General Discussion

Hi there! I thought I could open a new topic to discuss all kinds of questions.

Here is the first one:
I sent my application on the 28th of January and still didn't receive the confirmation. Should I start worrying? Did you receive yours?

Hi schatten!
I sent mine on 31st January (I love to challenge deadlines ) and I received confirmation on 5th February so the very day following the new deadline for submission. I guess it also depends on the national posts, so you'd better wait till Monday/Tuesday.
Did you send it from an EU country? IIf so you should probably contact the TO next week with you applicant number just in case.

Thanks for the answer! Well, I think then I should write them and ask. I sent it from Germany, so I don't expect serious delays

I sent my letter from Poland on Saturday and they confirmed that they have my application on Wednesday, but It was mid- January.

Now I am really worried ( I sent them a message, will be waiting for the answer...

I sent mine on 31 too, but still no answer. i'm starting to get worried...

Hey guys...how are you? So I got confirmation on 7th of February. Don't worry, you'll get the emails, just give them a bit of more time. In my case, I am not even confident of my application because I just applied to see how far could I eventually go.

Got the answer today (*very fast*):

Dear Madam,



The acknowledgments of receipt are sent out within 2 weeks of arrival.

For the moment we are receiving more than 10.000 applications….



Thank you for your patience.



Kind regards


So I'll just wait ))) Hope they will send me the confirmation soon ))))

Hi there,

I am also a bit worried about the confirmation issue. According to the post office track and trace info, my letter was delivered on the 1st of February, but the traineeship office has not confirmed yet I wrote them and here is what I got back as a reply:

Dear candidate,

Thank you for your message.

We will receive around 15000 applications for the October 2013 traineeship session.

We will be sending electronic messages to the candidates at each step of the application procedure (eligibility, pre-selection, selection).

Confirmations about receptions of applications should be sent during the first half of February 2013.

I guess, I have to be patient for another 3 days

Around 15.000 applications??!! That's crazy!!
This is for sure the cause of their delay in notifying receptions of applications!
Really crazy!!

Got my confirmation ))) Now it will be a long waiting for the preselection results

Hi, I received confirmation of receipt my application, does anyone know when there will be the pre-selection?

still no confirmation... should i lose all hopes?

Well they have received something like 18.000 applications...I guess you can still have hope!

maybe you're right, but if you all got your confirmation and it's already 16 february, so past mid month as they wrote, then i think i got bad luck...

Wait till monday and then call them!! Eventually do you have a proof you can send them?

no, i don't have a proof, it was just sent per post. it would have been so simple to be asked to upload the documents on the application page, all this thing with sending per post... so, if your envelope with all the documents doesn't reach the traineeship office and you have no proof you send it, that's it! bad luck as i said

i sent mine on 25th January and still don't have any confirmation...

If you have not received the confirmation yet, you should check your spam folders and definitely contact them, because it does not seem right. I received my confirmation, but now I am worried about the fierce competition this year. Have you seen the statistics?! It is indeed crazy!

Yes it will be very fierce and fun this time, according to the statistics applications nearly doubled for this session :-)
I guess it will be better to prepare plans B C D and E jjjj

Wow, that's crazy ! Why this sharp increase in applications, do you think?

I think widespread youth unemployment could be one of the main reasons. In fact countries with a negative economic situation are those with most applicants i.e. Italy, Spain, Greece. In the meantime applicants from Northern MS is still very small, I wish I was Danish!!
But of course there must be other reasons such as the popularity of the EC programme etc.
The number of non-EU applicants hasn't change...
What do you guys think?

ok, i'll write them an email if on monday doesn't come any answer. but still i got the feeling i just got bad luck... can't even think about the fierce competition as long as till now i haven't got the confirmation. but indeed is crazy how many aplications are this year. working already on a plan B and C...

Oh my god... Over 18000 online applications! That's a huge difference from last year! And the ''PIGS'' are on fire! (I'm Portuguese, so this is not good for me either, lol).

MoreEU4all, I agree with you, it is definitely the increasing of youth unemployment.
It makes sense when you see that most applicants are from Portugal, Italy and Spain...

Also, on the website they say ''number of applications submitted online'', so maybe some of the 18690 applicants didn't even send the documents by mail. I don't know but this might be another reason.

Good luck everyone!

WOW Rebeca I guess I am with you. Being Portuguese is a hard job

I have sent the application and all the paperwork on 25.Jan, traced the postal code and saw it was delivered on 29.Jan. and got the confirmation e-mail today
I think it is because of the applications simply "flooding" into the office.
Wish you guys all the luck, I think that my odds are pretty low, since I am a non-EU national.

still no answer... but i'll wait to see what comes this week, if nothing comes, than that's it. congrats and good luck to everyone! what a competition this year... uh...

vkulesh wrote:WOW Rebeca I guess I am with you. Being Portuguese is a hard job

Rebeca and vkulesh, I am Portuguese as well and was selected for the traineeship that starts now in March. If you want, feel free to PM me and I can send you some tips for the selection phase (I already have a whole text prepared about it as I have some friends who also applied for the October session)

Sorry ECandidate, I wanted to ask you one question please, have you studied on a text to prepare for the selection?Or, what do you mean by "whole text"?
Thanks.

Clarence87 wrote:Sorry ECandidate, I wanted to ask you one question please, have you studied on a text to prepare for the selection?Or, what do you mean by "whole text"?
Thanks.

I mean that I have written an e-mail in Portuguese with tips and tricks about the selection process, what I have done in terms of lobbying, how I was contacted by the units, etc... which I have sent to my friends who also applied for this session and so can easily forward to the other Portuguese candidates over here!