EPSO

The Assessment Center stage (or AC stage) of the Administrator (or AD) EPSO competition is taking place from mid-September onwards and many Online EU Training users have asked us to discuss a few important issues to be aware of.

The Contract Agent for Specific Tasks (CAST) EPSO exams have been launched - read our tips why and how to make the most out of it to get an EU job!

As we hear from our users, there seem to be two approaches when deciding to participate in an EPSO competition. Some people decide that they would like to work for the EU institutions and select a domain based on what is available at the time. Another group has very specific ideas about what exactly they would like to do at an EU institution and hold out for the ideal exam to be published.

1. “I can prepare for the exam in two weeks.” Unless you’re a genius and don’t mind drinking ten Red Bulls a day, you will need at least two months to thoroughly prepare for the competition. EPSO will ask you many details, data and names that will take some time to memorize, especially if you first need to learn the basic institutional aspects of how the EU works. We advise making a day-to-day timeline for preparation with two days left for repeating challenging topics.

Many people think that EPSO exam preparation is indeed a lottery: you study day and night, practice tests, seek advice and build hope that you will soon get an EU job, but the level of uncertainty is so high that you get more doubtful whether the efforts are worth it. We assure you they certainly are. Not convinced? Here is why we think so.

Many EPSO competition applicants wonder what type of jobs they may get after passing a competition. As the EU deals with so many issues inside and outside Europe, there is a large pool of options available to you in the course of your EU career. Do you have a specific job, a country or a post in mind? Have a look at some examples below and check out our tips on how to get them!

- Which part of EU studies should I concentrate on? What in the world does "TAC" mean?
- Is methodology important? Or I should focus on content only?
- How about the Lisbon Treaty? Will they ask me about the Cassis de Dijon case?
- Do I need to spend 1 year or 1 month on studying? And how to structure my time?
Our experts examined all the above doubts, fears and questions, and gave you several excellent ideas.

EU Recruitment Reform - EPSO's System from 2010. The structure and content of EU exams, including a pre-selection phase with verbal & numerical reasoning, phone-book-like EU tests, a written exam with an essay or a dossier task, followed by an oral exam have not changed much over the years. Under the leadership of the new director, with the Court of Auditors’ remarks in mind, EPSO launched a reform of EU exams through the “EPSO Development Plan”. EU Training is closely following the news about the upcoming changes, and we now share with you what you can expect from 2010 onwards.

As many of you already know and as discussed in last month’s Tips & Tricks article, EPSO is completely revamping its selection procedures, starting from 2010. We have been getting a growing number of questions from the Online EU Tests community regarding our plans to offer Europe’s best services for your EPSO exam preparation needs. Good news: our team has been working hard for months to get ready for the new system: from early 2010, we will gradually introduce new services and packages to help you prepare for those “strange” new components of the EU career exams.