No interviews/no replies = no traineeship?

Although this forum has proven very useful, I have found a lot of confusion about this topic: there are several opinions, even contradictory, as to the fact that if you're never called you have no chance of being selected.
My experience: it's the second time, preselected again. At the beginning of June I got a call from Brussels (the one and only), informing me that despite my profile was very interesting they could not pick me since they had already chosen their trainee. The person calling me also said that I hadn't been selected by any other Units. I would get the offcial confirmation (of my exclusion) few weeks later.
Other people claim, instead, that they got the "surprise" with no calls or emails before...
who's right?
Last point: I have lobbied as well. 80-90 % of messages had no reply. I have had one apparently positive (it doesn't look automatic), but nothing certain. And no calls so far.
I'm not too hopeful. Your ideas?

I do understand your confusion..but do you actually think that it possible to answer the question you raised?
I really think it is very individual, and it will vary from case to case. Someone would get in without interviews, someone would have several interviews and won't be selected.
All of us need patience...even if you or me or the rest of us won't get a traineeship in the EC there will be other (maybe even better) offers.

Probably you're right... it's not possible!   
However, I think it might be interesting to hear other people's voice and opinions!
I tend to be rather pessimistic... and there's nothing, I mean NOTHING, sure about this selection process! People receving multiple calls, other desperate   , very skilled individuals with 2-3 degrees or several prior job experiences and just graduated people with general cvs. A mess!   
I'm aware that this Traineeship is not the only one on Earth, but it seems that without it a lot of opportunities in the field of EU affairs are precluded...   

yes, no call = no traineeship
In fact, I wouldn't even accept the traineeship without a call.

Hi Steve,

To be honest, I think that in case someone does not get any calls, it is very unlikely to get a traineeship.

On the other hand, having no reply to your lobbying e-mails does not mean much at all. It is very possible that they put your e-mail/cv on the side and plan to call you.

I actually secured a traineeship this way (had no written reply to my lobbying e-mail, but got a call a couple days later instead).

In which unit / DG did you secure your traineeship Llama J?

stevedale84 wrote:Probably you're right... it's not possible!   
However, I think it might be interesting to hear other people's voice and opinions!
I tend to be rather pessimistic... and there's nothing, I mean NOTHING, sure about this selection process! People receving multiple calls, other desperate   , very skilled individuals with 2-3 degrees or several prior job experiences and just graduated people with general cvs. A mess!   
I'm aware that this Traineeship is not the only one on Earth, but it seems that without it a lot of opportunities in the field of EU affairs are precluded...   

My dear Stevedale84,
first of all do not be that pessimistic. Never give up till the end of the procedure. Secondly, as you know it all depends on the Units. If you applied for DG COMP we know that they do call people right the day after the preselection ends. In that case no interview = no internships. As for other DGs it is really unclear to me which procedure they follow. Only January will bring us some news.
In the meantime after the lobbing and the cvs...we should just wait and see what happens. No dispair, no stress. It would be a very good opportunity but if you are good enough to be preselected, well I am sure you will have the skills to prepare for other applications!!
Good luck!

stevedale84 wrote:Probably you're right... it's not possible!   
However, I think it might be interesting to hear other people's voice and opinions!
I tend to be rather pessimistic... and there's nothing, I mean NOTHING, sure about this selection process! People receving multiple calls, other desperate   , very skilled individuals with 2-3 degrees or several prior job experiences and just graduated people with general cvs. A mess!   
I'm aware that this Traineeship is not the only one on Earth, but it seems that without it a lot of opportunities in the field of EU affairs are precluded...   

We are in the same situation: I've been pre-selected for the second time, and so far I've not received any calls.
It has happened the same also the last round: pre-selected, no calls=no traineeship.

Of course, there are people who received a final surprise, namely an official offer, without having any interviews.

However, we should just wait and see what is going to happen.

Hi Haaryboo,

I indeed applied for DG COMP. As the rest said, no need to panic now, there is still plenty of time for DGs to call. DG COMP is known to be quick.

I've had an interview this afternoon (3pm) and I've been told that they were planning on giving a final answer (choosing a candidate) by late afternoon today.

Since I have not received any email, my guess is that: they have picked the candidate and gave him/her a deadline to accept the offer, and only when he/she accepts/rejects it, the other shortlisted candidates will be contacted....

They could've as well put off the process til Monday...

kiar wrote:I've had an interview this afternoon (3pm) and I've been told that they were planning on giving a final answer (choosing a candidate) by late afternoon today.

Since I have not received any email, my guess is that: they have picked the candidate and gave him/her a deadline to accept the offer, and only when he/she accepts/rejects it, the other shortlisted candidates will be contacted....

They could've as well put off the process til Monday...

i don't get it why have they postponed sending the offers until mid January if they're already making decisions

teana wrote:

kiar wrote:I've had an interview this afternoon (3pm) and I've been told that they were planning on giving a final answer (choosing a candidate) by late afternoon today.

Since I have not received any email, my guess is that: they have picked the candidate and gave him/her a deadline to accept the offer, and only when he/she accepts/rejects it, the other shortlisted candidates will be contacted....

They could've as well put off the process til Monday...

i don't get it why have they postponed sending the offers until mid January if they're already making decisions

I belive that they will just make it "official" in mid-January. In this way all Units have enough time to make their choices with no rush. This does not mean that most of the units will have made their choices even in December.

Now some units may prefer to speed up the process and get done with it, while others may just take it easier.

I received 2 emails (DG-ENTR and DG-RTD), but no calls. I called up one of them to ask for more details and asked about interviews. They said there would be no interview - they put 4-5 people on their shortlist but usually candidates are solicited by other DGs so that reduces the list even further. But then this was the Engineering Solutions unit of DG-ENTR so its normal: there are few engineers applying for the EC traineeship, so those who get into the VBB are then targeted by several DGs.

But as Maltina said, the whole thing varies from case to case. The fact is that if you're pre-selected, then you have a profile the EC is potentially interested in, so don't beat yourself up if you don't get any offers. It then all depends on each candidate's profile, the traineeship positions offered, the DG and the specific unit, and how they look for candidates. But in any case, the VBB was only accessible as of Tuesday. You can't expect every unit with a traineeship position to have put all their work on hold to search through the 2500 or so candidates and contacted those shortlisted all in just 4 days. The holidays are coming up so you can expect them to have plenty of other important deadlines.

Relax, enjoy the weekend, and we'll see what next week will bring - or the next month.

The one I received on Thursday:

Dear Mr...,

Thank you for your email addressed to us. An answer is being prepared and will be sent as quickly as possible.
Kind regards,

mr bean wrote:The one I received on Thursday:

Dear Mr...,

Thank you for your email addressed to us. An answer is being prepared and will be sent as quickly as possible.
Kind regards,

which unit was this?

anyone here without calls or interviews?   

tarnum wrote:anyone here without calls or interviews?   

Yes, ME  

And me!   

MoreEU4all wrote:And me!   

It's almost like they circulated an internal email with instructions: 'Nobody should contact this girl under any circumstances'

Reading this forum, I was getting worried that I might be the only one without calls   

It's frustrating, this is the second time I apply, get preselected, but in the end nobody calls. Speaking from my experience, if nobody calls or send email until Friday this means no traineeship.   

tarnum wrote:Reading this forum, I was getting worried that I might be the only one without calls   

It's frustrating, this is the second time I apply, get preselected, but in the end nobody calls. Speaking from my experience, if nobody calls or send email until Friday this means no traineeship.    

Oh No  

What can we do??

Wait until Friday, then look for other options

tarnum wrote:Wait until Friday, then look for other options

What if Friday is too late..? But what could we do anyway in case of no contact til then? Any ideas..?

.. I really had such big hopes    

Hey, thanks for your inputs. I have not received anything too and I'm starting to loose all hope. I believed the selection process was longer, but seems to me that if you're not called within the first 4 days, you can consider yourself almost excluded.

Still, there's people that say that some trainees were selected without any calls/emails/interviews. So, in my opinion, there's still a little hope (not much), specially if you're favourite Unit is known for being silent in the selection process.

Guys if you have a look at past threads you can see that some DGs do not contact people at all beforeoffering them the place. In this case, however, it is important to lobby since the lobby e-mail gives them the information that other Units look for when interviewing such as:
-interest;
-availability;
-competence in the field.
So, if we have contacted our preferred and most suitable Units, then we really have nothing more to do than just wait.
Also, looking into past selections fora, I could see that apparently some DGs have a later access to the BB. Anyone would confirm that?
By the way...let's be positive and constructive!!

MoreEU4all wrote:Guys if you have a look at past threads you can see that some DGs do not contact people at all beforeoffering them the place. In this case, however, it is important to lobby since the lobby e-mail gives them the information that other Units look for when interviewing such as:
-interest;
-availability;
-competence in the field.
So, if we have contacted our preferred and most suitable Units, then we really have nothing more to do than just wait.
Also, looking into past selections fora, I could see that apparently some DGs have a later access to the BB. Anyone would confirm that?
By the way...let's be positive and constructive!!

Thanks for your message. What I really would like to understand is how the timing of this "access" to the BB works. Because seems that even some units within the same DG have different deadlines/access.
Anyway, if everything goes so quick, it would be easier to do the whole process in two weeks and notify to us, the unlucky ones, that we have not been selected and not to keep us waiting for almost a month if, given the circumstances, it is unlikely that we get an offer in the end.

There is still hope, that's true, but it seems to me (but I can be wrong) that even the units that do not contact people for an interview, they do contact and tell people by email they were selected by that unit, before the official deadline in January.

I don't know, I am a bit confused with all this. Maybe they should limit the pre-selected candidades at halp, 1000, or so, that way more candidates have the chance of being at least interviewd. What's the point of a 2000 persons Blue Book if some don't even get that chance, of really being considered, looked up in the BB...

[quote="andradaiulia"]There is still hope, that's true, but it seems to me (but I can be wrong) that even the units that do not contact people for an interview, they do contact and tell people by email they were selected by that unit, before the official deadline in January.

I don't know, I am a bit confused with all this. Maybe they should limit the pre-selected candidades at halp, 1000, or so, that way more candidates have the chance of being at least interviewd. What's the point of a 2000 persons Blue Book if some don't even get that chance, of really being considered, looked up in the BB... [/quot


I agree. this waiting is just so frustrating.

ARC86 wrote:Hey, thanks for your inputs. I have not received anything too and I'm starting to loose all hope. I believed the selection process was longer, but seems to me that if you're not called within the first 4 days, you can consider yourself almost excluded.

Still, there's people that say that some trainees were selected without any calls/emails/interviews. So, in my opinion, there's still a little hope (not much), specially if you're favourite Unit is known for being silent in the selection process.

Well, unfortunately nobody knows the 'habit' of each unit. What I know from what I've seen on this forum is that my preferred DG (Research) has already contacted some people. I do not know unfortunately which units of that DG did..

Personally, I believe that there is still a little hope for those DGs that have not contacted anyone.
Unfortunately (for those who haven't received any calls of course), according to this forum, many Dgs have already contacted their first choices, so we should not expect a surprise in the next weeks.

However, the problem is still there: the selection process can be rationalized because starting from the pre-selection procedure everything become so confusing.