Tuesday 26 February 2013

After the lobbying: interviews

Further to my last post on lobbying, as mentioned, if you follow those steps (or any others that involve promoting your application next to the EC Units), that shall grant you some phone interviews. In my case, I had 3 interviews for 3 Units in 3 different DGs. For the first two, the procedure was the same: I received a call from an unknown number (please note that all calls from the EC will come from unknown numbers, so try to have your phone always next to you during that phase in order not to miss a call) made by the assistant of the Head of Unit, asking me if they could shcedule me a call with the Head of Unit for a suggested date and time. In both cases they suggested it for the day after in the afternoon.

Before answering the call, be sure to go to a place where there is not too much noise and where you can concentrate on the call, as, if you lobbied to several Units, you have to make sure you understand the first words from the assistant, which will be to identify the Head of Unit on behalf of whom they are calling. If you don't understand it at first (as you may be a bit nervous to know you're answering a call from the EC and sometimes it's difficult to understand the name of a foreign person, told by another foreign person - and all the mix of accents that arise from it), ask them to please repeat it (it's better that you do it rather than not knowing who will be interviewing you on the following day). In both my cases they also mentioned the name of the Unit, so that is easier to understand than a name (and when you have the name of the Unit, you can easily search again the name of its Head). In the third interview I had, however, I received the call directly from two members of the Unit which were calling me on behalf of its Head and the interview started right away.

As for the interviews themselves, they all started with saying that they had received my CV and indeed thought it fitted the work done in that Unit, then they passed on to general questions about myself (what type of work I had been performing in my current job) and then some specific questions about the Unit (why I had applied to that particular Unit, if I had knowledge of the legislation related to that Unit, if I had worked in issues related to the work that Unit performs, if I was interested in working in this work they were developing at the moment - and then they explained me the work they would need the trainee to do). In one of the interviews they also asked me how was my French level and asked me some questions in French. They all finished saying I was on the selected list for that Unit, but that the interview was non-binding and that I had to wait for an official confirmation from the Traineeship Office.

So, while it is a good sign to have interviews, they don't mean you are selected yet and you have to wait for the end of the selection process and for that e-mail from the Traineeship Office which will say if you were selected and, if so, to which Unit you were assigned. However, as mentioned, if you are not called for any interview, do not despair and start thinking you're not going to be chosen: there are many Units that don't do interviews or reply to the lobbying e-mails, yet they read them and choose you without telling you anything about it. So you may even receive a great surprise in the end! The fourth Unit which selected me, informed me of that by response to my lobby e-mail, they didn't interview me.

Finaly, how to prepare for the interviews. From the moment that you choose the Units you want to lobby, it is assumed that for some reason your CV fits them and that you have some knowledge of the work there performed, so you shall be comfortable with answering some interview questions in case you are called without notice. But if they schedule you a date, you have more time to prepare: go to the webpage of the DG and try to find the sections related to the Unit which will interview you. Find about what they have been working on lately, the general resume of their activities, in case it is a law related unit, the legislation that enforms the work there performed, etc. Try to do a basic research on that Unit that allows you be prepared to cover most questions possibly asked in the interview. You can also print some of that information and have it in front of you during the interview, as they may ask you something you're not so sure about and that way you can look in the moment. And, most important of all, don't be nervous and do your best just being you! The Commission staff I met so far was really nice and friendly, so just be relaxed and answer their questions calmly and I'm sure you'll impress them the same way your CV did when you sent them the lobby e-mail.

13 comments:

  1. Olá Mariana! Fiquei muito contente quando encontrei o teu blog porque inicei há menos de um mês a minha candidatura a um estágio na Comissão Europeia (a par de me ter candidatado a outros estágios em instituições da União Europeia) e um feedback como o teu é fundamental! Desde já agradeço a tua iniciativa e desejo-te um ótima experiência e muito sucesso profissional :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hello Mariana! First of all, congratulations on your blog! I've been reading it for some months now and not only is your informamtion very useful, but you write in a lovely style as well! I wanted to ask you something about the application procedure. I applied for the October 2013 traineeship period, got preselected on Friday, lobbied and today I got a phone call from my preferred DG. They said that they wanted to do an interview with me in the afternoon and said they would call later. However, they didn't! I suppose they could simply be busy and that they may call tomorrow, but I was wondering, have you ever heard of this before? Has it happenned to anyone else you might know? Maybe I'm just too anxious but it is a bit strange, isn't it?

    Helena

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Helena! Thanks for your message :)

      That is a bit strange indeed... maybe the Head of Unit or the people on his/her behalf who were supposed to make the interview got called for something (or got delayed in something they were supposed to do). From my experience in my Unit, the people at management level (Head of Unit and Deputy Head of Unit) are extremely busy people, always running around through meetings and with tons of things in their heads. They didn't schedule a time with you, they just said they would call later? Who made the call, one of the assistants? Well, now you have the perfect excuse to call them tomorrow and reinforce your interest and ask if it´s possible to schedule the interview for another date :) I would do that, don't let the subject "die" (as I said, they're really busy and one of their less concerns is this blue book thing, so as soon as you see an interest from them don't let it go away!). And everyone I work with (and with whom I had contact during the selection process in other Units) are very nice and comprehensive of our point, so they should not take a phone contact from you wondering what has happened as being too pushy or insistent. Instead, they will probably apologize for not having called and kindly tell you what happened :)

      Good luck!

      Regards,
      Mariana

      Delete
  3. Many, many thanks for your reply and your advice! No, they did not schedule a specific time, they did asked me whether I would be available this afternoon and I replied that since I did not have any exams today (I'm a student), I would be available at any time in the afternoon. I think it was one of the assistants, yes. In your opinion, whom should I call? The number was unknown, so I fear that I cannot call back that particular lady.

    Thank you very much again!

    Helena

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi again,

      I think you should try to call that assistant. She probably mentioned the Unit she was calling from, right? So, you have to go here:
      http://ec.europa.eu/staffdir/plsql/gsys_page.display_index?pLang=EN

      Choose "search by organizational chart" and go for that Unit they called you from. Then you should have someone on that list named "secretary" or, even better, "secretary to the Head of Unit". Open that person's contacts and you'll have her phone number. Hope you get news from them this way!

      Regards,
      Mariana

      Delete
    2. Really Mariana, I don't know how to thank you for your advice! I'll try that and see how it goes. Thanks so much once again! All the best!

      Helena

      Delete
  4. Oh, and apologies for the mistakes, I type too quickly!

    Helena

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hello Mariana! Thank you very much for your useful advice! Your blog is really very helpful! I would like you to tell me a few things about the interview part. I mean, what was the duration, what questions did they asked you etc. Also, the interview took place at the first call or there was a call where you arranged when the interview will take place etc? Thank you in advance!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello,

      All of what you asked is already answered by me in the post, except for the duration part, which was around 15min :)

      Mariana

      Delete
  6. Hi, thank you for your blog. It's very informative.

    Which units interviewed you/selected you as a trainee?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello,

      I did my traineeship in Unit A2 of DG JUST. The other Units that interviewed me were from DG TRADE and DG ECFIN and the email I got from an Unit saying I was on their list was from DG MARKT.

      Delete
  7. Hi Maria,

    thanks for your informative blog.

    I got preselected and am currently preparing for the lobbying part/interviews. Apart from the things you mentioned above, do they "test" your knowledge on the EU as a whole? I.e. do they ask you questions, such as "Tell me the competences of the EC vs the EP" or "What is the co-decision procedure?" or (in my case) questions about EU Law since I mentioned I studied that at university?

    I must admit my EU Pol/Law knowledge has become quite rusty, so if that's necessary apart from knowing the specific unit one applied to, I better get to work. Cheers!

    Oliver

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Oliver,

      In my case, they only asked what I mentioned in the post, nothing related to the EU questions you refer. I never heard anyone commenting they had been asked so!

      Good luck,
      Mariana

      Delete