along, since it really isn't in my nature to simply sit back and wait for things to magically fall into my lap :-)
Until now I had refrained from doing what you're suggesting, since EU Training more or less advises against it (I'm referring both to a classroom training I attended, the Ultimate EU Test Book and a webinar I took). I say 'more or less', because they don't outright tell you not to do it, but they advise you to be cautious as it may come across as a bit impertinent and an invasion of their busy schedules.
Right now, though, I am thinking of contacting a few specific people. Not just because of your words of advice, but also because through a very happy coincidence I happened to meet someone who works for the institutions as a translator with the same native language as me (oh, and to answer your question: yes, I am a translator, not a lawyer-linguist). He also confirmed that there is nothing wrong with sending an email to the head of unit, telling them that I am on a reserve list and asking whether there are any vacancies at the moment or whether there will be any soon.
So, I guess I know what my next move will be and I'm sure that will make the long wait a bit more bearable. For now at least :-)
I've heard that as well, not
I've heard that as well, not to contact people directly. Unfortunately, in this way only people that are already inside get the jobs that nobody knows about.
Personally, I did it multiple times. From my experience, I have received mostly very warm feedback from the head of units - I think the key issue is not to apply randomly. If they see you have a profile and experience relevant to the unit, they are always nice and in fact reply very fast (despite their busy schedules). So I wouldn't get discouraged, after all you have really nothing to lose.
Best of luck!
Hi Ada
Hi Ada
Did you get a job yet?
Thanks
Hi everyone!
Hi everyone!
In mid December '19 I applied for a position at the Parliament in Luxembourg, and last week I finally received a reply saying "I am pleased now to inform you that the selection panel decided to propose your candidature for the post to the appointing authority. The administrative procedure is now ongoing and an official decision will be established later."
What is your opinion? Do you think this is it? Does anyone have any experience with this stage of applying with the EP?
In the same email I was asked to fill out a declaration of absence of conflict of interest and had to provide information on my professional activities of the past 5 years. Does this seem like a formality to you or do you think there is still a real chance that I will NOT be getting the job?
It's been such a nerve-wrecking time, hoping to get a positive reply, so I'm obviously looking for some form of confirmation here :-)
What was it after all? Was
What was it after all? Was the declaration of interest just a formality? Did they ask any additional storing documents?
(I know, 4 years later :) )
Wow, this comment sure did
Wow, this comment sure did come out of the blue after all this time :)
Well, I'm happy to confirm that I have been working as an official at the EP for over 4 years now and am loving it! The very start was a bit bumpy, but that was mainly due to Covid. From my earlier comment you can see that I received the notification about my candidature having been proposed to the appointing authority at the end of January 2020. At that point, I was still working in the private sector and was obliged to give 3 months' notice. But among all the other paperwork, Parliament asked for a confirmation that I would be 'free from any other professional obligations' (or some such expression) by the time I was to start my work at Parliament, which they indicated would be mid May or start of June 2020 if I remember correctly.
At the same time, they advised me NOT to give my notice, as long as they hadn't confirmed my official start date yet. But obviously, this put me in a very awkward position. If I didn't hand in my notice on time, I would not be ready to start in May or June. Since I had finally come this far, I wasn't about to tell Parliament that they might have to wait for me a bit longer and risk not being hired after all, so I did hand in my notice ASAP and my contract was to end at the end of April 2020. A while later, Parliament came back to me, saying that due to the pandemic no new recruits would be onboarded before 1 July 2020!
I missed out on 2 months' salary because of this situation, which was a very unpleasant way to start, but I quickly assumed that it would be worth it ... and it was in the end :) In my 4 years at Parliament, I can now confirm that all the forms and paperwork are mostly formalities. You'd have to be extremely unlucky (or careless) not to be hired after they propose you to the appointing authority.