Re: March 2020 Traineeship

Wed Jan 29, 2020 2:57 pm

well, my 1st unit said they will put my name forward.
the 2nd one said (via phone and Email) that they invite me for the traineeship, also that they will take care of the paperwork and that the offer will be sent within days. also they asked me to write to them that I would like to switch from 1st unit to the 2nd (which is necessary for TO I assume to change the reservation).

they were quite straightforward, that's why I Emailed them to ask if anything has changed or if there has been a problem...

they replied "I think there might be a different timetable for non-EU but we will check on this."

And a bit later the notification with offer arrived.
By "pushed" I mean that they tended to the issue and fixed whatever was necessary or I don't know. they told me something was needed for the HR. but it helped with the speed of the process.

Wed Jan 29, 2020 3:06 pm

Hello, I don't really belong here (I'm applying for the next round, October 2020), but first of all, congrats on your acceptances!

I wanted to ask you a question, did anyone here get in with just a Bachelors degree? I don't have a Master's yet, and wanted to hear if anyone has a success story for those of us with just the Bachelor.

Also, anyone want to share any tips for applying? Smile

Congrats again guys, I hope your internships will be great!

Wed Jan 29, 2020 3:12 pm

roger545 wrote:

Doxa7189 wrote:My offer has just arrived!

Yes, I was contacted in December. I did not have an interview, I was just notified that my application has been selected by the Legal Service, and that I will get the official offer in the coming weeks, upon successful administrative check.
Hello Doxa. Please I am curious: had you been contacted by your unit before today? Like for an informal interview?

Wed Jan 29, 2020 3:49 pm

elisabeth123 wrote:Hello, I don't really belong here (I'm applying for the next round, October 2020), but first of all, congrats on your acceptances!

I wanted to ask you a question, did anyone here get in with just a Bachelors degree? I don't have a Master's yet, and wanted to hear if anyone has a success story for those of us with just the Bachelor.

Also, anyone want to share any tips for applying?

Congrats again guys, I hope your internships will be great!

I got shortlisted without masters. Good luck.

Wed Jan 29, 2020 4:21 pm

My offer also arrived about an hour ago! Can't wait to meet you all in Brussels Very Happy

As for the earlier questions, I was also contacted about mid-December, and the person was quite straightforward that they liked my profile and wanted me, then they wrote me informal offer to join them (without no official promise), I responded to that, and we kept in touch since. From my previous observations, many people get offers without prior contacts, but for the non-EU candidates this is a bit rare, since they need to conduct background check on the reserved candidates, and that takes around 3 weeks if not more.

But what I have learned from this session - non-EU offers aren't sent out in batches, so before you receive a rejection letter, don't give up!

Thu Jan 30, 2020 2:45 am

Hello! I am a non-EU citizen and haven't been contacted at all nor received any emails until now (not even a rejection email). I was wondering if my application for the March 2020 session will be automatically cancelled if I apply now for the next session, Oct 2020? Does anyone know? Applications close on Jan 31st and I don't know what to do. Not having an answer (even a rejection!) is driving me nuts!!

Thu Jan 30, 2020 2:50 am

Has anyone here received an offer from HOME or FRONTEX?

Thu Jan 30, 2020 8:18 am

Laura Torres wrote:

roger545 wrote:

vic_sh wrote:btw, TO said that maybe I won't start 1 March, because work permit takes couple of weeks.... and therefore they may reduce the duration of the traineeship.

I swear, I only got it today because my unit pushed, otherwise I think they don't quite care that time is essential for non-EU.

My feeling is that the unit is not 100% aware of all those technicalities, that TO has. And thus, they may not know that you still didn't receive anything or it now may not be enough time to process application for work permit.

Hi Vic_sh please I wish to understand how your unit pushed. Did you write to them and urge them to have the TO hasten things for you? I mean, to do this you have to first of all be aware that your unit did select you finally. I believe you can't ask them to push the TO if they haven't selected you already. Were you contacted unofficially before and told you were selected?

I ask because I have never been contacted by my selected unit or the TO, since the preselection notice in December. Is that bad news?

I have the exact same question, and I am at the exact same position as you! I have been told that not all units tell their selected candidates that they are being selected! And most, just out of no where, receive an offer! That might or might not be our case! But I believe that we shouldn’t ask the units that interviewed us if they haven’t previously told us that they were selecting us, I think we just have to wait..

Oh thanks for your reply. Trouble is, the deadline for the October session is tomorrow. So I don't know if I can go ahead and apply while waiting. If I'm finally selected, then I can cancel my application later. I don't even know whether once preselected (having your name in the Bluebook) you can still re-apply...

Thu Jan 30, 2020 9:27 am

This is what the TO replied to me yesterday:

We confirm that the selection is still on-going.
Since there are a lot of candidates who withdraw their application, you still have a little chance to be recruited but we cannot confirm until you are officially notified in your stage online account.
We advise you to apply for October 2020.
Should you be selected for M2020 in the end, we will cancel your application for O20.

Thu Jan 30, 2020 10:23 am

gabrielagn wrote:Has anyone here received an offer from HOME or FRONTEX?

Hi! I got an offer from FRONTEX. Are you still waiting?

Thu Jan 30, 2020 11:17 am

Has anyone received an offer from a Latin American unit from DEVCO, TRADE or the EEAS??

Thu Jan 30, 2020 12:44 pm

Hi everyone,
In my case at mid February I was invited for a face to face interview with the head of a Unit and two more members since I was in Brussels for other purposes. Days later, I got a phone call from the head of the Unit saying I had been selected and that they looked forward to work with me in March.
However, I received no official offer from the TO and yesterday I wrote to the DG. This is what they replied to me, “ I have received confirmation of the fact that you are reserved for us from 1 March.
The administrative steps will be taken in good time by the traineeships office, which you can contact for further info concerning the procedure.”

Do you think it is just a matter of time? Or is there a chance that after that email the TO itself won’t send me an offer? Sad

Thanks in advance for your advice!

Thu Jan 30, 2020 12:46 pm

vicky88 wrote:This is what the TO replied to me yesterday:

We confirm that the selection is still on-going.
Since there are a lot of candidates who withdraw their application, you still have a little chance to be recruited but we cannot confirm until you are officially notified in your stage online account.
We advise you to apply for October 2020.
Should you be selected for M2020 in the end, we will cancel your application for O20.

Thanks so much!

Thu Jan 30, 2020 8:21 pm

Hi!
First of all congrats for all of those that have been receiving offers and don’t loose hope for the rest of you
For those who had to contact the EAC-stage by mail how long does it take to get a reply?

Thanks for your replies it would help me a lot

Thu Jan 30, 2020 9:41 pm

Eliep73 wrote:Hi!
First of all congrats for all of those that have been receiving offers and don’t loose hope for the rest of you
For those who had to contact the EAC-stage by mail how long does it take to get a reply?

Thanks for your replies it would help me a lot

I had to contact them regarding the visa process, and they were very quick and helpful (replied within hours)!

Fri Jan 31, 2020 12:08 am

vic wrote:

Eliep73 wrote:Hi!
First of all congrats for all of those that have been receiving offers and don’t loose hope for the rest of you
For those who had to contact the EAC-stage by mail how long does it take to get a reply?

Thanks for your replies it would help me a lot

I had to contact them regarding the visa process, and they were very quick and helpful (replied within hours)!

Thanks a lot!

Fri Jan 31, 2020 12:53 pm

I received my offer!

See you in March!!

Fri Jan 31, 2020 2:25 pm

I just received a rejection letter (non-Eu national). Congrats to all the selected ones!

Fri Jan 31, 2020 2:29 pm

elvel00 wrote:I just received a rejection letter (non-Eu national). Congrats to all the selected ones!

Same here!! It was my first time applying and I feel like there was a lot to learn about lobbying and units showing interest in you since the first week of December!

Congratulations all of you who are going to Brussels or Luxembourg this March Smile

Fri Jan 31, 2020 2:32 pm

Laura Torres wrote:

elvel00 wrote:I just received a rejection letter (non-Eu national). Congrats to all the selected ones!

Same here!! It was my first time applying and I feel like there was a lot to learn about lobbying and units showing interest in you since the first week of December!

Congratulations all of you who are going to Brussels or Luxembourg this March

Sorry to hear that! I’m still (very impatiently) waiting...
Was it an email or a message on your stage online account?

Fri Jan 31, 2020 2:45 pm

vicky88 wrote:

Laura Torres wrote:

elvel00 wrote:I just received a rejection letter (non-Eu national). Congrats to all the selected ones!

Same here!! It was my first time applying and I feel like there was a lot to learn about lobbying and units showing interest in you since the first week of December!

Congratulations all of you who are going to Brussels or Luxembourg this March

Sorry to hear that! I’m still (very impatiently) waiting...
Was it an email or a message on your stage online account?

Well, both of them! I received an email saying that a new message was sent to my ecas account

Sat Feb 01, 2020 12:39 pm

ggn wrote:Hello! I am a non-EU citizen and haven't been contacted at all nor received any emails until now (not even a rejection email). I was wondering if my application for the March 2020 session will be automatically cancelled if I apply now for the next session, Oct 2020? Does anyone know? Applications close on Jan 31st and I don't know what to do. Not having an answer (even a rejection!) is driving me nuts!!

Hahahah I feel you. I finally got my rejection letter yesterday, and it also said all selections had been done by all units. However they indicated that there could be late selections till mid-April, in case someone rejects an offer (but I wouldn't count on that). In any case, it's a good thing I applied again for the October session, so I just have to keep my fingers crossed for that. I'm sure they will send you a letter soon.

Otherwise good luck!

Sat Feb 01, 2020 5:22 pm

Hi guys. A couple of question regarding the documentation under 'Formalities' tab of the Commission portal:

1. What are the documents called 'Authorisation Application Form' and 'Trainee Declaration' for? (What are they authorising?)

2. The Medical Certificate - where is this to be uploaded?

Thanks for any help you can offer!

Sun Feb 02, 2020 12:32 pm

Hi there! Congrats to everyone who got selected! I was just wondering if someone got a reply from Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (EAC) already? And if someone knows anything about the DEVCO's Knowledge, Statistics and Data Hub? They called me the other day, but I'm a bit confused by what they actually do.

Thanks for all the help! Have a good Sunday!

Mon Feb 03, 2020 1:06 pm

Hi everyone! Any news today? I haven’t received an answer yet.

Mon Feb 03, 2020 3:36 pm

To the selected non-EU candidates:

Traineeship office wrote in the instructions for the single permit that we should wait until the decision about our permit, and only after that book the flights. This can take weeks. So, what are you doing with booking the flights, are you waiting until the decision or booking them already?
I would book them already, but I'm really afraid what if decision doesn't come until the end of February? And the permit needs to be picked up from the Embassy.

Mon Feb 03, 2020 7:22 pm

in the link to brussels economy and employment service it says you pick single permit at the residence commune.

http://werk-economie-emploi.brussels/en/single-permit-exemption-intern

so my understanding is that applying for visa will be necessary only if you don't have visa-free regime with EU, no?

Mon Feb 03, 2020 9:02 pm

vic_sh wrote:in the link to brussels economy and employment service it says you pick single permit at the residence commune.

http://werk-economie-emploi.brussels/en/single-permit-exemption-intern

so my understanding is that applying for visa will be necessary only if you don't have visa-free regime with EU, no?

This a reply I got today from the Commission when I asked this explicitly:

"You will receive your permit to enter Belgium in the embassy. Once in Belgium, you will have to go to the Commune to register : http://www.commissioner.brussels/i-am-an-expat/residence-formalities/ue-citizen "

When I started reading through this link, I understood that the permit will arrive to the Embassy mentioned in our application. In Brussels we will just need to register our residence..

Wed Feb 05, 2020 1:47 pm

I applied for DG Translation - Italian and I still haven’t received an answer, whether negative or positive. My stage online account is stuck on the 2nd of December.
However OLAF (European Anti-Fraud Office) called me today asking if I was available for a traineeship.
I’m quite puzzled: of course I would be happy to do any traineeship at the Commission, but before saying yes I would like to know if I have to lose hope about the translation one which is the one I applied for.
Is anybody else in the same situation?

Wed Feb 05, 2020 1:53 pm

vicky88 wrote:I applied for DG Translation - Italian and I still haven’t received an answer, whether negative or positive. My stage online account is stuck on the 2nd of December.
However OLAF (European Anti-Fraud Office) called me today asking if I was available for a traineeship.
I’m quite puzzled: of course I would be happy to do any traineeship at the Commission, but before saying yes I would like to know if I have to lose hope about the translation one which is the one I applied for.
Is anybody else in the same situation?

I advice you to try to write to the HR of DG Translation and ask directly and explain the situation. You have nothing to lose anyway, but this could help:)