Notice of open competition — EPSO/AST-SC/04/15 — Parliamentary ushers (AST SC 1)
Date: 2015-04-23
Institutions: European Personnel Selection Office
Subjects: EPSO, European Parliament, European official, competition (EU)








CA2015131EN.01000101.xml










23.4.2015   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


CA 131/1





NOTICE OF OPEN COMPETITION
EPSO/AST-SC/04/15 — PARLIAMENTARY USHERS (AST SC 1)
(2015/C 131 A/01)

Deadline for registration: 27 May 2015 at 12.00 (midday), Brussels time

The European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) is organising an open competition, based on qualifications and tests, to draw up a reserve list of 
30 successful candidates
 from which the European Parliament will recruit new members of the civil service as 
‘parliamentary ushers’
 (function group AST-SC). Candidates may also be recruited for similar duties by the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg.
This Notice of Competition, together with the General Rules governing Open Competitions published in 
Official Journal of the European Union C 70 A of 27 February 2015
 (http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:C:2015:070A:TOC), form the legally binding framework for this selection procedure.

WHAT TASKS CAN I EXPECT TO PERFORM?

The task of Parliamentary ushers is to assist Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and other dignitaries during plenary sessions, at meetings of other parliamentary bodies, and during the various events that take place on the European Parliament’s premises. This includes, amongst others, the preparation and monitoring of meeting rooms, accompanying of participants or visitors and the handling of protocol duties.
The duties require ushers to be flexible in terms of working hours, and will involve travel between the Parliament’s three regular places of work (Brussels, Luxembourg and Strasbourg) as well as elsewhere.
Please see ANNEX I for more information about the typical duties to be performed.

AM I ELIGIBLE TO APPLY?

You must meet ALL of the following conditions when you validate your application:






General conditions








—


Enjoy full rights as a citizen of a Member State of the EU










—


Meet any obligations under national laws on military service










—


Meet the character requirements for the duties concerned








Specific conditions: languages








—


Language 1: minimum level — C1 of one of the 24 official EU languages










—


Language 2: minimum level — B2 of English, French or German; must be different from language 1










—


Language 3: minimum level — A2 of one of the 24 official EU languages; must be different from languages 1 and 2





For details on language levels, see the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (https://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/en/resources/european-language-levels-cefr)




Specific conditions: qualifications & work experience








—




Post-secondary education
 attested by a diploma,


or












—




Secondary education
 attested by a diploma giving access to post-secondary education followed by 
at least 3 years’
 professional experience,


or












—




Professional training
 (equivalent to post-secondary education) followed by 
at least 3 years’
 professional experience,


or












—




Professional experience
 of 
at least 8 years







For details on diplomas see Annex I to General Rules governing Open Competitions (http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:C:2015:070A:TOC)
The professional experience required should concern the practical management of meeting rooms and/or conference rooms and/or courtrooms, in particular in a national parliament, in a regional, national or international organisation, or in any other organisation. This experience must be directly or mostly related to the duties of an usher as described in ANNEX I.




The second language chosen must be 
English, French, or German
. These are the main working languages of the EU institutions and, in the interests of the service, new recruits must be immediately able to work and communicate effectively in their daily work in at least one of them.
A 
third language
 is requested for this competition because of the large linguistic diversity within the European assembly and the visitors or dignitaries invited. Ushers must be able to communicate with people speaking a variety of different languages.
Please see ANNEX II for additional information on languages in EU competitions.

HOW WILL I BE SELECTED?

1)   
Computer-based Multiple-Choice Question (MCQ) tests


If the number of candidates 
exceeds a certain threshold
, defined by EPSO acting as Appointing Authority, all candidates who validated their application form by the deadline will be invited to sit a series of computer-based MCQ tests in one of EPSO’s accredited centres.
If the number of candidates 
is below the threshold
, these tests will be held during the Assessment Phase (point 3) instead.
The computer-based MCQ tests will be organised as follows:











Tests






Language






Questions






Duration






Pass mark






Verbal reasoning


Language 1


20 questions


35 min


10/20




Numerical reasoning


Language 1


10 questions


20 min


Numerical + abstract combined: 10/20




Abstract reasoning


Language 1


10 questions


10 min




These tests are eliminatory and do not count towards the other tests held during the Assessment Phase.
2)   
Selection based on qualifications


First, the eligibility requirements will be checked on the basis of the data provided in the candidates’ online application. There are two possible scenarios:






—


If the computer-based MCQ tests 
are organised upfront,
 the files of the candidates will be checked for eligibility in descending order of the marks obtained until the number of eligible candidates reaches the threshold mentioned in point 1. The other files will not be checked.










—


If the computer-based MCQ tests 
are not organised upfront
, the files of all candidates will be checked for eligibility.




Second, 
only for the eligible candidates
 selected as described above; the selection based on qualifications will be carried out using the information provided by the candidates in the application form’s Talent Screener tab. The selection board will assign each 
selection criterion
 a weighting that reflects its relative importance (1 to 3) and each of the candidate’s responses will be awarded between 0 and 4 points.
The selection board will then multiply the points by the weighting for each criterion and add these to identify those whose profile best match the duties to be performed.
Please see ANNEX III for the list of criteria.
3)   
Assessment Phase




A maximum of three times
 the number of successful candidates sought will be invited to this phase. If you scored one of the 
highest total marks
 at the selection based on qualifications, you will be invited to attend an Assessment Phase for one or two days, most probably in 
Brussels
, where you will take tests held in your 
language 2 and 3
.
If the computer-based MCQ tests described in point 1 were 
not organised upfront
, you will sit them during the Assessment Phase.
Seven general competencies and the specific competencies required for this competition will be tested during the Assessment Phase through 
four tests
 (general and specific competency-based interviews, and situational judgement test in your language 2 and a language-specific oral test in your language 3) as described in the following matrices:








Competency






Tests












1.


Analysis and problem solving






Situational judgement test










2.


Communicating






General competency-based interview










3.


Delivering quality and results






Situational judgement test










4.


Learning and development






General competency-based interview










5.


Prioritising and organising






Situational judgement test










6.


Resilience






Situational judgement test










7.


Working with others






Situational judgement test




Pass mark


35/70 in total




Weighting of the 
general
 competencies


50 % of the overall mark















Competencies






Tests






Field-specific competencies


Specific competency-based interview




Pass mark


50/100




Weighting of the 
specific
 competencies


50 % of the overall mark




Language 3


Language-specific oral test




Pass mark


5/10




Your score for your language 3 will not be added to the overall score of the Assessment Phase but you must reach the pass mark.
4)   
Reserve list


After checking candidates’ supporting documents, the selection board will draw up a 
reserve list
 of the eligible candidates who have obtained the highest marks following the Assessment Phase, until the number of successful candidates sought is reached. Names will be listed alphabetically.

WHEN AND WHERE CAN I APPLY?

Apply online on the EPSO website http://jobs.eu-careers.eu by:


27 May 2015 at 12.00 (midday), Brussels time.




ANNEX I

DUTIES

The task of Parliamentary ushers is to assist MEPs and other dignitaries invited to the European Parliament, in particular during plenary sessions, at meetings of other parliamentary bodies, and during the various events that take place on the European Parliament’s premises.
The duties require ushers to be on call for a large part of the time and flexible in terms of working hours, and will involve travel to Parliament’s three regular places of work (Brussels, Luxembourg, and Strasbourg) as well as elsewhere.
Duties will include:

The Chamber and meeting rooms:







—


providing practical assistance to the President










—


welcoming and accompanying participants










—


distributing documents in all languages










—


setting out desk nameplates










—


monitoring signing-in by MEPs










—


managing the attendance lists










—


providing security and, at the President’s request, intervening to maintain order










—


controlling access to the various rooms.





Protocol duties and official events:







—


welcoming and accompanying VIPs










—


setting out flags










—


setting up protocol cordons










—


forming a guard of honour for official visits.





Other duties:







—


distributing, collecting, and transporting mail by trolley










—


emptying documents from packing cases, trolleys, and cupboards










—


welcoming groups of visitors, accompanying them, and seating them in the galleries and rooms; keeping order; ensuring specific instructions are followed










—


managing cloakrooms for groups of visitors










—


performing administrative tasks (mail registration, filing, etc.)










—


performing administrative tasks using a computer (e-mails, basic word-processing, intranet, etc.)










—


providing information to visitors, officials and others










—


assisting the fire prevention service.




End of ANNEX I, click here to return to main text.



ANNEX II

LANGUAGES

In the light of the judgment given by the Court of Justice of the European Union (Grand Chamber) in Case C-566/10 P, Italy v Commission, the EU institutions set out below the reasons for limiting the choice of the second language in this competition to a small number of official EU languages.
Candidates are informed that the second language options in this competition 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 dealing with cases. Moreover, English, French, and German are the most common second languages in the European Union and the most widely studied as a 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 have a command of 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 this competition, it is legitimate to organise tests in these three languages so as to ensure that all candidates are able to work in at least one of them, whatever their first official language. 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.
For these same reasons, it is reasonable to limit the language of communication between candidates and the institution, including the language in which applications are to be drafted. Furthermore, this ensures uniformity when comparing candidates and checking their application forms.
To ensure equal treatment for all candidates, everyone — including those whose first official language is one of the three — must take some tests in their second language, chosen from among these three.
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.
End of ANNEX II, click here to return to main text.



ANNEX III

SELECTION CRITERIA


The selection board considers the following criteria for the selection based on qualifications:







1.


Professional experience of preparing rooms and providing assistance during meetings or events involving very large numbers of people (several hundreds or thousands).










2.


Professional experience of welcoming VIPs and applying the rules of protocol.










3.


Professional experience in the field of passive security, e.g. fire prevention.










4.


Professional experience of receiving and assisting individual visitors and large groups of visitors (welcoming them and accompanying them to the galleries etc.).










5.


Professional experience of administrative work relating to the duties as described in the Notice of Competition, e.g. filing, mail registering, etc.










6.


Professional experience of using a computer in relation to the duties as described in the Notice of Competition, e.g. e-mails, basic word-processing, intranet, etc.










7.


Professional experience relating to the duties as described in the Notice of Competition in a multicultural environment.










8.


Professional experience of assisting people with reduced mobility.




End of ANNEX III, click here to return to main text.