Notice of open competitions
Date: 2013-07-11
Institutions: European Personnel Selection Office
Subjects: EPSO, administrator, competition (EU), information profession








CA2013199EN.01000101.xml










11.7.2013   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


CA 199/1






NOTICE OF OPEN COMPETITIONS

(2013/C 199 A/01)
The European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) is organising the following open competitions, based on tests, to constitute a reserve from which to recruit translators (1) (AD 5).






 



EPSO/AD/260/13 — DANISH-LANGUAGE (DA) TRANSLATORS











 



EPSO/AD/261/13 — ENGLISH-LANGUAGE (EN) TRANSLATORS











 



EPSO/AD/262/13 — FRENCH-LANGUAGE (FR) TRANSLATORS











 



EPSO/AD/263/13 — ITALIAN-LANGUAGE (IT) TRANSLATORS











 



EPSO/AD/264/13 — MALTESE-LANGUAGE (MT) TRANSLATORS











 



EPSO/AD/265/13 — DUTCH-LANGUAGE (NL) TRANSLATORS











 



EPSO/AD/266/13 — SLOVENIAN-LANGUAGE (SL) TRANSLATORS





The purpose of these competitions is to draw up reserve lists from which to fill vacant posts in the institutions of the European Union.


Before applying, you should carefully read the guide to open competitions published in Official Journal C 270 A of 7 September 2012 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.



TRANSLATION TESTS











VI.



ASSESSMENT CENTRE











VII.



RESERVE LIST











VIII.



HOW TO APPLY





I.   GENERAL BACKGROUND














1.


Number of successful candidates sought






 



Option 1 — Option 2






EPSO/AD/260/13 — DA


EPSO/AD/261/13 — EN


EPSO/AD/262/13 — FR


EPSO/AD/263/13 — IT


EPSO/AD/264/13 — MT


EPSO/AD/265/13 — NL


EPSO/AD/266/13 — SL




20


9


10


30


20


21


13




14


40


19


6


26


16


4











2.


Remarks






Each competition includes two options. You may not apply for more than one competition or more than one option.
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 with a perfect command (2), both written and spoken, of the competition language (mother tongue or equivalent) and a thorough knowledge of their first and second source languages. If you are not up to this standard, we would strongly advise you not to apply.





II.   DUTIES
AD 5 is the starting grade for a career as an administrator — linguistic or other — in the European institutions.
The principal role of linguistic administrators (translators) is to deliver high-quality translations by the deadlines set and to provide linguistic advice so as to enable the institution or body for which they work to fulfil its mission.
Their duties include translation from at least two foreign languages into their main language, revision of translations from those languages, and terminology research. The texts involved, which are often complex, generally deal with political, legal, economic/financial, scientific or technical subjects encompassing all the European Union's areas of activity. Performing these tasks requires the intensive use of specific IT and related tools.
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

A level of education which corresponds to completed university studies of at least three years attested by a diploma.




2.2.



Professional experience

No professional experience is required.




2.3.



Knowledge of languages



Following the judgment given by the Court of Justice of the European Union (Grand Chamber) in Case C-566/10 P, Italian Republic v Commission, the EU institutions must state the reasons for limiting the choice of second language in these competitions to a small number of official EU languages.




Candidates are therefore informed that the second language options in these competitions have been defined in line with the interests of the service, which require new recruits to be immediately operational and capable of communicating effectively in their daily work. Otherwise the efficient functioning of the institutions could be severely impaired.




It has long been the practice to use mainly English, French and German for internal communication in the EU institutions, and these are also the languages most often needed when communicating with the outside world and handling cases. Moreover, these three are by far the most common choices where candidates for competitions are free to choose their second language. This confirms what is currently expected of candidates for European Union posts in terms of their level of education and professional skills, namely that they should be proficient in at least one of these languages. Consequently, in balancing the interests and needs of the service and the abilities of candidates, and given the particular field of these competitions, it is legitimate to organise tests in the three languages so as to ensure that all candidates are proficient in at least one of them for the purposes of work, whatever their first official language.




To ensure equal treatment for all candidates, everyone — including those whose first official language is one of the three — must take tests in their second language, chosen from among these three. Assessing specific competencies in this way allows the institutions to evaluate candidates' ability to be immediately operational in an environment that closely matches the reality they would face on the job. None of this affects the possibility of later language training to enable staff to work in a third language, as required under Article 45(2) of the Staff Regulations.







The official languages of the European Union are:





BG (Bulgarian)
CS (Czech)
DA (Danish)
DE (German)
EL (Greek)
EN (English)
ES (Spanish)
ET (Estonian)


FI (Finnish)
FR (French)
GA (Irish)
HR (Croatian)
HU (Hungarian)
IT (Italian)
LT (Lithuanian)
LV (Latvian)


MT (Maltese)
NL (Dutch)
PL (Polish)
PT (Portuguese)
RO (Romanian)
SK (Slovak)
SL (Slovenian)
SV (Swedish)





OPTION 1



 





Language 1









—



Main language

A perfect command of the language of the competition









Language 2









—



First source language (must be different from language 1)

A thorough knowledge of one of the following languages:






—


DE (German), EN (English) or FR (French)













Language 3









—



Second source language (must be different from languages 1 and 2)

A thorough knowledge of one of the following languages:






—


DE (German), EN (English) or FR (French)













OPTION 2



 





Language 1









—



Main language

A perfect command of the language of the competition









Language 2









—



First source language (must be different from language 1)

A thorough knowledge of one of the following languages:






—


EN (English), FR (French) and DE (German)













Language 3









—



Second source language (must be different from language 1 and not, English, French or German)

A thorough knowledge of one of the official languages of the European Union








IV.   ADMISSION TESTS
The admission tests are organised by EPSO and you will take them on a computer. The selection board decides on the difficulty of the tests and approves their subject matter on the basis of proposals made by EPSO.













1.


Invitation






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

Important:







1.


By validating your application you declare 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: out of 20





Test (b)



Numerical reasoning


Marking: out of 10
Pass mark: 4





Test (c)



Abstract reasoning


Marking: out of 10




 


Aggregate pass mark for tests (a) and (c): 15





Test (d)



Language comprehension


Marking: out of 10
Pass mark: 5





Test (e)



Language comprehension


Marking: out of 10
Pass mark: 5










3.


Language of the tests






Language 1: tests (a), (b) and (c)
Language 2: test (d)
Language 3: test (e)




V.   TRANSLATION TESTS (3)













1.


Invitation to the tests






You will be invited to sit the translation tests to assess your specific competencies:






—


if you pass all the admission tests, and










—


if you (4) have one of the highest aggregate marks for tests (a), (c), (d) and (e), and










—


if checks on the information given in your online application (5) show that you fulfil the general and specific conditions listed in Section III.




Admission test (b) is eliminatory, but the mark obtained does not count towards the overall mark that determines which candidates are invited to the translation tests.
For each competition and option, the number of candidates invited to the translation tests will be approximately three times the number of successful candidates sought that is indicated in this competition notice; it will be published on EPSO's website (http://blogs.ec.europa.eu/eu-careers.info/).
The translation tests will be held in test centres in the Member States.










2.


Nature and marking of tests












(a)


A translation from language 2 to language 1 (with dictionary)










(b)


A translation from language 3 to language 1 (with dictionary)




Each translation test will be marked out of 80.
Pass mark: 40

If you fail test (a), test (b) will not be marked.





VI.   ASSESSMENT CENTRE















1.


Invitation






You will be invited to the assessment centre, normally for a one-day session in Brussels, if you pass the translation tests with one of the highest aggregate marks. Your marks in those tests will be added to your marks in the assessment centre tests.
For each competition and option, the number of candidates invited to the assessment centre will be approximately two times the number of successful candidates sought that is indicated in the competition notice; it will be published on EPSO's website (http://blogs.ec.europa.eu/eu-careers.info/).










2.


Assessment centre






The purpose of the assessment centre is to assess your general competencies (6) in your first source language, which must be different from language 1: English (EN), French (FR) or German (DE),
by means of:






(c)


a structured interview










(d)


a group exercise










(e)


an oral presentation.









Each general competency will be tested as follows:





 



Structured interview




Group exercise




Oral presentation





Analysis and problem-solving


 



x




x





Communicating



x



 



x





Delivering quality and results



x



 



x





Learning and development



x




x



 




Prioritising and organising


 



x




x





Resilience



x



 



x





Working with others



x




x



 




Leadership



x




x



 










3.


Marking






The tests are marked out of a total of 80 for all general competencies (10 per competency).
Pass mark: an aggregate of 40 for the eight general competencies.










4.


Weighting






Your overall mark is based on your marks for the translation tests (specific competencies) and the assessment centre tests (general competencies) and will be calculated as follows:

Specific competencies: tests (a) and (b): 65 % of the overall mark


General competencies: tests (c), (d) and (e): 35 % of the overall mark





VII.   RESERVE LISTS












1.


Candidates placed on the reserve lists (7)







The selection board will place your name on the reserve list:






—


if you (8) pass the translation tests and the assessment centre tests with one of the highest aggregate marks, and










—


if your supporting documents show that you meet all the eligibility requirements.




Supporting documents will be verified in descending order of merit 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. If verification shows that the information (9) given in your online application form is not borne out by appropriate supporting documents, you will be disqualified from the competition.










2.


Classification






Names will be listed in alphabetical order for each competition and option.




VIII.   HOW TO APPLY












1.


Online application






You must apply online, following the instructions on the EPSO website and particularly in the online application manual.

Deadline (including validation): 13 August 2013 at 12.00 (midday), Brussels time.










2.


Submission of application files







If you are invited to the assessment centre, you must bring (10) your full application file (signed online application form and supporting documents) with you.

Procedure: see point 6.1 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)  Please consult the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) — (http://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/europass/home/hornav/Downloads/CEF/LanguageSelfAssessmentGrid.csp) — minimum level required for the translator profile: Language 1 = C2, Languages 2 and 3 = C1.

(3)  The content of these tests is approved by the selection board.

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

(5)  This information will later be verified against the supporting documents before the reserve list is drawn up (see Section VII.1 and Section VIII.2).

(6)  More information on these competencies can be found in point 1.2 of the guide to open competitions.

(7)  The Commission has begun negotiations with a view to amending the Staff Regulations of Officials and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union. This amendment may concern in particular the careers and types of post held by officials and other servants. Candidates placed on the reserve list of this competition may receive an offer of recruitment based on the new provisions of the Staff Regulations once they have been adopted by the legislator without prejudice to other consequences of a legal or financial nature.

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

(9)  The information relating to the general conditions is verified by EPSO, while the information relating to the specific conditions is verified by the selection board.

(10)  You will be notified in good time via your EPSO account of the date when you have to attend.