Preparing for new EPSO Competitions: The Road to the European Institutions - Two Modules - Montesquieu Instituut

Purpose of training

The European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO), within a modernised process of staff selection, annually announces open competitions for positions within the EU institutions. These are highly competitive, which makes good preparation essential.

EIPA will offer you comprehensive training on how to prepare for both stages of the competitions: the pre-selection tests and the admission assessment centre (AC). The training will thus explain the methodology as well as providing tips and tricks on how to first pass the verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning tests and situational judgement tests. It will subsequently prepare the participants for all elements of the AC: a case study, group exercise, oral presentation and structure interview.

Target group

This seminar is designed mainly, but not exclusively, for those applying for administrator (AD), assistant (AST), linguist and certain specialist positions within the EU institutions.

For detailed information about specific target groups see descriptions of the training modules.

What aspects of the competition can we prepare you for?

The seminar offers two one-day training modules. Participants can choose one or two module(s) and thus have more flexibility. The modular structure of the seminar allows the participants to compose their training programme according to the nature of the position they are applying for, without being obliged to pay for other elements of the training that they do not deem to be essential for themselves. Moreover, this seminar type reflects the fact that participants are most often at different stages of open competitions, from those only planning to apply, to those who are in the final stage of an open competition. The two modules are briefly described below:

Module 1: Training in preparation for the first stage of the competition i.e. the pre-selection phase. It aims at explaining the methodology and practice of verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning tests. Moreover, it tackles the situational judgement test which is not only decisive but also its results may be relevant during the structured interview in the second stage of the competition.

Target group: AD in all fields, AST in all fields, linguists and specialists.

NOTE: This Module does not tackle professional/linguistic skills tests relevant for AST and linguists competitions.

Date: 3 December 2012

Module 2: Training in preparation for the second stage of the competition i.e. Assessment Centre. It will present the running of the AC and allow for the practice of its particular components. In particular, the group exercise and case study will be discussed and performed. Volunteers will be invited to give an oral presentation and will take part in a mock structured interviews.

Target group : AD in all fields*, linguists and specialists.

NOTE :This module does not offer training for practical linguistic tests relevant for linguists.

Date : 4 December 2012

Method

Both modules will incorporate concise presentations on the most efficient methods of solving given tests or assignments and will be complemented with discussions and sharing of best practices. They will however focus mostly on practical exercises in order to give the participants a chance to take part in simulated exams and AC tasks, offering the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the format and time pressure of the tests in a real-life situation.

Language of the training

The training will be conducted in English since this will be the second language of many of the participants. Please note that from 2011 the pre-selection will run in the candidates’ first languages. Nevertheless, the AC will normally be conducted in the second language.

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  This module is mostly relevant for candidates applying for AD positions in the filed of Public Administration, Law and to certain extent also to Economics. Candidates representing other profiles e.g. Audit, ITC, Finance and Statistics are nevertheless invited too, should they wish to get acquainted with the general methodology and running of the assessment centre. The same applies, by analogy, to linguists and specialists.

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