CAST – Contract Agent Profiles Announced

Tags : CAST, EPSO

CAST – Contract Agent Profiles Announced

The next “CAST” contract agent selection procedures will be published on 17/05/2010 and will incorporate the following five fields:

• Nursery Nurse/Childcare Worker(FG II)
• Educator/Childminder (FG II)
• Secretary (FG II),
• Finance officer (FG II),
• Finances/Accounts Officer (FG III)

Applications will be possible via the epso website from 17th May until 14th June.

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Epso Responds to “booking” questions

Tags : EPSO, EPSO Competition

Epso Responds to “booking” questions

One of the aims of the new selection procedures is to significantly speed up the whole process from registration to recruitment, and the way to speed up the first phase of a competition is through the introduction of parallel registration, booking and testing.

So, how does it work? Traditionally all candidates who registered for a competition had to wait until the end of the registration period to be able to book and take a test. As of 2010, the registration, booking and testing periods will overlap, thereby shortening the overall CBT phase from a current average of 14 to 9 weeks. Once candidates validate their application, they receive a letter in their EPSO Account informing them of the book¬ing period during which they have to book their testing appointment. Candidates can then choose their testing date, on the basis of the seats available.

The full registration period for this open competition is divided into different sub-periods. The numbers of seats/dates needed in order to be able to accommodate all tests are then calculated on basis of the overall number of validated applications for each of the above mentioned sub-periods. As a result and in order to guarantee equal treatment of candidates, not all test dates/centres/seats can be opened as from the first day of booking (24th March), even though various dates are already available both in April and in May. Seats are available on a “first come, first served basis” as usual. If a candidate can see only a limited number of dates/centres/seats available, this means that other testing slots have already been booked by other candidates. Additional test dates/centres/seats will then be made available only gradually, taking into account capacity needs.

Candidates are also reminded of the fact that admission tests are no longer knowledge- but competency-based tests. Therefore, extensive preparation time is not necessary. Candidates can reschedule an appointment previously taken if they are no longer able to take the test on the specific date initially chosen. However, rescheduling is only possible if seats are available. It has to be done at the latest 48 hrs before the original test appointment; and the new testing appointment has to be at least 48 hrs away from the time of rescheduling.

There is one other important consequence of the parallel system: it will no longer be possible for candidates to make changes to their application up to the closing date for registration. Once validated, an application will become final and sent for further processing.

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New EPSO Selection Procedures Explained

Tags : Administrator, Assistant, Competitions, EPSO

New EPSO Selection Procedures Explained

EPSO has recently published an article related to the new selection procedures for permanent staff of the European Union. You can see below what will be assessed for each profile.

Assessment

The assessment phase enables all key competencies to be properly and reliably tested. Here the emphasis is on job-related-competency-based testing rather than actual knowledge. Based on an enhanced competency framework, exercises will be selected to evaluate the desired skills, each of which will be assessed at least twice. This stage will comprise a full day or half-day of tests depending on the type of competition. The assessment will be conducted in the candidate’s second language (English, French or German), except for profiles requiring specific language skills.

Depending on the competition, the assessment phase is likely to include the following mix of elements:

Administrators

• comprehensive case study related to the field for which the candidates have registered
• group exercise
• oral presentation
• structured interview.

Linguists

Linguists will be assessed in a more targeted manner, with a focus on their core skills, tested by:

• practical linguistic tests
• group exercise
• oral presentation
• structured interview.

Assistants

• practical tests assessing their professional skills
• e-tray exercise (electronic “in-tray” work simulation)
• structured interview.

Special profiles

The procedure for specialists will be structured so that the relevant key knowledge area is a primary criterion for the evaluation of candidates. For this reason, there will be no admission tests for most profiles in this category, unless the number of valid applications exceeds a specific threshold. Instead, candidates’ applications and CVs will be evaluated against a predetermined set of criteria. Candidates who are admitted to the competition will be directly invited to an assessment programme including any or all of the following:

• detailed case study in the relevant field
• structured interview
• verbal numerical and abstract reasoning tests
• group exercise.

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AD5 Competitions Published

Tags : AD, Administrator, EPSO Competition

AD5 Competitions Published

EPSO has recently launched AD5 competitions under the new selection procedures.

From 16th March until 15th April you can register your application for the

following fields:

European Public Administration

Law

Economics

Audit

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