Interviews

Hi all! I applied for the Sakharov Prize but have been accepted for the communications press unit. Does anyone know what sort of tasks would be involved? The press department is on holiday until 15th August but I need to make my decision before tomorrow.

Thanks!

Hi guys,

I am a bit confused about the criminal record criteria. Do everyone really have to send one? I have accepted an offer at the directorate for legislative acts. In my offer e-mail it does say that my offer is valid on condition that I provide a criminal record but then it says that they can withdraw the offer if the record does not meet the character references in the Internal Rules, article 5 paragraph 1 (e).

However, that Internal Rules paragraph says a criminal record is needed if your position is in school or day care.

Has anyone of you who accepted an offer gotten your confirmation letter/trainee agreement (or whatever document that is) yet?? Let's keep eachother updated

^ last week, i replied to their e-mail (i accepted the stage) and in the same reply i sent them a copy of my criminal record.
As i did not receive any answer, yesterday i sent them an e-mail asking if they received my confirmation.
They replied saying that my file in complete and all i have to do is to be present in Bruxelles on 2nd October with a printed copy of my offer (that is the e-mail proposing you the traineeship). They also said that an official traineeship convention would be signed in Bruxelles.

In my opinion, it is quite strange the way they finally confirmed that my file is ok. I expected they send an official e-mail, not waiting for me to ask.

*my file is complete

Hi guys,

did anyone get a traineeship in the Directorate-General for Parliamentary Research Services, Ex-Post Evaluation Unit in Brussels?

Also, did anyone already find a flat or a room? I've been struggling with finding something adequate - I would really appreciate any suggestion. Thank you!

Hi guys,
I am from non-EU country and had received a mail confirming my shortlist on 14th July. Even after having sent all the necessary documents by the due date, I am yet to hear back from the recruitment unit.
Any ideas, why?
Can I still be optimistic about my chances?

Nobody knows, because the process is not really transparent, since we did not even receive the confirmations that they have received the diplomas we were required to send. The whole selection procedure is also not very clear, so I think that nobody can give you a reasonable answer with regards to how optimistic you can be (except if they know someone who works at the department that deals with the traineeships). It might be that some Directorates are on summer vacation and will send their offers at the end of August. Or it might be that all the offers have been sent already so that the rest of the shortlisted candidates are on the reserve list in case some of the chosen candidates cancel or fail to produce their criminal records (in that case offers can be made all the way up to 15th September).

Thanks a lot, @ansich!

Is there anyone on this forum who is from the non-EU country and have received an offer letter already?

max_7 wrote:Thanks a lot, @ansich!

Is there anyone on this forum who is from the non-EU country and have received an offer letter already?

Hi, Max_7!
I am non-EU, but no offer so far.
Wonder who among non-EU candidates has already received it.
Good luck to you!

It seems there was just as much confusion during the Feb 2017 selection procedure and nothing has been done to clarify things this time around. From what I've gathered those of us who have not received an offer should not be very hopeful a this point. Just wondering if anyone received any offers this week?

I think we are all going to be wondering about what will happen the next week for all of the weeks left until 15 Sep.

Hello everyone,

I was shortlisted on July 14 for the traineeship. They have not offered me any place yet.

I chose Strasbourg and Madrid to do the internship.

Has anyone received an offer for these places? I know that someone people have received an offer for Brussels.

Best,

Hi everyone,

I was shortlisted on the 14th of July, but I did not get any answer until Monday the 28th. I have received an offer for the DG EXPO. I have accepted the offer on Tuesday, and waiting to receive my criminal record to send it to them, but I have not received any answer of the confirmation. Is that normal or should I worry about it.

I am aware I might be an exception because I received the offer pretty late but there is still some hope!

Yes, I think it's normal, at least if you check a couple of pages back, some folks haven't received confirmation either. You can still ask them to confirm/acknowledge you accepting the offer.
Thanks for the update, I guess there is still some hope

Congrats to all who started this month with their traineeship!

Just wondering, how many of you have been lobbying after applying for the EP traineeship?

As a former trainee at the EP, I can tell you that there is no need to lobby after applying for the traineeship. It is however important that once you are asked to send your documents, that you do this ASAP. For every trainee position there are like 2 or 3 people shortlisted. They have the same score, so to speak. The first person to send in his documents is going to secure the offer. That's how I think it went for my session.

To those who are considering applying for this traineeship or are currently undertaking one, I wish you a lot of good luck and a nice time in Brussels.

For those who don't get selected, I'd say don't be too disappointed. For me the traineeship has been a very disappointing experience in itself. Most trainees at the EP are completely neglected by their units, by their supervisor(s). Everything depends on the unit you're assigned to. Some administrators will make the effort to provide you with the opportunity to work together with them on their dossiers, to come and see you and ask you if you'd like to join them to some meeting or something (awesome right), but for most trainees these things will never happen.

The idea is that you are placed behind a computer (8 hrs a day) and that every 2 weeks you'll be send an email with something to do (they always use the phrase: we'll try to find you something 'so that you can keep yourself busy' - god I hate this phrase, this is also exactly the problem with the traineeship). This way the administrators are not under too much pressure. After all the administrators themselves did not ask to be assigned a trainee. A trainee is selected by the Head of Unit, someone who will, for obvious reasons, not be able to spend any time with you. The Head of Unit basically asks one of the administrators (or multiple administrators) to supervise you during the traineeship. Unfortunately, from what I've seen with many trainees, most of the administrators are just really not too interested in having a trainee around.

My best advice would be to just try and enjoy your time in Brussels as much as you can. Most trainees become detached from their unit in the first 2 weeks already. They realize that it's best to just spend time with the other trainees and explore Brussels, even during office hours. This is not a good traineeship for someone who thinks he's invited to come and work at the EP as a trainee, someone who wants to work hard and get some form of 'in office training' in return. I cannot stress enough that you are likely to receive the exact opposite of this.

Not what I signed up for. The way this traineeship is advertised is very misleading. Fortunately, trainees do receive a certificate & report after their traineeship, so you will never hear someone complain. For me, I don't really care too much about those things, I care more about the experience itself. The average trainee has close to no supervision and will not be asked to work hard. Imagine sitting in the European Parliament, having zero things to do, sometimes for several weeks in a row.

I think the administrators/supervisor(s) bear the responsibility to at least provide the trainee with some form of training. Why would you select young graduates from Harvard and Cambridge, only to just place them somewhere and to continue with your own work.

Please don't select a trainee if you don't have any interest/work/time to invest in that person's training. It's also ridiculous to see us as 'just another thing on an administrator's 'to do list''.

It would be a good idea to draw up some kind of a training scheme in the unit. It is really not hard to make this traineeship a very nice experience. All the elements that you need are present but there is just a lack of interest in actually organizing 'a traineeship'...

Again, this is my take on things, talking from my experience & from what I've seen with many many other trainees.

Cheers.