Interviews

But in my case, the EEAS told me at first that they had to wait for the confirmation that they would get a trainee, and after that they started the selection process and booked me. So I'm really not worried about that. They got the message from the TO already. The only problem is country quotas..

What's with the country quotas?

anyone got any response from dgcomp or dgjustice unit a2?

ecobus wrote:What's with the country quotas?

My explanation of country quotas rule: As the different DG don't communicate among each others who they will chose or have already chosen it can happen that certain nationalities get more places over other nationals e.g. 100/650 for Italians (big nations) and 1/650 for the Slovenes or Estonian or Latvians etc. (small nations).

In that case it is the TO role to "adjust" the number of positions that each nationality will get and that's why the units rank the trainees as 1st choice (selected one) and 2nd, 3rd choice (reserve candidate). Example: Italian (1st choice), Slovene (2nd choice), Estonian (3rd choice) - The trainee office realises that there is too many Italians; bye bye Italian candidate, congratulation Slovenian applicant for getting a traineeship offer!!  

@ Alza Congrats  hope to see you in Brussels! We just need to wait a bit more to be sure!

@Kasparuz That seems to me like a tremendous fail by the unit, as they contacted candidates without even be sure whether they would be able to host a trainee. It is true that the TO is the one who determines the number of trainees per DG, but that is done in advanced! Many of us had received messages from the units stating that they weren't assigned a trainee for the upcoming period. I would say that what happened to that person was rather an exception...

Here's a report on the traineeship programme. Although it is quite old and some details don't apply anymore, as the "priority period", it can shed some light on the whole procedure. Point 3.4 is worth reading!

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

There is absolutely nothing we can do right now but wait. Having had a positive answer from the unit is a very good sign, and we should be happy about it... but keep bearing in mind that it is not an official and final offer! Just a few more days to go, hopefully!

Good luck to everyone 

Ciao EleonoraM. I totally concur in having to wait for the final confirmation from the TO and I do hope that of the mentioned case was just an exception...

Hello again guys!

It was DEVCO F unit working with Neighbourhood countries.
Yes of course I know that this is not 100% sure, so I didn't tell about this to anybody whom I know personnaly, except from my mom. Facebook announcement will appear only after I will have a contract in my hand But the message was quite clear - there was no "but" and "if", just "the HR Unit will contact you shortly with an official proposal". But I know that anything can happen


Anyhow, my intention was to cheer up those of you who didn't have any inquiries or interviews, and so think they are out of the programme. A nice surprise can wait for you in the end!


 

To restore my peace of mind, I decided to ask the TO whether there are country quotas. Hers'e what they answered:

"Dear madam,
 
The final selection is the responsibility of the DGs. They recruit their trainees on the basis of a certain profile.
There is a certain number of trainees foreseen per DG, but there is no quota per nationality nor sex.
 
Kind regards,
 
Ingrid Van Durme
File Manager"

This is good news, right?! Honestly, I don't know what can prevent us from getting the official offer as the units have said we were their 1st choice. Nevertheless, I will save the celebrations for later 

Oh, that's wonderful news!!! I will also save the celebrations for later, but it does seem like it's certain we'll get the traineeship places. Also, in the document you mentioned earlier, it says the same thing. That the TO simply copies the choices of the DGs into the system and sends out the e-mails.

Thank you EleanoraM.! This is a very good piece of news!

BTW, I also got a list of my (I hope!) duties and responsibilities forseen for a trainee in my (I hope!) Unit. I like them a lot, so now I want this traineeship even more than before
And you guys - did you receive a list of duties?

I didn't Alza. But during the interview they explained me what my duties would be, and asked how I felt about them  and also asked me whether I prefer to work on a big project or take part in several smaller ones!

No, I did not (yet). But I had to choose between EEAS and DEVCO, so I called the unit for more information before making the choice, and she did tell me a lot about what kind of stuff I would be doing. Sounded really cool. But no job description or anything yet.

Wow, very useful informations! I didn't expect that.. Now I think we can expect the TO to start sending offers on the 19th as they just have to inform us about DGs decisions and they don't have to do anything else that will take more time! Thanks EleonoraM!!

that´s good news...However, the whole procedure remains the reverse of transparent...

Unit C3 of Trade has concluded their selection.

I just received an email from DEVCO.C6 telling me that I've been selected!! Not my preferred unit, but probably the one that makes more sense given my background.

So hopefully see you in Brussels guys!

(Now I have to start thinking how to tell my boss that I'm leaving in September after promissing that I would stay at least until April :S, even though I won't say anything until I get the official email from the TO, of course)

Oh, and for the ones that didn't get any call or email yet, I didn't get absolutely anything either, and I was almost sure I was out again, so don't despair!! There's still hope!

Hi Sgd83! Do you know Paola from CYFI by any chance?   I work there too and she told me a friend who also worked here before got selected at unit C6 of DEVCO   haha congratulations!!

Yes Elanor, actually she told me about you when you had the thing with the two DGs, because one of my preferred units was the one you rejected, and I was sure it was you. I worked there from November to March. The world is so small...

Haha it sure is! Hopefully we can meet up in Brussels

Congrats sgd83! See you in DEVCO then!

Guys, I know that I should not celebrate before having a contract from TO in my hand, but people from my (hopefully!) unit seem to be so sure that I start to believe in it as well  Just look what I have found this morning:

Dear XXXXXXX,
Great ! Deal is done, normally ! J
The HR Unit will contact you in the coming weeks to confirm it to you !
See you in October then ! J
Cheers, XXXXXX.

They are so charming, aren't they? OMG!

Really? With the smileys and everything??  Hahahah. Love it! 

Mine was very formal and impersonal (what can I expect from a Unit that deals mostly with Engineering ), but they didn't seem to have any doubt either:

It is a pleasure for us to inform you that the Traineeship Office will contact you officially (from June 19^th) and confirm your trainee in our Unit. 
We are looking forward to your coming in September and remain in the meantime,
yours faithfully,

First email informing me that I was selected as a first choice trainee was a bit formal. Except for that the person signed it with a name only.  I replied in a very formal way thanking for the offer and confirming my deep interest. And the answer was like this... yes, smileys and everything. I just love it and want to go and work there immediately!   

BTW, I need an advice. In my country we have a very hierarchical working culture and so it is not possible to refer to your chief and other people in your office who are higher in hierarchy just using a name only. But after all these smileys I feel awkward to write very formal letter to this person starting it with "Dear Ms Smith"..... Generally, how does it work? If person writes me a letter saying "Dear Mary", and finishing it "Best, Ann" can I reply as well with "Dear Ann"?    

Yeah, I live in the Netherlands and here that would be totally acceptable. When they have taken the initiative to just sign with their first name, I guess it's fine if you write "Dear Ann" too.   If you want to play it safe, just write "Dear Ms Smith" for now and when you have exchanged some more e-mails that are as informal as this one, you switch to "Dear Ann".

I come from a very informal country were hierarchy has almost disappeared and you would start calling your boss by name from the first email exchange, even before meeting in person, but in international environments I usually use that rule: If a person calls me by name and signs with name then I do the same, unless it's the king or someone really high up in the hierarchy, in which case I just get confused . But if it's a Secretary I'm pretty sure you can call her by name too.

How come I still got this kind of email this morning?

The selection process has started and the Heads of Division of the EEAS will select from the VBB database the most suitable candidates according to profile requirements and the number of places available. (28 in HQ, 2 in Delegations) 

 

At this stage, the EEAS MDR C3 division is not in a position to give you any specific information.

 

Should you ultimately be selected, you will receive a letter with all the necessary information about the recruitment process from the EC Traineeship Office.


I mean, are they kidding me? On 13 June???

It is probably just an automatic or copy/paste answer. I think all DGs have already decided who they are going to take.. Fingers crossed for all of us!!

I talked to the head of division from MDR C3 and she wasn't very nice on the phone either. Maybe she just really wants to abide by the formal rules...

Got a general e-mail from Traineeship office saying that I'm not selected today. AND two hours later an e-mail from DG MARE saying
I would like to thank you for the interest you have shown in applying for a traineeship at the European Commission.


If your application is successful, the Traineeship Office will inform you directly.

Looks like a huge lack of coordination

I also got en email that I was not selected. I guess they inform first the unlucky one's. Congrats for those who are selected! Have a nice stay in Brussels