March 2019 Traineeship

Congrats and good luck for tomorrow NCOMP!! Has anyone else programmed an interview too? I really hope they will tell us something before Christmas, though it's true I saw that in other sessions trainees were informed barely one month in advance...but I guess those ones were on a waiting list

Well, actually it is going to be a month in advance more or less I'm afraid. They mention also on the EC website that the offers sending starts in the end of January. And technically all the communication that happens between candidates and Units is unofficial, until the time that Traineeship Office sends and official contract. So, for it to be super official, you have to wait until you get the contract, and those are sent out to everyone starting from the end of Jan only :/ For now maximum what can happen is that the Unit can tell you that they book you (but as I understood, often they don't even want to tell anything definite), but it's not official yet.

rosalp wrote:Congrats and good luck for tomorrow NCOMP!! Has anyone else programmed an interview too? I really hope they will tell us something before Christmas, though it's true I saw that in other sessions trainees were informed barely one month in advance...but I guess those ones were on a waiting list

I also lobbied DG COMP. no answer though. anyone else got interviews or going to have?

Anyone has reply from Devco?

Anyone lobbying DG NEAR?

Doris1964 wrote:Anyone lobbying DG NEAR?

Yep, only Eastern-facing units though. Emailed today, have you heard anything?

COCOCO wrote:

Doris1964 wrote:Anyone lobbying DG NEAR?

Yep, only Eastern-facing units though. Emailed today, have you heard anything?

Not yet! I'm targeting Western Balkans.

I have just got a sudden phone interview from one of the units of Devco at noon. They asked some difficult questions, like What criteria would you have if there were a few units expressing interest in you? They also ask personal questions like Did you write any documents in French and English at work before? What does Devco do?

The interview was held in French and English. And I was told the result will be released probably before Xmas.

Doris1964 wrote:

COCOCO wrote:

Doris1964 wrote:Anyone lobbying DG NEAR?

Yep, only Eastern-facing units though. Emailed today, have you heard anything?

Not yet! I'm targeting Western Balkans.

guys, have you specifically defined where exactly you want to work?
like Eastern/Western?

stephenlkkpm6a31 wrote:I have just got a sudden phone interview from one of the units of Devco at noon. They asked some difficult questions, like What criteria would you have if there were a few units expressing interest in you? They also ask personal questions like Did you write any documents in French and English at work before? What does Devco do?

The interview was held in French and English. And I was told the result will be released probably before Xmas.

have you lobbied? Devco was my priority but I dont have their contacts. strange.

scarletenred wrote:

stephenlkkpm6a31 wrote:I have just got a sudden phone interview from one of the units of Devco at noon. They asked some difficult questions, like What criteria would you have if there were a few units expressing interest in you? They also ask personal questions like Did you write any documents in French and English at work before? What does Devco do?

The interview was held in French and English. And I was told the result will be released probably before Xmas.

have you lobbied? Devco was my priority but I dont have their contacts. strange.

Yes I sent lobbing letters to almost all of the units.......And the interviewer knows that

Some former trainees in devco said they had not had contact with Devco before they received their offers....

Congratulations to the ones who have been contacted already. Anyone contacted from DG ECHO or DG SANTE? I wrote them emails and they replied, though I haven't lobbied yet, I will do it today

Hi guys and congratulations for those who made it in the blue book!
Since the results got out I was thinking that I wouldn't lobby or send e-mails but maybe it's not the right approach, I'm afraid of being left out..
So, I have a silly/naive question: how do you address the people you're writing to? Are you asking for information if they plan to have trainees or "just" sending your cover letter?
Thank you in advance !

imo88 wrote:Hi guys and congratulations for those who made it in the blue book!
Since the results got out I was thinking that I wouldn't lobby or send e-mails but maybe it's not the right approach, I'm afraid of being left out..
So, I have a silly/naive question: how do you address the people you're writing to? Are you asking for information if they plan to have trainees or "just" sending your cover letter?
Thank you in advance !

I wrote that I would like to express my special interest in joining that DG, then wrote a paragraph of my experiences relevant to that particular DG and how I would fit and what I would be able to contribute with, and then asked them to contact me for more info or for interview. And attached my CV. Something like that

Doris1964 wrote:

COCOCO wrote:

Doris1964 wrote:Anyone lobbying DG NEAR?

Yep, only Eastern-facing units though. Emailed today, have you heard anything?

Not yet! I'm targeting Western Balkans.

I lobbied DG NEAR as well. Targeted Eastern Partnership and Ukraine. Sent emails on Sunday, but no replies so far.

viktoriia wrote:

imo88 wrote:Hi guys and congratulations for those who made it in the blue book!
Since the results got out I was thinking that I wouldn't lobby or send e-mails but maybe it's not the right approach, I'm afraid of being left out..
So, I have a silly/naive question: how do you address the people you're writing to? Are you asking for information if they plan to have trainees or "just" sending your cover letter?
Thank you in advance !

I wrote that I would like to express my special interest in joining that DG, then wrote a paragraph of my experiences relevant to that particular DG and how I would fit and what I would be able to contribute with, and then asked them to contact me for more info or for interview. And attached my CV. Something like that

Thank you very much Victoria! good luck with the application process!

Hi everyone,

Yesterday I had my second interview during which I found out (it never ends..) that at this stage of the procedure DGs or Units therein are able to make informal offers only with no certainty though that the candidate will be taken. The final call is on the selection body which will send the official offer based on DGs/Units suggestion at the end of January. It emerged from the call however that if they really want you and you show through follow-up emails you are really sure about their Units, they will exert some kind of pressure to get you in.

viktoriia wrote:Well, actually it is going to be a month in advance more or less I'm afraid.  They mention also on the EC website that the offers sending starts in the end of January.  And technically all the communication that happens between candidates and Units is unofficial, until the time that Traineeship Office sends and official contract. So, for it to be super official, you have to wait until you get the contract, and those are sent out to everyone starting from the end of Jan only :/ For now maximum what can happen is that the Unit can tell you that they book you (but as I understood, often they don't even want to tell anything definite), but it's not official yet.

I hadn't read your post before writing mine. I had confirmation directly from them about what you wrote. See my post above

NCOMP wrote:Hi everyone,

Yesterday I had my second interview during which I found out (it never ends..) that at this stage of the procedure DGs or Units therein are able to make informal offers only with no certainty though that the candidate will be taken. The final call is on the selection body which will send the official offer based on DGs/Units suggestion at the end of January. It emerged from the call however that if they really want you and you show through follow-up emails you are really sure about their Units, they will exert some kind of pressure to get you in.

So does it mean that there's a possibility that you can make (informal) agreement with some Unit, but in the end Traineeship Office still won't follow that and assign you to a different one or not assign you at all if they wish so?

They were blurry on that.. They made me understand that if they want you and you get an informal offer from them there is where you will end up.

NCOMP wrote:They were blurry on that.. They made me understand that if they want you and you get an informal offer from them there is where you will end up.

Did you get any indirect answer which implies you will be taken by the unit? My interviewer told me their selection ends before Xmas and probably I can get the result at that time.

they told me the same, like they select 3 candidates (ranked), and the HR decides and let them know. Afterwards they send us the answer of the HR as an "informal agreement".

Hi everyone!
So far I only sent my CV and short cover letter to the HR emails listed in the pre-selection notice.
Where did you find the email addresses of the Head of the Units? I checked in EU Whosiwho and I can only find their telephone numbers. Thanks in advance!

cmaaati, normally is name.surname@ec.europa.eu

Hello again,

I just accepted the informal offer from one Unit (which was my second best, so I took it). They give you no "written" confirmation, only their word which I guess it still must count something. They told me that I am going to receive the final offer at the end of January by the Traineeship Office.

In order to avoid any risk, my suggestion is to leave at least one door open, sending an interlocutory email to your "way-out unit" and confirming your potential availability. This is an example of a piece I sent: "As I already brought to your attention during our call, other (merger) Units and also an antitrust unit few moments ago contacted me. As we both know, the final call is on the Traineeship Office, so should your Unit take into consideration my nomination for the traineeship, I hereto confirm, in principle, my availability and eagerness to work within you and the other colleagues"

Should other Units tell me spontaneously I am their first choice I will only at that point make things very clear, saying I have another official offer. It then will be up to them to step back or insist for my nomination.

rosalp wrote:cmaaati, normally is name.surname@ec.europa.eu

thx. so did you email both the HR and unit directors?

NCOMP wrote:Hello again,

I just accepted the informal offer from one Unit (which was my second best, so I took it). They give you no "written" confirmation, only their word which I guess it still must count something. They told me that I am going to receive the final offer at the end of January by the Traineeship Office.

In order to avoid any risk, my suggestion is to leave at least one door open, sending an interlocutory email to your "way-out unit" and confirming your potential availability. This is an example of a piece I sent: "As I already brought to your attention during our call, other (merger) Units and also an antitrust unit few moments ago contacted me. As we both know, the final call is on the Traineeship Office, so should your Unit take into consideration my nomination for the traineeship, I hereto confirm, in principle, my availability and eagerness to work within you and the other colleagues"

Should other Units tell me spontaneously I am their first choice I will only at that point make things very clear, saying I have another official offer. It then will be up to them to step back or insist for my nomination.

congratulations!!!
who conducted the interview, HR? have you emailed to merger/antitrust units' heads?

scarletenred wrote:

rosalp wrote:cmaaati, normally is name.surname@ec.europa.eu

thx. so did you email both the HR and unit directors?

Yes. From HR I received just a generic response, while the heads of unit were quite nice. From DG SANTE they told me they haven't started yet with the selection, in case someone is also interested.

rosalp wrote:

scarletenred wrote:

rosalp wrote:cmaaati, normally is name.surname@ec.europa.eu

thx. so did you email both the HR and unit directors?

Yes. From HR I received just a generic response, while the heads of unit were quite nice. From DG SANTE they told me they haven't started yet with the selection, in case someone is also interested.

thank you.

I also had an interview and the interviewer asked me to confirm my interest in a follow-up mail after the interview (it was good, but my French got sooooo rusty, that was pretty embarrassing..). So my question is: Is the request to confirm my interest  like an informal offer by the Head of the Unit? I am little bit confused... Congrats NCOMP!