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NOTICE OF OPEN COMPETITION EPSO/AST/6/05

(2005/C 26A/02)

The European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) is organising the following open competition, based on tests, to constitute a reserve pool from which to recruit

CLERICAL OFFICERS (1) (C*1) (2)in the buildings management sector

CONTENTS

A.DUTIES AND ELIGIBILITY (PROFILE OF APPLICANTS)

Open competition EPSO/AST/6/05 is being held to recruit clerical officers (C*1) in the buildings management sector.

The purpose of this competition is to draw up a reserve list from which to fill vacant posts in the Institutions of the European Union.

Number of successful candidates: 30

The European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) is publishing the following notices of open competitions in parallel:

Please note that the tests for the above competitions may be held simultaneously. You may therefore apply for one of these competitions only. You must choose which one when you register online, and cannot change your choice after the closing date for registration.

I.   DUTIES

Executive and supervisory tasks belonging to buildings management, concerning mainly the structure of buildings (including external coverings, water-proofing and carpentry), technical installations in buildings (high- and low-voltage installations, air conditioning systems, plumbing, etc.), finishings (floor, wall and ceiling coverings, carpentry, furniture and equipment, etc.) and hygiene services (cleaning, waste disposal, etc.).

These duties require a sound practical knowledge of the areas listed above as well as sound knowledge of the computer systems used in this field.

By way of indication, the duties may include:

The European institutions place particular importance on the ability of applicants to grasp problems of all kinds, often complex in nature, to react rapidly to changing circumstances and to communicate effectively. You will have to show initiative and imagination and be highly motivated. You should be able to work frequently under pressure, both on your own and in a team, and to adjust to a multicultural working environment. You must be prepared to develop your professional skills throughout your career.

II.   ELIGIBILITY (PROFILE OF APPLICANTS)

You may apply for this competition if, on the closing date for online registration (see section C), you meet the following requirements:

1.   Certificates, diplomas and professional experience

You must have:

The selection board will allow for differences between education systems. As a general guide see the examples of the minimum qualifications required — annexed to the Guide for Applicants (3) (on the EPSO website) — as according to category and which bear no effect on the more specific conditions which may be imposed by a particular notice of competition.

2.   Knowledge of languages  (4)

You must have:

Please give details of which languages you know on your online registration form (5).

After the closing date for applications, you may not change the languages in which you have chosen to take the tests.

All EPSO's communications to candidates for this competition will be in English, French or German. You may address EPSO in any official EU language.

3.   General terms and conditions

You must:

B.SUCCESSIVE STAGES OF THE COMPETITION

1.   Pre-selection tests - marking

You will sit tests (a), (b), and (c) in your second language, as specified on the online registration form.

Wrong answers in the pre-selection tests will not be penalised.

For all the pre-selection tests the 90 best candidates (6) having obtained the pass mark in each of these tests will be invited to submit a full application with a view to being admitted to the competition.

The selection board will mark your written test (d) if, after considering your application, it establishes that you meet all the eligibility criteria.

NOTE: for organisational reasons, written test (d) will be held on the same day as the pre-selection tests (a), (b) and (c).

The fact that you have been invited to sit written test (d) at the same time as pre-selection tests (a), (b) and (c) does not mean you have been admitted to the competition.

2.   Written test - marking

3.   Oral test - marking

4.   Date and time allowed for the tests

The pre-selection tests and the written test will be held simultaneously for all applicants at one or more centres in the European Union.

The date of the pre-selection and other tests, and the time allowed for them, will be scheduled by the European Personnel Selection Office and cannot be changed at an applicant's request. These details will be notified when you receive your invitation to the tests.

5.   Reserve list

The selection board will draw up a reserve list, divided into (no more than four) merit classes sorted in alphabetical order, of the best candidates  (6) (see section A, number of successful candidates) in written test (d) and oral test (e) who have obtained the pass mark in each of these tests.

The reserve list, together with its expiry date, will be published  (7) in the Official Journal of the European Union and on the EPSO website (8).

C.   HOW TO APPLY

Please refer also to the Guide for Applicants  (3), which can be found on the EPSO website  (8). Here you can find detailed instructions to help you submit your application correctly.

1.   Creation of an EPSO profile/Electronic inscription

Before submitting your inscription, you should carefully check whether you meet all the eligibility criteria (see section A, particularly concerning the types of diploma and professional experience required).

If you want to apply, you must register via the internet by going to the EPSO website  (8) and following the instructions there concerning the various stages of the procedure.

It is your responsibility to complete your online registration in time (9). We strongly advise you not to wait until the last few days before applying, since heavy internet traffic or a fault with your internet connection could lead to the online registration being terminated before you complete it, thereby obliging you to repeat the whole process. You will no longer be able to register your inscription once the deadline for the submission of registration has passed.

On completion of your online registration, you will receive on screen a registration number which you must note - this will be your reference number in all matters concerning your application. Once you receive this number, the process is finished - it is the confirmation that we have registered the data you entered.

If you do not receive a number, your inscription has not been registered!

Please note that you must have an e-mail address. This will be used to identify the candidate. The information you must enter in your registration includes the languages you choose (see A.II.2) as well as the details of your qualifications (title, name of issuing establishment and date obtained).

Once registered, you can use the website  (8) (click on ‘Ongoing competitions’) to follow the progress of the competition.

If you have a disability that prevents you from registering online, you may request, preferably by fax, a paper version of the form (10), which you should fill in, sign and return by registered mail, postmarked no later than the closing date for registration. All subsequent communication between EPSO and you will be by post.

You must enclose with your application form a certificate attesting your disability, issued by a recognised body. You should also set out on a separate sheet of paper any special arrangements you think are needed to make it easier for you to take part in the tests.

The closing date for registration is 3 March 2005. Online registration will not be possible after 12.00 noon Brussels time on that day.

NB:Within one month following the final date for registration, EPSO will invite you to confirm your inscription and, where applicable, to choose the city in which you wish to sit the pre-selection tests/written test.The invitation and confirmation will take place solely via your EPSO profile.If you do not confirm your inscription within two months following the final date for registration, EPSO will consider that you have withdrawn your application. Your application will therefore be terminated.

2.   Pre-selection tests/written test

The applicants invited to the pre-selection tests/written test will be those who are found to meet the general terms and conditions (see A.II.3) after EPSO has carried out a preliminary eligibility check based on the information given in the registration forms, and who have confirmed their inscription in time.

3.   Invitation to pre-selection and other tests

Information about the invitation to attend the pre-selection tests/written test, the full application form and the invitation to the oral test will be available only on the EPSO website  (8). You can access it using the user name and password you specify when registering. You are responsible for updating, via your EPSO profile, any change in your postal and/or e-mail address.

You are responsible for keeping track of the progress of the competition, ensuring that for each stage you can access the information relevant to your application by consulting your EPSO profile. If you find that you cannot do this, you must notify EPSO immediately by e-mail (11).

As far as possible you will be asked to sit the pre-selection tests and the written test in the city you choose when you confirm your inscription. For organisational reasons you will not be able to switch to another venue unless you can prove that you have changed residence and have informed EPSO of this no later than three weeks before the planned date of the pre-selection tests/written test.

Oral tests will normally be held in Brussels.

4.   Full application

The best candidates  (6) as referred to in section B.1 will be asked to print and complete the full application form which they will find in their EPSO profile on the website  (8). It must be sent in by the closing date (12).

Documents to enclose with the application form

Your application must give full details of your citizenship, studies and professional experience. You should also enclose with your application the following documents:

You should send only unauthenticated photocopies of these documents.

You must fill in the application form in full, i.e. you may not simply refer to any previous application forms submitted or to any other documents enclosed with such applications. None of the documents submitted with your application will be returned.

Signing and sending the form

It is your responsibility to make sure that your application form, duly completed, signed and accompanied by all the supporting documents, is sent in time (12)by registered post (the postmark will serve as proof of the date of sending) to the following address:

Scrutiny of applications

The selection board will examine the files of the best candidates in the pre-selection tests who have obtained the pass mark in each of the tests to determine whether they meet the conditions laid down in section A.II.1 and 2 of this notice. The selection board will then mark the written test of the candidates who meet all the conditions for admission set out in section A.II. and will invite the best candidates (see B.2) to the oral test.

You will automatically be disqualified if:

NB: Candidates who are successful in the pre-selection tests but fail to return the full application form duly completed and signed and accompanied by the requisite supporting documents within the time limit specified  (12), will not be admitted to the next stage of the competition.

5.   Establishment of the reserve list

The best candidates (see B.5) will be included in the reserve list.

6.   If, at any stage in the procedure, it is established that the information on your electronic registration form or official application form is incorrect you will be disqualified from the competition.

7.   To facilitate the administration of the competition, in all correspondence you should give yourFULL NAME AS IN YOUR APPLICATION, THE NUMBER OF THE COMPETITION AND YOUR MAIN LANGUAGE, TOGETHER WITH THE REFERENCE NUMBER YOU RECEIVE WHEN YOUR ONLINE INSCRIPTION IS ACCEPTED.

D.GENERAL INFORMATION

1.   Equal opportunities

The European Union Institutions apply a policy of equal opportunities and accept applications without distinction on the grounds of sex, race, colour, ethnic or social origin, genetic characteristics, language, religious, political or other convictions or opinions, membership of a national minority, financial situation, birth, disability, age, sexual orientation, marital status or family situation.

2.   Selection board

A selection board is appointed for each competition. It is made up of members representing both the Administration and the Staff Committee of the Institutions. The names of the members of the selection board will be published on the EPSO website  (8) approximately a fortnight before the pre-selection tests/written test.

You are strictly forbidden to make any contact with the members of the selection board, either directly or indirectly. Any infringement of this rule will lead to you being disqualified from the competition.

The European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) is responsible for all communication with candidates until the competition is completed.

3.   Approximate timetable

The competition will take approximately nine months starting from the date of confirmation of inscription, depending on the number of applicants.

Full details will be available on the EPSO website  (8).

4.   Requests for review - appeal procedures - complaints to the European Ombudsman

See Annex.

5.   Recruitment

If you are placed on the reserve list you will be eligible for appointment as a probationary official as and when required by the European Institutions, in Brussels, Luxembourg or any other place of activity.

If you are offered a post, you will be asked to produce the originals of all the requisite documents such as diplomas, so that copies can be authenticated.

Recruitment will depend on vacant posts and funds becoming available.

Depending on the nature of a post, candidates on the reserve list may initially be offered a temporary contract; in this case, their names will remain on the reserve list.

6.   You should note that the retirement age for staff is laid down in the Staff Regulations as follows:

7.   Grade

Clerical officers will be recruited from the reserve list at grade C*1.

8.   Remuneration

Basic monthly salary as at 1 January 2005:

grade C*1, first step: EUR 2 341,61

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(1)  The European Union institutions apply a policy of equal opportunities and accept applications without distinction on the grounds of sex, race, colour, ethnic or social origin, genetic characteristics, language, religious, political or other convictions or opinions, membership of a national minority, financial situation, birth, disability, age, sexual orientation, marital status or family situation.

(2)  The Council has adopted new Staff Regulations involving a new career structure. Recruitment will be based on the new Staff Regulations, in accordance with Annex XIII, Section 2, and in particular Article 12 thereof (see

http://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/personnel_administration/statut/tocen100.pdf).

(3)  http://europa.eu.int/epso/on-line-applications/guide_en.htm

(4)  Article 2 of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 401/2004 of 23 February 2004 states that ‘until 31 December 2010, general competitions shall also be held for the recruitment of officials having one of the existing 11 official languages as their main language’.

(5)  For practical reasons this form is available only in English, French and German.

(6)  If a number of candidates have obtained the same number of marks for the last place, the selection board will admit all of them.

(7)  A successful candidate may explicitly request that his/her name not be published.

(8)  http://europa.eu.int/epso.

(9)  No later than 12.00 noon, Brussels time, on 3 March 2005.

(10)  EPSO - Info-recruitment — C-80 0/48 - B-1049 Brussels - Fax: + 32 2295 74 88.

(11)  E-mail address: epso-AST/6/05-en@cec.eu.int.

(12)  The closing date will be indicated in good time in your EPSO profile.

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ANNEX

REQUESTS FOR REVIEW - APPEAL PROCEDURES - COMPLAINTS TO THE EUROPEAN OMBUDSMAN

If, at any stage of the competition, you consider that your interests have been prejudiced by a particular decision, you can take one of the following courses of action:

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