Lobbying/Emails/Interviews

Hey all! Let's worry about the lobbying/emailing/interviewing process together!

Did you choose to lobby? Have you heard back anything positive?

Did you get a phone interview? Was it manageable?

Have you received random, miscellaneous emails that convinced you that you were getting a trainee position?

Share your experiences, please and thanks!

Hi all,
Congrats for those who were pre-selected.
Just a note regarding lobbying, after contacting DG DEVCO, I received an automated email. I will just mention the important parts:

The selection process will start on 7th December 2016 and the Head of Units will then look for the most suitable candidates according to their needs and the number of places available.

All the DG's will make the reservations on 15th December 2016. The selection process will be closed.

If you are selected, you will receive personally an offer from the Traineeship Office as from the 20th January 2017. If, however, you have not received any word by 31 January for the period beginning in March, you may consider that your application has not been successful.

So my question is, if we only found out that we were pre selected yesterday, how did they start the selection process on the 7th We were told that it is not allowed to lobby before getting a confirmation and already in 2 days all DG's will be making the reservations.

This is totally unfair but oh well Best of luck to all nevertheless.

Hmm, well that seems to corroborate another applicant's experience; he/she lobbied yesterday and was told that he/she was a week too late. WELP! Fingers crossed for the rest of us.

Hey!

I just got an email asking me to confirm my interest in working as a trainee for a unit. Does this mean that I am selected, or that I made it to the very final round and they are choosing from a few applicants? Honestly I do not know whether I should be happy at this point, it drives me completely crazy!

I also received an email saying I was selected for the traineeship period starting in March but it appears to be "non-binding" because "the only official and binding offer will be sent to you on a later date". Make of that what you will, lol. I think there's a good chance that means you will be selected but don't go booking tickets just yet. Bad thing is, they'll confirm late in January which leaves very little time for all the preparations.

LeireO wrote:Hey!

I just got an email asking me to confirm my interest in working as a trainee for a unit. Does this mean that I am selected, or that I made it to the very final round and they are choosing from a few applicants?

Hmm, which unit was this, if you don't mind my asking? If my trawling through last year's posts is any indicator, I think this means you're on the shortlist at least. Congrats!!

Hi all! congratulations to those that have arrived to this phase. I also got an email to confirm a possible traineeship in a specific unit. If i confirm this opportunity do you know if i will still be visible to the rest of the units or will they take me away from the blue book?

Thank you!

Hi!

From what I understood, confirming your interest does in no way guarantee you will be given that position. Checking the info shared by applicants last year, some candidates had several units interested in them and it was up to whoever booked them first on the day when booking trainees became available. Even then, they were still visible to other units/DGs, however the other units had no longer the option to book them. Apparently then some may get in touch with you and you could eventually contact the unit that booked you first to let them know you are interested in another offer.

Something along those lines.

I did lobby and I have an interview scheduled for tomorrow with the DG Comp. maybe someone already had one and is willing to share their experience?

Hello everyone! I had two interviews so far one told me I'll have final answer in January and the other one in couple of days.. may I ask you which units already sent you an email offering a traineeship?
Karolis, regarding the interviews it was very informal. They talked about what kind of missions the trainee would have in the unit, asked about motivations and some questions about my previous working experiences. It lasted around 10 minutes !
Congratulations once again for making it to this step

Thanks for your post, it was really useful. Were the interviews also with DG COmp?

No, for EEAS good luck for your interview and let us know how it goes !

Will do, thanks

KarolisP wrote:I did lobby and I have an interview scheduled for tomorrow with the DG Comp. maybe someone already had one and is willing to share their experience?

Hi, congrats! may I ask when u started to lobby? Because I only started after getting the confirmation from the EC a few days ago and I would just like to know whether or not I still stand a chance, since i haven't been contacted by anyone yet.

Thanks.

I started on Monday, the same date as they released the preselection results. Some DGs are faster than others, so it is hard to say if you should still lobby, however I believe that trying will definitely not hurt your chances.

FYI, got a reply from DG FISMA asking me the name the specific unit(s) I am interested in joining. Makes a lot of sense but I hadn't thought of doing that!

Also, there's a specific unit in DG JUST I am interested in but no address was provided, is there any way I can still lobby? Don't know anyone there unfortunately.

I don't see the point of sending random desperate emails to random people or what you call "lobbying" like you are influencing someone. All units, who are looking for a trainee, have an incentive to find the best trainee possible so they simply scan through people in the Blue Book.

If you write an e-mail to someone he/she will be like "K. I'll consider you." I don't think that any DG is desperate enough for a trainee that they will take whoever contacts them first. They don't make binding decisions, nor do they make promises. Honestly, if I worked at a DG and someone spammed my inbox because he thought he could play the system I'd think twice before selecting him.

For reference, I got contacted by 4 DGs yesterday and today without contacting a single person. If someone has shortcomings in their CV I doubt that spamming DGs would help them. People can smell desperation.

candidatus wrote:I don't see the point of sending random desperate emails to random people or what you call "lobbying" like you are influencing someone.

Totally agree with you. I still haven't been contacted though.. no idea what to think at this point.

I just had a phone call with DG Comp, where they said that they are interested in the CV that I sent them on Monday and arranged a second and real interview this Friday.

So, do whatever you want, but I do not see any reason why not to lobby.

K.

P.S. they also mentioned that they can only start booking the trainees on Friday.

I can't speak for others, but in my case I have a very specific skill set and a reasonably paid full time job. I like my role. I am happy to take unpaid leave and earn 25% of my normal salary for 5 months in order to give back to the EU by using my skills, as I think it could be an interesting experience. I'm not going to do that in order to push random paper though.

Now, there are only a few units at the EC that do my type of work, hence why I would prefer to apply with them directly. At this point in my career I'd rather not get selected by a random unit to do completely unrelated work - I would only turn down the offer. So I think lobbying makes sense. If you're open to anything, I guess it is a different story.

Hello, guys! I have a question to non-EU preselected candidates. Did any of you got contacted by the DGs? Did you lobby? I've sent several emails to the DGs I am most interested in on Monday and was not contacted yet, nor got any other emails/calls from the EC yet.

I'm just wondering whether those not contacted at all might in the end get a place.

Hey Karolis! Which email did you send your CV to? Was it the generic email provided at the end of the pre selection email? Or did you reach out to specific unit heads?

Also, a non-EU applicant here. No contact with the DGs so far.

Hello everyone! Congratulations to everyone who made it into the Blue Book.
Has anyone received e-mails/interviews from any of the External Relations DG's or agencies?
Ex: EEAS, Trade, EASME, FPI, NEAR etc.

If so, what has your experience been? how are interviews like? any e-mails or information given related to the work or contracts thereof?

Thanks!

Hello! I have received some interest/interest from 5 teams so far, but sadly one of them which was my no1 already rejected me. I lobbied, but also was contacted independantly by other units. I am an economist which I think helps as all teams are linked to economics so far. My absolute preference would have been DG Comp, but that seems rather impossible..

Another non-eu here... nothing so far... :S Let's see if by friday we get something.

Hello everyone,

and congratulations for being selected, and best of luck with future applications for those who have not.

I am also in, with a profile of social/political sciences and an option for scientific research/administration/management.

I haven't received any email from any Unit/DG until now, I strongly hope I will.

Best,
Adina

thepseudointellectual wrote:Hey all! Let's worry about the lobbying/emailing/interviewing process together!

Did you choose to lobby? Have you heard back anything positive?

Did you get a phone interview? Was it manageable?

Have you received random, miscellaneous emails that convinced you that you were getting a trainee position?

Share your experiences, please and thanks!

Hei!

I did not lobby and was about to start to do so yesterday after consulting former trainees who advised me to send as many e-mails as possible when I got a call from the Head of Unit from one of the DGs. It was quite unexpected as I did not receive any e-mail before and it was already 7PM.

It was very informal, it took about 15 miutes, I was told that the Head of Unit was impressed by my motivation and that although they were told not to give any promises I am his "number one" choice and he would like to book me.

He explained what his unit does, asked about my experience and whether I would like to perform the tasks he has in mind for his trainee. Then he told me what happens next, meaning that he "books" me and that in case another unit is interested, I can still choose who I want to work with.

Good luck & have a good day,

Aga

Does anyone know what happens when 2 units book same person? I had a call with a DG which I did not put in my preferences but that unit does really interesting work, closely linked to my background. I am just wondering if we have any "say"..

eskl wrote:Does anyone know what happens when 2 units book same person? I had a call with a DG which I did not put in my preferences but that unit does really interesting work, closely linked to my background. I am just wondering if we have any "say"..

According to the Head of Unit that called me yesterday, we do have a say - he said that if I get another call/e-mail from a different unit and I am more interested in it, I can request "un-booking" so that the second unit can do so.

I have a question: do we have any access to the VBB, to check whether some unit/dg booked us? If this happens, will we receive any email/notification?