Students doing general degrees at university (as opposed to degrees tailored specifically to one profession) often start panicking as their college experience draws to a close and they’re frequently pestered with the same question – ‘what next?’

Students who can’t answer this question should look into the opportunities available in European Union institutions (such as the European Parliament and Commission) and in the associated agencies (such as the European Environment Agency and the European Medicines Agency) across Europe. This week Irish Country Living looks at the opportunities available and how to get those places.

Internships in Europe

If you’re interested in internships in the EU you need to get your hands on The Green Book. Now in its eighth edition, this publication summarises the internship and traineeship opportunities available across the EU institutions and in many of the agencies that have sprung up around the official bodies.

The European Commission ‘stage’ programme is the biggest and best-known traineeship available in that sector. The programme lasts five months and is highly competitive – only 1,200 of the 15,000 applicants are selected and generally 30 of those are Irish.

Although there are two different types of traineeships in the Commission, the Administrative Traineeship is the biggest one. Opportunities are available in all Directorates-General (DGS) and services of the European Commission, including the cabinets of the Commissioners. (DGs are the departments within the European Commission, for example there is the DG for Agriculture and Rural Development).

Remuneration is currently €1,071.19 per month and travel expenses to and from Brussels (once) are covered.

The majority of people who apply to the European Commission ‘stage’ programme have backgrounds in law, politics, international relations and economics, but candidates from a variety of academic backgrounds are sought. A minimum 2:1 degree is required.

The online application for the October 2014 intake is open until 31 January. Applications for the March 2015 traineeship will be open from 1 July to 1 September.

To access the application form and find out more information visit www.ec.europa.eu/stages

To get a copy of The Green Book contact the European Movement Ireland office on 01-662-5815 or email the office at info@europeanmovement.ie

Contract Work in Europe

The opportunities for temporary contract work (short-term or long-term fixed contracts) in the EU are many and varied, and while these opportunities can be viewed across the websites of various EU institutions, there is a one-stop-shop for viewing many of the available positions – the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) website (http://europa.eu/epso/apply/jobs/temp/index_en.htm).

EU contract staff are pulled from a pool of candidates kept on a database, following a selection procedure usually organised by the EPSO. This means that if you want to apply for many of the EU contract positions you need to have a profile on this database, known as the CAST list.

Getting onto the CAST list requires two steps. For generalist profiles the selection process includes verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning tests. Selection for specialist profiles, such as nursing, engineering and scientific research, begins with a review of the candidates’ CV.

All candidates then have to complete a competency test. The majority of positions are based in Brussels and Luxembourg. If successful, your name will remain in the database for three years.

In general, EPSO recruits for EU institutions, but agencies may also recruit contract staff from EPSO’s reserve pool.

Permanent Jobs

There are also permanent positions available in the EU, although it’s fair to say you’ll have a better chance of getting these if you have already gained relevant experience, e.g. through a traineeship. It’s the contacts you make during these internships that are as likely to help you get a job as the experience itself.

All permanent staff for EU institutions are recruited through open competitions, commonly referred to as ‘concours’, which are organised by EPSO.

The calendar detailing EPSO recruitment dates and details is available at http://europa.eu/epso/doc/epso_planning_en.pdf) This ensures interested candidates can be ready and waiting when the recruitment procedure starts.

Graduates can apply for administrator profiles while non-graduates can apply for assistant profiles.

Administrator roles are generally available in communication, law, external relations, audit and European Public Administration (often policy development and administration).

No professional experience is required for entry at level AD5, but several years of experience is required for entry at level AD7.

All candidates must have a degree. A good knowledge of EU policies and institutions is extremely beneficial, as is managerial experience, a previous traineeship or a postgraduate qualification. Last, but by no means least, is the language requirement.

Language

To work in EU institutions, you will need to have a good command of at least two European languages – your main language (which must be one of the 23 official languages of the EU) plus either English, French or German.

Because English is the main language of most Irish applicants, they will need to know either French or German.

However, if you want to get really technical with the language requirement, Irish is an official EU language so if you have excellent knowledge of Irish, English can suffice as the second language.

Furthermore, permanent officials with very specific skills and experience (such as nurses, scientific researchers, food safety specialists and computer scientists) are regularly recruited by the EU under specialist profiles.

Assistants are involved in the day-to-day running of the EU institutions and are usually employed in a supporting role, in a number of different areas including secretarial, financial, administrative, research, communication and policy development.

Assistants do not need a third-level degree, but they must meet the language requirement, have relevant experience to the jobs they are applying for and have a recognised second-level qualification.

Career profile

Eoin O'Malley is one person who's made the dream of a career in the EU a reality.

Eoin is from Limerick and works in the Directorate-General for Trade (DG Trade) of the European Commission. He writes speeches for the commissioner and the director generale and deals with EU international trade agreements with countries outside the EU.

Eoin completed a degree in European Studies in UCC, which he says was “half politics, half languages”. He is fluent in Spanish and now also in French as a result of working in Brussels for the past decade.

After his degree, Eoin completed an MA in International Relations in DCU.

“It is possible to get jobs in Brussels with just a primary degree, but a lot of people here have postgraduate qualifications as well,” says Eoin.

Eoin’s EU career began with an internship in the Commission in 2002. He then worked in two different lobbying organisations over a period of seven years.

After taking the assessment for CAST in 2006, Eoin was on the list for three years before getting a call which led to one and a half years of employment at the DG for Health and Consumers (Sanco), covering three maternity leaves.

“Getting into the CAST database wasn’t difficult,” says Eoin. “It’s a pass/fail test. But getting on the list does not directly lead to employment. Once you’re on the list you might get a call, but you could also informally approach people and tell them you’re on it.”

Eoin also notes that those who complete the concours are ranked and employers tend to pick from the top.

According to Eoin his next career step was quite random.

“I got a call from people in Trade who were looking for a speech writer and I had worked in trade relations before. I did a couple of interviews and started in February 2012. I like speech writing, it’s a bit creative in terms of the writing side of it and it’s great for getting an overview of what’s going on in trade. I had great experience from lobbying – I did a lot of writing as part of that.”

Eoin started this job as a temporary agent (slightly different to CAST), but in the meantime he applied for the concours and when he passed that his role became permanent (and with added responsibilities).

He says that having previous experience in EU institutions was an advantage, particularly because he had a sense of the culture of the European organisations, for the situational choice part of the concours.

However, Eoin says it’s not essential to have spent a lot of time in Brussels, or acquire as much experience as he did, to get through the concours.

In terms of the lifestyle in Brussels, Eoin says: “Brussels is big, it’s the same size as Dublin, but it’s quite compact so it’s easy to get around. The restaurants here are cheaper than at home, but the range of bars in Dublin is much better.” CL