Re: Preselection Date

Tue Dec 13, 2016 11:38 am

Hi everyone!

Congratulations to those of you who have already received an email offering you a traineeship! I have also been included in the Blue Book. Do you know how long do they have to send as an email? Either accepting or rejecting us... Since some of you have already received it, I imagine it won't be too long. However, I wanted to know if somebody had more information about dates. I think we are all biting our nails here...

Tue Dec 13, 2016 11:43 am

Hello,
Apparently, I did not pass eligibility check because my supporting documents were not enough for them: "The supporting documents you sent are insufficient to prove your declared language level". Anyway, is there something I can do about it? Thanks a lot. Lukas.

Tue Dec 13, 2016 12:09 pm

*to send us an email

I do not know how to refer to or modify my previous post and I realized I had made a mistake.

Tue Dec 13, 2016 12:57 pm

Hey Guys, congrats to all included in the Blue Book.

I wanted to ask whether in your Traineeship Account it also shows your result as if it was for the October 2017 stage. Also, the copy of my application has disappeared from the system, do you have the same problem?

Cheers,
Aga

Tue Dec 13, 2016 1:14 pm

Hi Aga,

I just checked and it also says October 2017 on my account. It must be some mistake with the page. I cannot access a copy of my application either, but I don't remember if I could yesterday. Do you think it's important to report this?

Tue Dec 13, 2016 1:19 pm

Hello everyone,
Like Lukas, I and a friend of mine did not pass the eligibility check. However, we got the following message: "You have not uploaded the supporting documents". I cannot say for certain for my friend, but I am positive that I did upload the compliation of the supporting documents succesfully. I have already sent an email asking what they mean with this message since I wasn't sure if they meant that I left out documents or that they didn't receive the pdf I made at all. My questions are the following:

- Has anyone experienced the same? (Or other technical errors such as Aga and Irruiz.)

- Is there a way to contest this? If so, what steps should be taken?

Tue Dec 13, 2016 1:28 pm

Hi Irruiz,

I am not sure but I guess it does not hurt to drop them a line. I will do it in a moment. Smile

Have a good evening,
Aga

Tue Dec 13, 2016 1:42 pm

Hello everyone !
First of all congratulations for making it to the blue book!
I wanted to ask if anyone received an email from à DG asking for a phone call? Any idea what they may ask ? They specified that it was not an interview but an informal conversation..
Thank you!
Hélène

Tue Dec 13, 2016 1:44 pm

Helene, I had a call today, was very very informal - more or less no questions at all. Do not worry Smile

Question: are there any economists or in general people keen to get into DG Comp or other Economics related teams?

Tue Dec 13, 2016 1:58 pm

eskl wrote:Helene, I had a call today, was very very informal - more or less no questions at all. Do not worry

Question: are there any economists or in general people keen to get into DG Comp or other Economics related teams?

I'm an economist and I guess that I'm hoping for a call/e-mail from ECFIN or COMP.

Not sure though what the process is with administrative traineeships in terms of getting in touch with people or just waiting for a call...

Tue Dec 13, 2016 2:02 pm

hello Tom, what email did you use? Greetings. Lukas.

TomJV wrote:Hello everyone,
Like Lukas, I and a friend of mine did not pass the eligibility check. However, we got the following message: "You have not uploaded the supporting documents". I cannot say for certain for my friend, but I am positive that I did upload the compliation of the supporting documents succesfully. I have already sent an email asking what they mean with this message since I wasn't sure if they meant that I left out documents or that they didn't receive the pdf I made at all. My questions are the following:

- Has anyone experienced the same? (Or other technical errors such as Aga and Irruiz.)

- Is there a way to contest this? If so, what steps should be taken?

Tue Dec 13, 2016 2:04 pm

Candidatus, would you do the traineeship if any other field was suggested?

Tue Dec 13, 2016 2:06 pm

Aga,

What email address did you write to? I do not think this problem is relevant but, as you said, it will do no wrong to let them know. Wink

Tue Dec 13, 2016 2:11 pm

eskl wrote:Candidatus, would you do the traineeship if any other field was suggested?

Yeah, I don't see why not.

It's not like the traineeship comes with something guaranteed afterwards. You work for 5 months and then you get told to f**k off. Very Happy

Currently I don't have anything better to do professionally so I can have my elitist preferences but I wouldn't turn down something like Maritime and Fisheries just because I think I deserve better.

Tue Dec 13, 2016 2:12 pm

Dear Lukas,
I emailed to eac hyphen stages at ec dot europa dot eu* (the adress which you received your notification from). I asked around a bit and apparently the Traineeship Office does not have a phone number you can call and this is the email you need to use. As you perhaps already found out the link to "Contact on Europa" on ec dot europa dot eu slash stages* will only lead you to a page displaying 404 error so I wouldn't directly know how to find any other email address.

*Signs are typed out since I can't add external links or emails for 7 days as a new member.

Tue Dec 13, 2016 2:26 pm

Hi all,
Congrats for those who were pre-selected.
Just a note regarding lobbying, after contacting DG DEVCO, I received an automated email. I will just mention the important parts:

The selection process will start on 7th December 2016 and the Head of Units will then look for the most suitable candidates according to their needs and the number of places available.

All the DG's will make the reservations on 15th December 2016. The selection process will be closed.

If you are selected, you will receive personally an offer from the Traineeship Office as from the 20th January 2017. If, however, you have not received any word by 31 January for the period beginning in March, you may consider that your application has not been successful.

So my question is, if we only found out that we were pre selected yesterday, how did they start the selection process on the 7th Smile

We were told that it is not allowed to lobby before getting a confirmation and already in 2 days all DG's will be making the reservations.

This is totally unfair but oh well Wink

Best of luck to all nevertheless.

Tue Dec 13, 2016 2:34 pm

I am not sure what is going on, but I the whole system sucks. As mentioned in my previous email,somebody violated the rules of no lobbying prior confirmation, and took a spot in my dream team at EC. They looked at my profile and said that I was a very strong candidate (I have right education and work experience), but they already promised the place to the other person last week (??). The whole thing is so unfair and unclear.

Tue Dec 13, 2016 2:36 pm

For those unfortunate others who have also been informed they failed the eligibility check because they did not upload any documents, when they felt they had taken the necessary steps to do so, I received the following reply presently:

"Indeed, I have already consulted the IT unit. Unfortunate as it is that many candidates declared having sent documents, which we did not receive, a very good number of pre-identified candidates (certainly far more than half), succeeded in sending in their files. Thus, the responsibility cannot be ascribed to an IT failure in the EC."

Make of that what you will...I certainly know what I make of it.

Commiserations to the unfortunates, and congrats to those who passed the eligibility test.

Tue Dec 13, 2016 2:38 pm

I personally don't blame the person who ''violated the rules'' I blame the system, which contradicts itself; we were not allowed to lobby early, we got the results pretty late, yet DGs will make selections in 2 days?

We are all in a fierce competition, so lessons learned: we ignore what's said about not being allowed to lobby early and just LOBBY!

Good job for those who actually did it earlier Wink

Tue Dec 13, 2016 2:41 pm

I disagree completely, it is not a good job, it means that not the people who are actually the best but the ones who cheat get the places. Of course the system is to blame, I think they should on purpose disregard everyone who sent an email before yesterday as it was specifically said that we are not allowed to do it.

Tue Dec 13, 2016 2:45 pm

If I understood it correctly, if we are chosen, we should receive the email on the 15th the latest?

Any other translators have received their acceptance emails?

Tue Dec 13, 2016 3:06 pm

bubble_of_euro wrote:For those unfortunate others who have also been informed they failed the eligibility check because they did not upload any documents, when they felt they had taken the necessary steps to do so, I received the following reply presently:

"Indeed, I have already consulted the IT unit. Unfortunate as it is that many candidates declared having sent documents, which we did not receive, a very good number of pre-identified candidates (certainly far more than half), succeeded in sending in their files. Thus, the responsibility cannot be ascribed to an IT failure in the EC."

Make of that what you will...I certainly know what I make of it.

Commiserations to the unfortunates, and congrats to those who passed the eligibility test.

It is indeed rather unfair. This failure to upload documents (even though it appears that they have been uploaded) seems to be a pretty common problem. I think a sticky thread should be made explaining the problem and possible solutions. That way we can avoid unfortunate incidents like this in the future.

Tue Dec 13, 2016 3:16 pm

Hello guys! Good luck everybody. It looks like we have until the 15th to get selected. And I'm very sorry for those who didn't get their documents uploaded. I would be pissed if it had happened to me...

I was wondering if they are calling translators for interviews??? If anyone gets selected as a translator - could you share your story here? Did you get just an e-mail or a phone call and an e-mail???? Because my phone isn't working properly so I'm freaking out over the possibility of missing a call.

Tue Dec 13, 2016 3:23 pm

Irruiz wrote:Aga,

What email address did you write to? I do not think this problem is relevant but, as you said, it will do no wrong to let them know.

Hei,

I reported the problem through the form on the traineeships web, not sure if they will read it before holidays though as it seems that the technical issues (and other issues, too) are pretty common this year Very Happy

PS. I think that if lobbying before the preselection is not allowed (as rules state), the units should know not to "get lobbied" Wink

On the other hand there are also people who have "friends & family" in units and secure their spots this way.

Phf, I already feel like I have wasted my time on this application...

Tue Dec 13, 2016 3:27 pm

Dear "bubble_of_euro",
Thank you for that information. Would it be possible for you to place the original email here? I would welcome such a thread (but I'm not going to mess around creating threads myself, not being acquainted with the forum's workings yet). The Dutch government has an office which supports people interested in working at the EU. I already emailed them and will inform them of this reply if/when possible. I would suggest others to do the same with parallel organisations in their respective member states. It seems to me like a very easy and flimsy excuse to not have to expand an already sufficiently large pool of Blue Book candidates.

Tue Dec 13, 2016 3:27 pm

I wrote to the email that someone said above telling them about the problem. I do not think they will answer, but at least they know (hopefully).

By the way, how do you quote someone to answer directly?

Tue Dec 13, 2016 3:40 pm

Irruiz wrote:I wrote to the email that someone said above telling them about the problem. I do not think they will answer, but at least they know (hopefully).

By the way, how do you quote someone to answer directly?

Hi! There should be a blue button with the word "quote" at the top right of every message posted here. You just click on that and it will open another page where you can type your message.

Tue Dec 13, 2016 4:13 pm

n.haroutun wrote:Hi all,
Congrats for those who were pre-selected.
Just a note regarding lobbying, after contacting DG DEVCO, I received an automated email. I will just mention the important parts:

The selection process will start on 7th December 2016 and the Head of Units will then look for the most suitable candidates according to their needs and the number of places available.

All the DG's will make the reservations on 15th December 2016. The selection process will be closed.

If you are selected, you will receive personally an offer from the Traineeship Office as from the 20th January 2017. If, however, you have not received any word by 31 January for the period beginning in March, you may consider that your application has not been successful.

Afternoon all,

I fail to understand why applicants should only be informed of their reservation as of 20 January if their fate has been decided upon as early as 15 December.

The burning question is thus: might not candidates be perfectly entitled to contact their relevant DGs after 15 December to be informed of the outcome of their application, in doing so putting an end to their misery?

Best,

RR

Tue Dec 13, 2016 5:35 pm

Hi all! congratulations to those that have arrived to this phase. I also got an email to confirm a possible traineeship from a specific unit. If i confirm this opportunity do you know if i will still be visible to the rest of the units or will they take me away from the blue book?

Thank you!

Tue Dec 13, 2016 6:10 pm

TomJV wrote:Hello everyone,
Like Lukas, I and a friend of mine did not pass the eligibility check. However, we got the following message: "You have not uploaded the supporting documents". I cannot say for certain for my friend, but I am positive that I did upload the compliation of the supporting documents succesfully. I have already sent an email asking what they mean with this message since I wasn't sure if they meant that I left out documents or that they didn't receive the pdf I made at all. My questions are the following:

- Has anyone experienced the same? (Or other technical errors such as Aga and Irruiz.)

- Is there a way to contest this? If so, what steps should be taken?

Hello everyone,

I am also part of the unlucky people who have experienced this technical problem of failing to upload the documents, even though we are SURE that we did. Whatever the Commission says, it must come from them ! Can I ask to ALL OF THE PEOPLE WHO EXPERIENCED THIS PROBLEM to tell which browser they used ? I used Mozilla Firefox.

Also, I am determined to fight here. There is a clear issue of transparency, and the European Ombudsman could help. Or we could do a petition, to see how many of us faced this issue. What do you think ?