Links

Information is wealth and so are URL links :-)

My favorite links to information sources on the EPSO concours recruitment process and the oral examination - interview techniques are:

• European Public Administration forum
• I-Epso
• So I won't be a Commission official from Jon Worth

I would be glad to receive your recommendations in order to build a comprehensive list of useful resources.

I promise to review all submited sites and give my appreciation.

Failing the competitions...

I have recently received the following comment: On the contrary I have just been informed that my name has not been put in the reserve list for the translators' competition, as my mark for the oral exam was below pass mark. too bad.

Dear readers of this blog that you did not pass the competition,

Please remember that life has a lot of twists and that you should always try to harvest the positive elements (even from a failure) and dismiss the negative.

I am persuaded that a failure is a failure, only if we feel like this. My personal advice is that after such a moment of a temporary set-back (it's not a failure :-) it is the time to take stock of why you had low grade for the orals.

I strongly believe that this sometimes painful but useful exercise could help you in your future career irrespestively if you are pursuing more open competitions or if you are preparing for job interviews elsewhere.

An interesting example is Jon, the author of the "So I won't be a Commission official" blog (although just a comment, it has grown so much in order to deserve that naming).

Happy to discuss further.

Type of interviews

Dear Readers,

I would like to invite you to share your fears and your experiences vis-à-vis the oral examinations that you have passed or are preparing for.

An important point that needs to be clarified is the difference between a job interview and an oral examination.

A job interview will try to align the specificities of a job to the competencies of a successful laureate, whereas an oral examination will try to see the possible fit of a candidate to the administrative culture of the EU institutions.

Preparation for the two different interview types should be focus at different issues.

Please note that oral examination type of interview is more common to open competitions, whereas the job interview type of interview is more common to the Contractual Agents competitions (aka CAST).

Happy to discuss your views.

Letter from the author to the EU competitions candidates

Today EU institution’s challenge is to recruit the best of the best. Knowledge of the process and adequate preparation is the answer to the basic question of candidates

Which is the recipe for success in the EU Oral Examinations?

Following the unavailability of a reference book concerning the EU Oral Examinations, I thought that it was important to share the guiding principles of the process with all candidates.

This book offers a pragmatic approach to the Oral Examinations…

… that will help candidates to overtake the last hurdle before being offered a position in the EU institutions. Built on the years of experience of the author & lecturer and improved from the comments of numerous course participants, it describes the specificities of the EU Oral Examination process.
Building on its sole intangible assets, each person needs to promote their “Unique Selling Proposal”. I believe that this publication will facilitate all candidates to find elements of knowledge …

… and help candidates to build their “Unique Selling Proposal”.

I take this opportunity to wish candidates all the best with their endeavour for a career in the EU Institutions and to encourage them to share with me their testimonials concerning their oral examination experiences.

Remember that only the best prepared candidates are succeeding.

Good luck

Christos Bezirtzoglou