October 2019 Traineeship

cmarie28 wrote:

TubaTube wrote:I heard some people get shortlisted without receiving any calls or email. Is this true? Also what happens next after you get shortlisted? What else can you do to prepare?

A colleague of mine who works in a DG said the vast majority actually don't call or email. Our contact information, especially for calling, is not provided in our blue book listing, so unless you have specifically lobbied a unit and they have read your email AND feel it necessary to call, you won't get a call or email before an offer.

Thank you so much for sharing that, this information is really comforting Now I also realised why the DG that wanted to interview me, asked my phone number separately.

elinaa wrote:

cmarie28 wrote:

TubaTube wrote:I heard some people get shortlisted without receiving any calls or email. Is this true? Also what happens next after you get shortlisted? What else can you do to prepare?

A colleague of mine who works in a DG said the vast majority actually don't call or email. Our contact information, especially for calling, is not provided in our blue book listing, so unless you have specifically lobbied a unit and they have read your email AND feel it necessary to call, you won't get a call or email before an offer.

Thank you so much for sharing that,  this information is really comforting Now I also realised why the DG that wanted to interview me, asked my phone number separately.

I fear I must contradict that, since I did not lobby at all and received two emails, the first of which was sent because they were "unable to reach me under the telephone number indicated on my application".

cmarie28 wrote:

TubaTube wrote:I heard some people get shortlisted without receiving any calls or email. Is this true? Also what happens next after you get shortlisted? What else can you do to prepare?

A colleague of mine who works in a DG said the vast majority actually don't call or email. Our contact information, especially for calling, is not provided in our blue book listing, so unless you have specifically lobbied a unit and they have read your email AND feel it necessary to call, you won't get a call or email before an offer.

I don’t think this is correct (or at least this isn’t the case for all DG’s). I didn’t lobby and I received a phone call from one of my preferences.

I am at the office working now and I have nobody else to at but EEAS Unit just called me telling that I'm their first preference, AND I'M SO EXCITED!! I know it's not official but damn...

Hello everyone,
I have a doubt concerning the whole recruitment process. I lobbyied a bit and I got emailed by my first choice asking for my interest and availability for a certain unit. Then I answered positively and they answered me :"Please know that this is an informal contact to check your availability and that only the Traineeships Office is entitled to validate the final selection. They should contact you soon."

OK then, what should I do? Keep on lobbying? Did they reserve me?
I mean... I don't know what to do now..
Any suggestion?


Thank you guys and good luck

Hey guys,

I would like to ask if anybody of you have an information about this. I didn't receive any calls, but I got one email yesterday from DG asking me if I am interested to carry out a traineeship with them. I answered yes.

However, this DG is not any of my 3 preferred DGs stated before in my application. So, I would like to know your opinion: how high are my chances to get there in this case?

I appreciate every your response.

cmarie28 wrote:

TubaTube wrote:I heard some people get shortlisted without receiving any calls or email. Is this true? Also what happens next after you get shortlisted? What else can you do to prepare?

A colleague of mine who works in a DG said the vast majority actually don't call or email. Our contact information, especially for calling, is not provided in our blue book listing, so unless you have specifically lobbied a unit and they have read your email AND feel it necessary to call, you won't get a call or email before an offer.

This gives me some hope haha

elinaa wrote:I am at the office working now and I have nobody else to at but EEAS Unit just called me telling that I'm their first preference, AND I'M SO EXCITED!! I know it's not official but damn...

Congrats! If everything goes to plan we will all receive a formal offer soon !

Hey guys,

I have a doubt. A unit replied my lobbying email saying they will take into account my application and suggesting me to check my Virtual Blue Book profile twice a week to see the status of my application.

My doubt is: do we have access to our Virtual Blue Book profile? I thought we only had access to our account on the traineeship website. If any of you guys know a way to check our Virtual Blue Book profile please tell me how.

Thank you and good luck!

Hi guys, does anyone know when we should be expecting the formal offers to be sent out?

AWP2050 wrote:Hi guys, does anyone know when we should be expecting the formal offers to be sent out?

One of the Heads of Unit told me that the Traineeship Office reaches out at the end of June.

Hey! Has anyone been contacted by  the EPSC or the JRC? Thanks in advance!!

Hey guys! I wonder if there are non-europeans here from Brazil or Latin America countries. I kind of lobbied all the units that had America latina in their names hahaha but so far only had that standard response. Anybody received a call? I do not know with they would actually call someone in Brazil or Argentina but who knows. The best of luck to us all!

Hello everyone. Today I got rejected by the head of the NEAR DGs C2 Unit

They have not been among my three selected DGs. Last week I just sent a lobbying letter to the head.

apl.2019 wrote:Hey guys,

I have a doubt. A unit replied my lobbying email saying they will take into account my application and suggesting me to check my Virtual Blue Book profile twice a week to see the status of my application.

My doubt is: do we have access to our Virtual Blue Book profile? I thought we only had access to our account on the traineeship website. If any of you guys know a way to check our Virtual Blue Book profile please tell me how.

Thank you and good luck!

No, to my knowledge there is no way for trainees to access the VBB... there is also no suggestion like this to be found anywhere on the traineeship website. Probably this process confuses them as well

Got a call from DG GROW an hour ago, first contact from them (they are my 2nd preference).

Hey guys,

I was just wondering if anybody had a call/email from DG EAC? I guess I'll just have to wait till the end of the month even though I doubt that I'll receive an offer. I had a call from EACEA, from a unit I didn't lobby for. They just told me that either way I'll receive an answer by the end of the month. Good luck to everyone!

Rea24 wrote:Hey guys,

I would like to ask if anybody of you have an information about this. I didn't receive any calls, but I got one email yesterday from DG asking me if I am interested to carry out a traineeship with them. I answered yes.

However, this DG is not any of my 3 preferred DGs stated before in my application. So, I would like to know your opinion: how high are my chances to get there in this case?

I appreciate every your response.

Anynody has the same experience?

Emvfri wrote:Got a call from DG GROW an hour ago, first contact from them (they are my 2nd preference).

So let me share my experience with being interviewed by my second preference.

I got the first call from the head of the unit (DG GROW), who then informed me he had to make the choice today. We ran out of time so he gave me another call this afternoon.

The first question this guy posed (after asking whether I am even interested) was whether I had received other calls. I was honest and informed him that I had got two enquiries from my first preference, they had however made no promise to reserve me. This was clearly a bit problematic for him, so later on I asked whether he would still shortlist me and take the risk (as being the 2nd choice and hoping for somebody to decline their offer would be quite a Hail Mary for me).

Long story short- he promised to put me first on the list so I guess this means I got a traineeship with a 95% certainty!!!

I just had a call with DG TRADE... seemed to go very well. They didn't indicate what preference I was though Just explained the process going forward and said I should hear from the Traineeship Office by July. But they started off by thanking me for my "spontaneous application" (I lobbied their unit). I guess now I just wait and hope to get an offer?

cmarie28 wrote:I just had a call with DG TRADE... seemed to go very well. They didn't indicate what preference I was though  Just explained the process going forward and said I should hear from the Traineeship Office by July. But they started off by thanking me for my "spontaneous application" (I lobbied their unit). I guess now I just wait and hope to get an offer?

were they among your preferences? or have you lobbied them even if they weren't on your application?

tatarskaomacka wrote:

cmarie28 wrote:I just had a call with DG TRADE... seemed to go very well. They didn't indicate what preference I was though  Just explained the process going forward and said I should hear from the Traineeship Office by July. But they started off by thanking me for my "spontaneous application" (I lobbied their unit). I guess now I just wait and hope to get an offer?

were they among your preferences? or have you lobbied them even if they weren't on your application?

They were my third preference, though I do not think I will get anything in my first two preferences being a third country national.

Cavo wrote:Anyone hear from DG CLIMA or DG ENVI?

Hi! DG ENVI and CLIMA are in my preferences too.
I received a call today from DG ENVI. They just asked if I was still interested and available for the traineeship.
Curious to know if other people were contacted by DG ENVI or CLIMA?

[quote="tatarskaomacka"]

cmarie28 wrote:I just had a call with DG TRADE... seemed to go very well. They didn't indicate what preference I was though  Just explained the process going forward and said I should hear from the Traineeship Office by July. But they started off by thanking me for my "spontaneous application" (I lobbied their unit). I guess now I just wait and hope to get an offer?

I think this is also a quite common practice... Not everyone will tell trainees if they are the first preference because that's almost like promising a traineeship and some people do not realize that the HR has surprisingly a lot of power in this. It is also possible that the DGs set priorities only after interviewing all the interesting candidates

June06 wrote:

Cavo wrote:Anyone hear from DG CLIMA or DG ENVI?

Hi! DG ENVI and CLIMA are in my preferences too.
I received a call today from DG ENVI. They just asked if I was still interested and available for the traineeship.
Curious to know if other people were contacted by DG ENVI or CLIMA?

Hey! I had a call with DG ENVI too today, but no conclusion other than they were interviewing a few candidates. Was yours for Comms as well?

I got a call from DG TRADE yesterday even though I haven't lobbied them or chosen them as one of my preferences. Like others, I was also asked whether I had been in contact with other DG's and when I told them that my first preference has forwarded my name as their preferred blue book candidate, the person congratulated me saying that it wasn't a small feat to have been selected by your first preference. Because of that, the unit in DG TRADE wouldn't choose me as one of their preferences. Felt kind of funny as if I was already secured a traineeship offer at my first preference even though this isn't the case yet haha.

I've just heard from a unit that falls within the DG of my second preference. They had requested me as their trainee but heard from TO that I have already accepted an offer elsewhere. Since  I have not done that, I suspect that a unit from the DG of my first preference identified me first so I was immediately assigned to them.

Tl;dr, is it somehow possible to make the first unit (which I don't know who they are) let me go, so that the second unit (which I would want the most) can still take me in? I have the head of my preferred unit on my side, but I am not sure if that's enough against the all mighty TO...

Any similar experience shared will be much appreciated!

djleons wrote:I've just heard from a unit that falls within the DG of my second preference. They had requested me as their trainee but heard from TO that I have already accepted an offer elsewhere. Since  I have not done that, I suspect that a unit from the DG of my first preference identified me first so I was immediately assigned to them.

Tl;dr, is it somehow possible to make the first unit (which I don't know who they are) let me go, so that the second unit (which I would want the most) can still take me in? I have the head of my preferred unit on my side, but I am not sure if that's enough against the all mighty TO...

Any similar experience shared will be much appreciated!

I haven’t been in your situation before but I assume that you could contact the traineeship office to let them know that you’ve had a change of heart in terms of your preferences. I remember reading somewhere that the wish of the applicant is a huge factor when the traineeship office decides where you’ll end up so it might be worth a shot to explain the whole situation to the traineeship office. Good luck!

Hi everyone! Is there anyone that received a call or an e-mail from the Dutch DGT?

So I got nothing so far. Does it mean I am out of chances to get a spot?