Notice of open competitions — EPSO/AST/113-116/11 — Language editors (EN/IT/MT/SV)
Date: 2011-05-18
Institutions: European Personnel Selection Office
Subjects: EPSO, European civil service, administrative competition, invitation to tender, public contract








CA2011147EN.01000101.xml










18.5.2011   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


CA 147/1





NOTICE OF OPEN COMPETITIONS
EPSO/AST/113-116/11
LANGUAGE EDITORS (EN/IT/MT/SV)
(2011/C 147 A/01)


Are you interested in working for the European institutions?




Does your profile meet our criteria?




Why not apply?




Give yourself a chance to succeed.


The European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) is organising open competitions, based on qualifications and tests, to constitute a reserve from which to recruit

ASSISTANTS (1) (AST 3)


to prepare and check the linguistic quality of texts for the Reports of Cases before the Court of Justice


EPSO/AST/113/11 — LANGUAGE EDITORS WITH ENGLISH AS THEIR MAIN LANGUAGE (EN)


EPSO/AST/114/11 — LANGUAGE EDITORS WITH ITALIAN AS THEIR MAIN LANGUAGE (IT)


EPSO/AST/115/11 — LANGUAGE EDITORS WITH MALTESE AS THEIR MAIN LANGUAGE (MT)


EPSO/AST/116/11 — LANGUAGE EDITORS WITH SWEDISH AS THEIR MAIN LANGUAGE (SV)

The purpose of this competition is to draw up reserve lists from which to fill vacant posts in the institutions of the European Union, in particular the Court of Justice.


Before applying, you should carefully read the guide published in
Official Journal of the European Union C 184 A of 8 July 2010

and on the EPSO website.




This guide is an integral part of the competition notice and will help you to understand the rules governing the procedure and how to apply.


CONTENTS






I.



GENERAL BACKGROUND











II.



DUTIES











III.



ELIGIBILITY











IV.



ADMISSION TESTS











V.



ADMISSION TO THE COMPETITION AND SELECTION BASED ON QUALIFICATIONS











VI.



OPEN COMPETITION











VII.



RESERVE LISTS











VIII.



HOW TO APPLY





I.   GENERAL BACKGROUND












1.


Number of successful candidates






EPSO/AST/113/11 — EN = 3
EPSO/AST/114/11 — IT = 3
EPSO/AST/115/11 — MT = 3
EPSO/AST/116/11 — SV = 3










2.


Remarks






You may not apply for more than one of these competitions.
You must make your choice when you apply online and you will not be able to change it after you have confirmed and validated your online application form.
These competitions are intended for candidates who have a perfect command, both written and spoken, of the language of the competition (mother tongue or equivalent knowledge). If you do not have such a command, we would strongly advise that you do not apply.




II.   DUTIES
The Directorate-General for Translation of the Court of Justice is responsible for preparing the texts to be published in the Court Reports. In this context, proofreading teams directly attached to the translation units perform the following tasks in particular:






—


linguistic checking and editing of documents for publication,










—


checking texts against the originals, which are usually in French,










—


checking for compliance with style conventions and rules,










—


preparing issues of the Court Reports for printing and finalising texts in typographical terms, in collaboration with the Publications Office of the European Union.




The proofreading team is also responsible for monitoring linguistic developments and changes and keeping the lawyer-linguists in the unit up to date. The language editors are responsible for training outside (freelance) staff and checking the quality of documents proofread by them. They work in a computerised environment. They participate actively in the terminology work of the unit and play an essential part in the quality control of translations of the judgments of the Court, the General Court and the Civil Service Tribunal.
A perfect command of the language of the competition is essential. Also required are the ability to fit in well as part of a team, a sense of responsibility, the ability to adapt to a multicultural working environment, and the ability to cope with peaks in the workload.
For operational reasons, language editors must have satisfactory knowledge of French.

The general profile of candidates sought by the institutions is described in point 1.2 of the guide to open competitions.

III.   ELIGIBILITY
On the closing date for online applications, you must fulfil all the following general and specific conditions:












1.


General conditions






(a)


You must be a citizen of one of the Member States of the European Union.










(b)


You must enjoy your full rights as a citizen.










(c)


You must have fulfilled any obligations imposed on you by the laws on military service.










(d)


You must meet the character requirements for the duties involved.


















2.


Specific conditions








2.1.



Qualifications





Either (a)


post-secondary education in the main language of the competition, attested by a diploma;




or (b)


secondary education in the main language of the competition, attested by a diploma giving access to post-secondary education, and at least three years' professional experience.




2.2.



Professional experience

At least two years' professional experience relevant to the duties involved. This experience must have been gained since obtaining the qualification required under 2.1(a) or since obtaining the qualification and professional experience required under 2.1(b).




2.3.



Knowledge of languages











(a)


Language 1







Main language

Perfect command of the language of the competition (English, Italian, Maltese, or Swedish).




and


 










(b)


Language 2







Second language (must be different from language 1)

A thorough knowledge of English, French or German.

Candidates should be aware that assessment test (e) requires at least a passive knowledge of French.





IV.   ADMISSION TESTS
Admission tests will be organised only if the number of candidates applying exceeds 500 per competition. In this case you will be informed via your EPSO account.













1.


Invitation to the tests






You will be invited to sit the tests if you have validated your application in time (see section VIII).




N.B.








1.


By validating your application, you are declaring that you meet the general and specific conditions listed in section III.










2.


You must reserve a date to sit the tests; this must be done by the deadline notified to you via your EPSO account.














2.


Nature and marking of tests






A series of tests comprising multiple-choice questions to assess your general aptitudes and competencies as regards:




Test (a)


Verbal reasoning


Marking: this test will be marked out of 20
Pass mark:10




Test (b)


Numerical reasoning


Marking: this test will be marked out of 10




Test (c)


Abstract reasoning


Marking: this test will be marked out of 10




 


The aggregate pass mark for tests (b) and (c) is 10










3.


Language of the tests






Language 1




V.   ADMISSION TO THE COMPETITION AND SELECTION BASED ON QUALIFICATIONS
1.   Procedure
Initially, compliance with the general and specific conditions will be checked on the basis of the information given in your online application.






(a)


Your answers to the questions relating to the general and specific conditions will be processed to determine whether you can be included in the list of candidates who fulfil all the conditions for admission to the competition.
If prior admission tests are organised, candidates' compliance with the general and specific conditions will be checked in descending order of their marks in those tests until a list has been compiled of 500 candidates per competition who:






—


have obtained the best marks (and at least pass marks) in the admission tests, and










—


satisfy the eligibility conditions.




Where a number of candidates tie for the last available place, they will all be included in the selection phase based on qualifications. Online applications of candidates below the threshold will not be examined.










(b)


The selection board will then screen the candidates who fulfil the conditions for admission to the competition on the basis of their qualifications to identify those whose profile (particularly their diplomas and professional experience) best matches the duties and selection criteria set out in this competition notice. This selection is carried out solely on the basis of the information you provided in the ‘Talent Screener’ tab and takes place in two stages:






—


a first selection based on qualifications will be made solely on the basis of the responses ticked under the ‘Talent Screener’ tab of the online application form and the weighting assigned to each of the questions. The selection board will set the weighting (1 to 3) according to the importance attached to each criterion set out in point 3 below. The online applications of the candidates who obtain the highest number of points will then go through to a second selection stage,










—


the number of files to be examined during the second stage will be approximately three times the number of candidates who will be invited to the assessment tests for each competition. The selection board will examine candidates' answers and will award 0 to 4 points for each answer; the points are then multiplied by the weighting for each question.








The selection board will then draw up a list of candidates in the order of the points awarded. The number of candidates invited to the assessment tests (2) will, for each competition, not exceed four times the number of successful candidates indicated in this competition notice and will be published on EPSO's website (www.eu-careers.eu) before the admission stage.
2.   Verification of information given by candidates
Following the assessment tests, and in the light of the results, EPSO will verify the information given by candidates in their online applications for compliance with the general conditions and the selection board will do the same as regards the specific conditions and selection criteria. In assessing qualifications, supporting documents will be taken into account only to confirm the information already given under the ‘Talent Screener’ tab. If verification shows that the information given is not borne out by the appropriate supporting documents, candidates will be disqualified.
Applications will be verified for candidates with the highest aggregate marks, and at least pass marks, in tests (d), (e), (f), and (g), in descending order. These candidates must also have obtained pass marks in the aptitude tests (a), (b), and (c). Verification will continue until the number of candidates who can be placed on the reserve list and who actually fulfil all the conditions for admission reaches the threshold. The files of candidates below this threshold will not be examined.
3.   Selection criteria
For the selection based on qualifications, the following criteria will be taken into consideration by the selection board:






1.


Qualifications relevant to the duties involved.










2.


Professional experience relevant to the duties involved, gained since obtaining the qualifications required under section III 2.1(a) or (b).










3.


Professional experience of proofreading documents for publication.










4.


Professional experience of checking the linguistic quality of documents for publication.










5.


Professional experience of typographical correction of documents for publication.










6.


Knowledge of French.










7.


Knowledge of one or more official languages of the European Union other than French and languages 1 and 2.




VI.   OPEN COMPETITION












1.


Invitation






If you are one of the candidates (3):






—


who obtained one of the highest marks in the admission tests (if such tests were held, see section IV) and at least the pass marks,
and










—


the information given in your online application shows that you fulfil the general and specific conditions listed in section III,
and










—


you obtained one of the highest marks in the selection based on qualifications,




you will be invited to sit the assessment tests (4), which will normally be held in Brussels or Luxembourg over the course of one or two days.










2.


Assessment tests






You will be assessed on your reasoning competencies if they have not already been assessed in admission tests. Assessment will be by means of:






(a)


a verbal reasoning test;










(b)


a numerical reasoning test;










(c)


an abstract reasoning test.




You will also be assessed on your specific competencies in the field and the following general competencies:






—


analysis and problem-solving,










—


communication,










—


delivering quality and results,










—


learning and development,










—


prioritising and organising,










—


resilience,










—


working with others.




Details of how these competencies are defined are set out in point 1.2 of the guide to open competitions.
The above competencies are tested by means of:






(d)


proofreading, correcting and finalising one or more legal texts in the language of the competition. Proofreading will cover both the linguistic (grammar, spelling and punctuation) and typographical aspects. Candidates must give the reasons for the corrections made;










(e)


checking and correcting a legal text in the language of the competition, comparing it with the French original;










(f)


a group exercise;










(g)


a structured interview.














3.


Language of tests






Language 1 for tests (a), (b), (c), (d) and (e).
Language 2 for tests (f) and (g).










4.


Marking






Reasoning skills






(a)


Verbal: marked out of 20
Pass mark: 10










(b)


Numerical: marked out of 10










(c)


Abstract: marked out of 10
Aggregate pass mark for tests (b) and (c): 10




Tests (a), (b), and (c) are eliminatory; the marks are not added to the marks for the other assessment tests.
Specific competencies






(d)


Marked out of 70
Pass mark: 35










(e)


Marked out of 30
Pass mark: 15
Weighting: 60 % of the total marks




General competencies
Marks: 0-70 in total for all general competencies (10 per competency)
Pass mark:






 


3 for each competency and










 


an aggregate of 35 for all seven general competencies.




Weighting: 40 % of the total marks




VII.   RESERVE LISTS












1.


Candidates placed on the reserve lists






The selection board will place you on the reserve list (5) (see number of successful candidates, section I.1) if you are among the candidates who satisfy all the conditions set out in section V.










2.


Classification






Lists will be drawn up for each competition and names will be listed in alphabetical order.




VIII.   HOW TO APPLY












1.


Online application






You must apply online by following the instructions on the EPSO website and particularly in the online application manual.
Deadline (including validation): 21 June 2011 at 12.00 (midday), Brussels time.










2.


Submission of application files






At a later stage, if you are one of the candidates invited to the assessment tests, you will have to submit a full application file (signed online application form and supporting documents) when requested.
Closing date: you will be informed of the closing date solely via your EPSO account.
Details: see point 2.2 of the guide to open competitions.






(1)  Any reference in this notice to a person of the male sex must be deemed also to constitute a reference to a person of the female sex.

(2)  Candidates who have not been invited to the assessment tests can obtain the results of their assessment and the weighting assigned to each question by the selection board by submitting a request within 10 calendar days of being notified that they will not be admitted to the competition.

(3)  Where a number of candidates tie for the last available place, they will all be invited to the assessment tests.

(4)  For organisational reasons, the reasoning tests may be organised in test centres in the Member States and/or in Brussels, separately from the other assessment tests.

(5)  Where a number of candidates tie for the last available place, they will all be placed on the reserve list.