In a statement on Wednesday, a day after the deadline for expressions of interest for the competition, the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) revealed how many people had applied.
– This number exceeded all expectations. We will inform the candidates about the next steps as soon as possible – the agency wrote.
The next phase involves testing and exams that will take place over the coming months. Successful candidates can apply for jobs in EU institutions at the AD-5 level, where the salary is around 6,000 to 7,000 euros per month, which opens the way to much higher positions in the future, writes Politico.
However, the number of available jobs is significantly lower than the number of applicants, with around 1,500 places on the list, and even then the job is not guaranteed.
The competition, aimed at generalists rather than specialists in areas such as human resources, law or translation, has not been held since 2019, meaning many would-be officials have worked as temporary agents or agency staff, without the security and benefits of EU employees.
Several countries have launched campaigns to encourage their citizens to sign up, seeing it as an opportunity to correct under-representation within the EU and cement their influence for decades to come.
Some capital cities have gone so far as to fund preparatory tests and offer mentoring to candidates.
At the last competition for AD-5, held seven years ago, only 22,644 people applied, while this year around 50,000 participants were originally forecast.
This year’s EPSO tests, the date of which has not yet been announced, will be conducted virtually and not in assessment centers as before. However, experts say that the logistics of conducting exams on such a large scale would be challenging even with half as many candidates.
(Vijesti.ba/FENA)
