General discussion for October 2012

I mean, you should to those that really apply to your profile

Yup, quite a few actually, as well as very few units in DG CLIMA and DG HOME. I might consider doing one more lobby mail to EEAS, but I'm conflicted about the mixed messages whether they actually approve of lobbying or not. Anyways, I haven't had any calls yet, just very few mails.

@Tally: wow let's hope they have more than one post available!
Although I'm also strongly hoping for either the Human Rights or the North America units. I have actually stronger credentials in those two fields, and I only know very basic Hebrew, so no language advantage there either...
Unfortunately, the North America unit was the one where I could not get the right E-Mail address together and I really tried every combination, and it would have been good to send something to him directly, as he's also a grad from my program and all. Well, just gotta hope the managing director forwards it to him.

@ Rebecca: Haha yeah I hope so too. My working experience is with this region so that might be my advantage. But, as I did not hear anything back, it does not seem that they are too interested
Actually many of my e-mails to EEAS bounced back, even with simple names... I have absolutely no idea why... keep me updated on any reactions, okay? I'll do the same (IF there is something coming..)

Well, only the North America unit guy bounced back. Who else did you contact? I'll post it in the other topic (which DGs have you contacted) as soon as I hear back from anyone...

[quote="raluca"]unit A3 doesn`t have a post, and unit A2 is not sure yet, but said to take my CV into account if they do....but, Daiana, if you say that they didn`t contact you either, maybe they haven`t contacted anyone yet....I hope so....


I was really interested in ELARG units B, C and D but I did not receive an acknowledgment of receipt of my email even... Maybe it is some sort of "strategy" to keep us in the dark, and then...

...or maybe they just do not have the time

I also lobbied B and C ... good....this means that maybe they didn`t response to anyone yet so we might still have chances...yet I hope ... it`s just that I have read in this forum, in other sessions, and I found out that ELARG usually contacts people, so it`s weird I guess ...

well, I will take this silence as a good sign
luckily we don't have much time to wait until to final results...

Hi!!! I am really surprised they have to decide by 6 of june!!!!
so they have to select candidates between two weeks, that is really few time!

I lobbied to DG HOME....waiting, and a bit nervous.....let see!!!!

good luck everyone!

Hey - so. Very confused.
There's a lot of talk about lobbying on here?
Can anyone shed some light on this, thank you so much.

I've heard from some DGs and don't know what happens next. My understanding is as follows:

You submit application (make one preference).
Goes to blue book
DGs pick you (you might be lucky enough to get your preference)
They contact you, telling you they've picked you, and that they're passing your details on to the Traineeships HR head office.
The traineeships HR head office then review the shortlisted candidates and get back in touch with you in a few weeks time to tell you if you have been offered the placement.

Am I wrong? Where does lobbying come in?

Incidentally - two DGs have contacted me saying that I have been pre-selected by their Unit ... there is one that I really want and one that I am not as sure about; do I just go ahead and accept them both? Or do I tell the second one I've already had an offer made to me?!

So confused!

Thank you so much for any advice. !

Lobbying is more or less sending mails to the dgs you are interested in. As you have already been contacted, it does not seem necessary for you. May i ask which dg/ unit contacted you?

GarthAlgar wrote:
I've heard from some DGs and don't know what happens next. My understanding is as follows:

You submit application (make one preference).
Goes to blue book
DGs pick you (you might be lucky enough to get your preference)
They contact you, telling you they've picked you, and that they're passing your details on to the Traineeships HR head office.
The traineeships HR head office then review the shortlisted candidates and get back in touch with you in a few weeks time to tell you if you have been offered the placement.

Am I wrong? Where does lobbying come in?

Incidentally - two DGs have contacted me saying that I have been pre-selected by their Unit ... there is one that I really want and one that I am not as sure about; do I just go ahead and accept them both? Or do I tell the second one I've already had an offer made to me?!

So confused!

Firstly, after searching through the Virtual Blue Book (VBB) they have to make a short list of potential candidates.

In VBB is not possible to see contact information. So, the person who picked you up has to contact other person who is responsible for communication to the Traineeship Office (each DG has one person in charge of stagiaires – only for technical stuffs) in order to get your phone number.

Then, you will have (or maybe not) a call for interview.

After interviews (or even without interviews), they decide for 3-4 persons and send the list to TO.
If you are the first one in the list, you will most likely receive the offer with task descriptions by e-mail from particular unit which is not the official/formal/final offer yet!

In that case, it is almost 99% for sure that you will receive the official offer by the end of selection period from TO (it is not by post only by e-mail!). You can accept more than 1 offer (task description received by e-mail), however it is tricky because you may not have a chance to decide which offer you would prefer (TO will do it instead of you). 1% out of 100% means that you may not be accepted because of security reasons, country quota or similar which is almost never happened.

Selection lasts until June 6 (officially). But, there are always some exceptions, so you can even be selected in August or September, with/without interview...

Good luck! :-)

does no contact (mail, phone) until 6th of June=small chances for internship?

I would say no contact by the end of June = small chances ;-) 10%
Of course, this is just my opinion.

and the worst thing is that one can't know fore sure until July, and hope always dies last

but what should we do if we are not contacted till 7th June? Should be call the traineeship office? Or they will not tell us anything till 9th July?

They won't be able to tell you anything till July 9th.

montenegrina wrote:I would say no contact by the end of June = small chances ;-) 10%
Of course, this is just my opinion.

No contact from a unit essentially means nothing; it is neither necessary nor sufficient to indicate that you will be chosen.

There are actual statistics for this based on a study that the EC did a while back. A study and its annex, very interesting reading. Search for key words.

http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/education_culture/evalreports/civilsociety/2008/stagereport_en.pdf
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/education_culture/evalreports/civilsociety/2008/stageannex_en.pdf

It is so rare to be selected without even e-mail. I don't know about statistics but I have met hundreds of stagiaires, and only couple of them were selected without interview. It is also true that lobbying was not so often four years ago. Selection process has been changed since 2008.

Anyway, don't get upset about it. Just be patient and you will know soon :-).

Can anyone please answer , is it ok to send CV to DG email address only or i gotta send it to email address of respective HoU ?

Polsky, the answer is easily found a few pages back in this post! Do some searching

Marcanum wrote:Polsky, the answer is easily found a few pages back in this post! Do some searching

I honestly do not understand the point of answering to somebody without answering. If you think someone's question is not in place, I guess the easy way is to ignore it instead of this.

So Polsky,

it is better to send it to HoU as well as all the other adresses you might find helpful. However, there is no guarantee of success.

ovca wrote:

Marcanum wrote:Polsky, the answer is easily found a few pages back in this post! Do some searching

I honestly do not understand the point of answering to somebody without answering. If you think someone's question is not in place, I guess the easy way is to ignore it instead of this.

So Polsky,

it is better to send it to HoU as well as all the other adresses you might find helpful. However, there is no guarantee of success.

I think Marcanum is right. One should do a bit of research before posting questions that have been answered throughout this forum and wasting his/her and also everybodyelse's time. No offense.

@Polsky: I also think you should send it to Heads of Unit rather than the general Dg email.

Btw although I understand some people's point that it is good to do a bit of research before asking something - espcially when it comes to long questions- anyone who does not have time to waste by asnwering to already answered questions, can simply not answer:) Simple as that!

Exactly my point Joan85.

It takes the same amount of time to answer as to be rude. Taking into consideration the huge amount of "literature" on the forum, I understand newcomers that ask - the ones that do not - answering is not obligatory.

It was not my intention to be rude. So please let's not make a hassle out of this, I figured referring to the answer itself earlier in this thread would have been sufficient. Normally, I wouldn't mind to respond to these kind of questions, even if they come from newcomers.

Anyhow, Joan and ovca, I hope your selection phase is going well!

Hi folks, my 'problem' is this: after a phone interview and email interview, 2 separate DGs have told me they will request me as a stagiaire from the Traineeship Office.

While I am very grateful to have been afforded one opportunity – let alone two – my preference is very much for the offer from DG Enterprise. The other offer, which came first, is from another DG I don't wish to name – but is one I would have much less interest in.

So, my questions are: 1) Will the Traineeship go with the first request that was made for me, or choose between the two requests at random or by some other criteria? And 2) Should I now go back to the first DG that requested me and tell them I have been contacted by another DG which I prefer – thus allowing them to 'unflag' me on the blue book system and giving them time to pick someone else?

I know this isn't much of a 'problem' and I am very lucky. I'm just trying to safely maximise my chances of working for the DG I prefer. Advice would be much appreciated.

@ scholar: I don`t want to be mistaken, but the rule is first come, first served....so I guess it depends on which unit flagged you first (if they did), and on what the traineeship office decides...because they have to approve...

for example, I was just called by a unit in DG HR, saying I am their number one candidate and that now I must wait for the decision to be approved by the traineeship office, so he told me not to be happy yet, till I get the final email from the traineeship, because they are the ones that approve and decide... so I have to wait... I just hope it`s gonna be ok

anyway congrats scholar, and good luck!

I see. Thanks Raluca. If it is 'First come, first served', then I am tempted to contact the first DG that requested me and hope or even ask that they 'unflag' me.

it`s up to you what to do, just be careful