Turn This Downtime Into An EPSO Advantage

EU Training

As all of Europe winds down and comes to a halt during the coronavirus pandemic, please take care of yourself and your loved ones.

We have entered into a very trying time, with many disruptions to normal everyday life, but by supporting each other and everyone doing their bit to help, let's hope we can get through this as quickly and safely as possible.

Not surprisingly, this crisis has also caused major disruptions at the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO). EPSO has temporarily suspended all Assessment Centres, in addition to this Prometric computer-based test centres have been temporarily close, not only in Europe but in many parts of the world. 

These precautions will undoubtedly cause delays in the progress of current EPSO competitions, exam schedules and upcoming competitions. 

So what can you do now, EPSO exam preparation wise, to take advantage of this "downtime"? 

 

The Current EPSO Climate...

Assessment Centres Suspended

From 9 March onwards EPSO put a hold on all of its Assessment Centre activities, in Brussels and in Luxemburg. At this stage, it is unclear when these will start up again - currently, it seems not before the end of May. But just like everyone else, EPSO is waiting for this crisis to pass to "resume normal" activity.

This means that candidates undertaking the Administrators in the field of Audit competition have had their Assessment Centre testing period interrupted. 

Graduate Administrator (AD5) competition candidates had their Case Study exam date suspended till a later time, and their Assessment Centre testing period has also been bumped back to May-June 2020. This may be pushed out even further if the situation is slow to improve. 

Other competitions to have their Assessment Centre testing period interrupted include Specialists in Law and Finance and Conference Operators.

Increasingly EPSO Computer-Based Test Centres Are Closing

Originally testing centers in countries that had been hardest hit by the virus were closed, such as in Italy and China.

Following this EPSO announced that additional Prometric test centres have been temporarily closed, causing massive disruptions particularly for CAST candidates. 

Things are changing very rapidly at the moment so please keep an eye on this page for updates on test centres.

Expect Upcoming Competitions To Also Be Delayed

A number of highly anticipated competitions were due to be released in Spring 2020, such as the:

Realistically, if the coronavirus crisis persists, the release of these competitions will most likely be delayed as well.

EPSO staff will first need time to start up the selection processes of currently suspended competitions to get those moving again. Plus, these upcoming competitions are expected to attract a lot of applications which will, in itself, need a lot of manpower to process.

No one at this stage knows with any certainty when, and how quickly, things will pick up again. 

 

How To Use This Time To Your Advantage:

With EPSO exams and competitions largely on hold for the moment, here are some EPSO exam preparation suggestions that you can do NOW to get ready for when things pick up again.

#1 - Watch a few EPSO exam methodology webinars

If you are socially distancing at home and looking for something to do, this is the perfect time to watch some super helpful  EPSO exam methodology webinars.

EU Training has a whole library available, focusing on every stage of the EPSO selection process and each EPSO exam raging from computer-based tests to the Assessment Centre exercises. Some recordings are event FREE!

#2 - Browse through our Tips and Tricks resources - it's free!

#3 - Do some extra EPSO-like simulated practice tests

#4 - Book a Skype session with an EPSO expert

EU Training offers a wide range of personal coaching options for each stage of an EPSO selection process.

As we have temporarily suspended our training sessions (until the start if May) this is a great time to snag some one-on-one time via Skype with one of our EPSO experts to talk over any problem areas, improve your EPSO exam preparation strategy or simply benefit from the practical insights they'll share with you.

 

However you chose to pass this time, please stay safe and let's hope things go back to normal sooner rather than later.