Addendum to Notice of open competition – EPSO/AD/382/20 – Administrators (AD 5/AD 7) in the field of external relations (OJ C 300 A, 10.9.2020)
Date: 2020-12-22
Institutions: European Personnel Selection Office
Subjects: EU relations, European External Action Service, administrator, competition (EU), coronavirus disease, disease prevention, epidemic, recruitment








CA2020444EN.01001001.xml










22.12.2020   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


CA 444/10






Addendum to Notice of open competition – EPSO/AD/382/20 – Administrators (AD 5/AD 7) in the field of external relations
(Official Journal of the European Union C 300 A of 10 September 2020)
(2020/C 444 A/09)








1.


Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, from 6 March 2020 onwards EPSO had to interrupt and suspend its activities related to ongoing competitions in order to ensure all appropriate precautionary measures are in line with the instructions and guidelines provided by the EU institutions and national authorities. In particular, this affected the organisation of the tests with physical presence in EPSO’s premises or in one of EPSO’s accredited centres. EPSO initially planned to restart the testing from mid-September 2020. However, given the current COVID-19 situation, in which national authorities have introduced measures prohibiting large gatherings of people and limiting travel for public health reasons, it will not be possible to organise tests with physical presence in EPSO’s premises in the foreseeable future.












2.


To conclude the open competitions within a reasonable period of time, EPSO will determine the optimal way of testing for each competition and inform candidates in due time. Therefore all tests related to the abovementioned competition will now take place either remotely or in one of EPSO’s accredited test centres.
Remote online testing will allow candidates to sit the tests at home, in the office, etc. without needing to travel to an EPSO testing centre. Such testing takes place henceforth via online videoconferencing. All technical details will be provided in due time, including instructions on how to test the connection before the actual day of testing. Candidates must check their EPSO account at least twice a week.












3.


In case of testing in the EPSO accredited centres, candidates will be able to choose among a high number of those test centres both throughout Europe and worldwide. All sanitary measures that are necessary for the purpose of taking the test in those test centres will be taken.












4.


Invitations for the tests will be published in candidates’ EPSO accounts.












5.


For this competition the computer-based Multiple-Choice Question (MCQ) tests will now be organised either remotely or in one of EPSO’s accredited test centres.












6.


For this competition a group exercise was planned at the assessment centre. All candidates will instead be invited to sit a situational competency-based interview (SCBI), to be organised remotely using online videoconferencing. The duration of the SCBI will be between 30 and 40 minutes. This change in tests is because it is not possible to conduct the group exercise remotely in a satisfactory way. Should technical problems arise, the group dynamic could be compromised and participating candidates adversely impacted.
The SCBI will test the same general competencies as the group exercise by asking candidates how they would react in a specific situation. It consists of a one-to-one online meeting with a trained interviewer who provides additional information during the interview, according to a semi-structured script.
Approximately two to three weeks before the start of the SCBI testing period, candidates will receive a written assignment and background information to help them prepare. In the assignment, candidates will be asked to replace a colleague and assume responsibility for various tasks and situations to be discussed during the interview. Additional situations, not based on the assignment, will also be included. Candidates will be allowed to consult the written assignment and background information during the interview.
Candidates will be interviewed by an EU staff member. Two Selection Board Members will observe and assess the performance of each candidate and score the competences covered by the test. The interviewer will not be involved in the assessment of the candidate.