*Update 19.02.2025: ‘By default, all [internal] competitions will be cross-category.’ (Stay tuned: A new approach for internal competitions [1]) This is excellent news and should now put the Commission on an even footing with the Parliament and other EU institutions [2]. We hope that this inclusion is genuine and that the competitions are not otherwise skewed [3] to reduce participation. This can run in parallel to the certification: use all your options!*
Original article: We don’t normally publish the full text of a note as an article but, given the known IT incompatibilities, we do so here: we want to make this text available to colleagues regardless of where they are based. Please find below a slightly abridged version of the note we sent [4] to HR (internal exams) and EPSO (certification exams) with a copy to all relevant DGs and IT services.
Generation 2004 requests that EPSO and HR engage with colleagues and services in order to address the known compatibility issues between the different EU institution[1] [5] IT environments and the online testing/exam platforms used[2] [6] (whether EPSO or internal exams, the issues encountered overlap).Online exams for internal competitions[3] [7] and EPSO-run exams for the annual Certification exercise[4] [8] must be done on a corporate device and yet we continue to hear of colleagues who ricochet between the many different IT helpdesks and the exam organiser, all of whom direct the colleague elsewhere, often back to a person with whom they have already interacted and who was already unable to help.
We ask that you collaborate on action on this issue to minimise the impact of this single point of failure, to improve equality between examinee colleagues from across the institutions and to take steps towards putting an end to the current fragmentation of responsibilities for technical problems, particularly where those problems are long standing and well known among candidates and institutions. In short, we ask that colleagues be tested on their competences and aptitudes and not on their IT setup, troubleshooting skills and persistence.
We hope to see these online tests/exams taken by our colleagues and peers high on the list of target items in all digital-transformation plans.
‘EPSO is a member of the HR Transformation Programme of the Commission, […] increasing efficiency and usability.’ (Management Plan 2023 [9] European Personnel Selection Office)
Currently anyone unable to connect (or remain connected) for an online exam has no other option available: there are no physical test centres and additional testing time does not address the underlying issues (so in many cases it is not of much use). It is not clear whether rescheduling (internal exams) or resitting beyond the stated number of resits (Certification) are possibilities where candidates experience issues that are demonstrably not their fault[5] [5]. If nothing else changes in the meantime with the IT environment, these same issues are more than likely to recur. We therefore ask that you pool your resources and share your knowledge in order to ensure that the best possible effort is made on all sides to ensure testing works as intended.
We kindly request that both HR and EPSO work with the corresponding IT teams across the EU institutions to:
- produce a list of workarounds and solutions to known/common issues,
- review all technical issues encountered in exams to identify what went wrong[6] [8] and to then document them and add them to the list of workarounds (point 1, above),
- maintain an up-to-date list of all IT support services responsible for online exam issues when exams are taken on EU-institution devices and have that list ready to share with colleagues experiencing technical difficulties in order to direct them to the correct department from the beginning,
- provide anonymous statistics containing user requests for IT-related help or complaints from internal online tests/exams for the past year, broken down by institution and including a brief description of the requests.
We kindly request that HR and EPSO work with their own proctors/examiners to;
- maintain a list of available actions in case of technical issues,
- Test connections until candidates are confident that the technical side works, up to and including on the morning of the exam itself,
These technical difficulties affect all the institutions and mean that an already-stressful situation for the colleague-candidate is exacerbated. We ask HR and EPSO to align with the move towards working simpler and smarter, to level the playing field and to ensure that IT set-up on colleagues’ corporate device is not a barrier to participation and accessing the exam content. We encourage you to be more transparent, fair and efficient: we ask simply that you make every effort to remove this additional burden from the colleagues concerned in order to respect the principle of equal IT conditions for all candidates in the internal competitions and in the certification exercise. We ask you to ensure equal conditions for all and to be a leading example for the highly advocated EU value of leaving no one behind[7] [10].
We thank you for your assistance in helping candidate-colleagues to do their best, regardless of the institution they work in or their place of assignment.
As always, we would love to hear from you. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with us [11] or leave a comment below.
If you appreciate our work, please consider becoming a member of Generation 2004 [12].
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[1] [13] The Ombudsman (suggestion 7) ‘Where candidates experience issues in rescheduled tests that are not their fault, EPSO should allow such candidates to reschedule again.’ Decision in own-initiative inquiry concerning the use by the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) of remote testing in selection procedures to recruit EU civil servants (OI/1/2023/VS) Decision Case OI/1/2023/VS [14].
[2] [15] The Ombudsman was critical of similar advice for external EPSO candidates ‘27. Where candidates raised with EPSO concerns about their inability to meet requirements, EPSO essentially dismissed these concerns and implied that it was the responsibility of candidates to overcome any barriers, for example by sourcing alternative computers. This was clearly not service-minded and regrettable.’ Decision in own-initiative inquiry concerning the use by the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) of remote testing in selection procedures to recruit EU civil servants (OI/1/2023/VS) Decision Case OI/1/2023/VS [14].
[3] [16] A borrowed Commission laptop (e.g. from DG NEAR IT) to connect from the Delegation (outside the EU) to try to overcome incompatibilities does not address issues related to a user having different profiles (Commission and EEAS) and the different security rules in the Delegations. We have no evidence of this working and several examples of this failing.
[4] [17] We ask that EPSO/HR inform the candidate after the exam of what exactly went wrong and of how it will be addressed.
[5] [18]The Ombudsman (suggestion 7) ‘Where candidates experience issues in rescheduled tests that are not their fault, EPSO should allow such candidates to reschedule again.’ Decision in own-initiative inquiry concerning the use by the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) of remote testing in selection procedures to recruit EU civil servants (OI/1/2023/VS) Decision Case OI/1/2023/VS [14].
[6] [18] We ask that EPSO/HR inform the candidate after the exam of what exactly went wrong and of how it will be addressed
[7] [18] Intersectionality: making sure no one is left behind [19]