The Common Sense Guide to the Eu Agencies' Recruitment Process: The Nitty Gritty, Practical Guide Full of Tips and Tricks Explained in Plai

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Copyright © 2019 Mihaela Maiug

All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-5445-0161-1

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To my son, Gabriel: my love, my improved mini-me, and main stakeholder; may your future career be meaningful and bring you joy!

To my grandmother, Anisoara, who always encouraged me to write a book.

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Contents

Introduction

1. What Is It Like to Work for an EU Agency?

2. How Should I Read an EU Agency Vacancy Listing?

3. How Can I Present as the Best Possible Candidate?

4. Why Wasn’t I Shortlisted?

5. How Should I Prepare for the Selection Procedures?

6. What Can I Expect During Selection Procedures?

7. How Do I Best Handle the Outcome?

8. Why I Like Working for Europol

Conclusion

Appendix

Resources

Acknowledgments

About the Author

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Introduction

As you read this, there are currently hundreds of job vacancies with European Union (EU) agencies across the continent. No matter what your preferred field of work is, working for the EU can be exciting, challenging, and a brilliant career move. Unfortunately, the hurdles of finding the right vacancies at the right time, parsing complicated job listings, and putting together a successful application prevent many people from applying for and landing jobs they are otherwise qualified for.

In over a decade of working in human resources across various EU agencies, I have personally reviewed thousands of CVs and job application forms. I’ve seen applicants sabotage themselves by applying for the wrong position, by leaving key information out of their application, or by not following rules exactly to the letter. Many applicants do not fully understand or misunderstand what happened with their application and why and end up frustrated or discouraged.

I’ve often thought that if applicants would simply get to know this process better, there would be less frustration and more resilience towards this undertaking. I want to help you avoid becoming a cautionary tale and instead become a success story.

I Was Once You

I started out just like everyone else: without a clue. I’ve been there. I’ve struggled with finding the right information about job vacancies in EU agencies and understanding the application procedures. Now, I work with others to help them navigate the process. I persevered, and I believe you can, too.

I got my first real job in 2001 as a secretary at a cosmetics company called Coty Cosmetics in my native Romania. During my time there, I did a little bit of everything. I was promoted to marketing and sales assistant, but even though I loved my team and learned a lot about the importance of branding, I eventually discovered that I was interested in pursuing a career in human resources.

After leaving Coty Cosmetics, I worked for Phillips Romania as an HR manager. I was just twenty-five years old and managing HR for a multinational company, and I learned so much during my four years there. I worked alongside expats from Belgium, Ukraine, and Turkey, and I became increasingly interested in the idea of living abroad myself. In 2007, Romania joined the EU, and that opened a whole new European labour market for me and my country fellows.

I happened upon a listing for an HR assistant position at the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) in Helsinki. Technically, this was a step backwards for me—from manager to assistant—but the job sounded promising, new, and exciting; it was a foot in the door to a career with the EU, it offered a truly international working environment, and it would add professional experience in a startup agency to my CV.

In the end, taking the job gave me the opportunity to help build an EU agency from scratch. During my four years at the ECHA, we grew from twenty to five hundred employees. I gained a lot of experience and learned a lot about the inner workings of the EU agencies and how different and exciting it feels when you live and work in a multidisciplinary and multicultural environment. I loved my work and my team at the ECHA, but I had always wanted to live in the Netherlands, so while I was on maternity leave in 2011, I applied for an HR recruitment specialist position at Europol, and I got it. It was a big step up in responsibility and title, and I’ve been here ever since.

As a recruitment specialist, I am involved in every stage of the hiring process for positions at Europol. I help draft vacancy notices, assess applications, set up selection committees, prepare assessments and interview guides, meet with candidates, administer various assessments, and make hiring recommendations. I also field requests from candidates looking for feedback on their performance on assessments and interviews.

I have been working in EU agency recruitment for over ten years now, and I know the process as thoroughly as anyone can. Occasionally, a major event such as the accession of new countries, the financial crises, or Brexit introduces changes to the staff regulations, but the process has remained largely the same during my tenure and will continue working under the same main principles for the foreseeable future, rendering the tips in this book valid.

The Nuts and Bolts of the EU Agency Hiring Process

This book is an insider’s guide to the complex and lengthy hiring processes of EU agencies. In it, I hope to show not only what the standard procedures are but also why they are this way. In an era when you can apply to a job simply by clicking a box on LinkedIn, and the average application time is a maximum ten minutes, it can be frustrating to sit down and spend two hours assembling a proper application for an EU agency. There is a method to our process, and if you can understand it, you may be more motivated to pursue a position.

Here are the basic subjects we will cover:

How to find EU job listings: There is no longer one central database of job listings, so finding the positions that interest you can take some work. This book will help you learn how to find the right websites and resources for finding vacancies.

Decoding the contracts: You’ll also learn how to read a vacancy notice or a call for expression of interest to determine whether it’s a good fit. You’ll learn what types of contracts are available and how to understand a position’s length, career possibilities, and the benefits offered. I also reveal which job requirements are flexible and which are mandatory.

How to create an application that will stand out: You’ll learn how to prepare an application that will make recruiters take notice. You’ll also learn how to avoid the most common application pitfalls.

How to prepare for assessments and interviews: You’ll become familiar with the EU agency interview process and the various kinds of assessment methods recruiters administer to candidates.

How to follow up effectively: In this book, you’ll learn about appropriate channels for following up with agencies and soliciting feedback regarding your application.

Starting off your EU career on the right foot: So you’re hired! Now what? This book offers common-sense principles for starting off your EU agency career in a positive and productive way. Once you’ve landed a job, these are some things to keep in mind to make sure you thrive in your new environment and move forward in your career.

All this information is meant to save you time and energy. Once you learn how to determine early on whether you are a good fit for a position, you can direct your energies toward those jobs that truly interest you and that you’re most likely to land.

Along the way, I hope you will gain some insight into whether EU employment is a good fit for you. Working for the EU is not for everyone. There are massive differences between the private and public sectors’ workplace cultures. Behaviour a private-sector employer may reward or even require could be discouraged or even forbidden in a public-sector environment. EU agencies put a lot of value on equal treatment of employees and citizens and transparency in decision making and financial matters by following established procedures, even if everything takes longer to happen.

A Short Disclaimer

Before we proceed, I should tell you what this book does not guarantee: a job in an EU agency.

I hope to help potential candidates better understand the recruitment process by providing common-sense guidelines in plain English. This book is not a legal interpretation of the regulations or rules, nor is it a guarantee that an EU agency will offer you employment if you read it. This book is for educational purposes only.

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Chapter One

1. What Is It Like to Work for an EU Agency?

In many ways, my story is representative of many potential EU employees. I simply stumbled onto the EPSO site after a chat with a friend. This led me to find a promising HR position at the new ECHA in Helsinki.

I didn’t know anyone who worked for the EU—or even anyone who lived in Helsinki—and I didn’t even visit the ECHA or Finland before I accepted a job there, as my test and interview took place in Brussels! I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this approach. You should probably visit a city before you make a commitment to live in another country.

In this