Certification

Training offer for certification & internal competitions

Generation 2004, in collaboration with Yasemos Europeos, is offering online trainings and webinars to assist you in preparing for the Certification exercise and internal competitions.

There is a special price for all participants to  the certification  training.  The talent screener  webinar is free for all staff. Continue reading Training offer for certification & internal competitions

Event: certification – mission (nearly) impossible

The 2023/24 certification exercise has been launched, your have sent your applications (the deadline was 06.10.2023 at 23.59) and it’s now time to start preparing for the first interview,  without yet knowing whether you’ll even have one. Many assistants (ASTs) are optimistic about being among the 50 Commission ASTs who will get onto the certification programme this year, even if it’s their first attempt. It’s a long journey and rather opaque one: that optimism will help! Continue reading Event: certification – mission (nearly) impossible

Certification 2022/23: the road ahead

*Update 02.10.2023: the deadline for applications for the 2023/2024 edition is Friday 6 October 2023 at 23:59 (Brussels time).* Original article: The 2022/23 Certification exercise is still moving forward: from 294 eligible candidates to 104 individuals chosen for Joint Certification Panel interviews, to the April publication of the final list of 50 officials authorised to take part in the Certification training programme (the list will be published in Administrative Notices, in 2022 it was done on 12 April) and subsequent exams[1]. Well done to the 32 colleagues who appealed their non-inclusion post-DG interview,  4 of whom were successful: it is possible! Unfortunately, Certification continues to be a labour-intensive and time-consuming process which is not particularly user-friendly (see diagram for evidence of this). Continue reading Certification 2022/23: the road ahead

Certification: 5 days to appeal non-inclusion

*Update 02.10.2023: the deadline for applications for the 2023/2024 edition is Friday 6 October 2023 at 23:59 (Brussels time).* Original article: Well done and good luck to the 100 colleagues selected for interview: you’ve come this far, keep up the hard work! To everyone else, you have the option of appealing your non-inclusion, essentially asking the Joint Certification Committee to have a second look at your file.  Who can appeal? We count a potential 209 colleagues: the 194 colleagues whose application was considered eligible, but who were not selected for interview and the 15 colleagues whose application was not considered eligible. You can all appeal, but you must act fast. You have only 5 Commission working days starting from 05.01.2023. Please draft your text now! Continue reading Certification: 5 days to appeal non-inclusion

First impressions last: Generation 2004 steps in

*Update 14.03.2023 HR confirms that medical part-time does indeed have a lifetime limit in certain circumstances.* *Update 03.01.2023 (belated) thanks to the colleagues who pointed out that medical part-time is sick leave and not a work pattern.[1]* Original article: Generation 2004 succeeds: personal and sensitive information is no longer visible in sysper applications, thanks to Generation 2004 action! Continue reading First impressions last: Generation 2004 steps in

AST event: all you ever wanted to know!

*Update 11.10.2022 thanks to all of you who attended this event. Here is the updated presentation*

*Check out the AST3 competition published 22.09.2022* Generation 2004 is here to listen to you and your concerns and to develop together with you our positions on many work- and well-being-at-work- related issues, particularly those related to assistants (ASTs), a group of staff whose numbers are in steady decline. Continue reading AST event: all you ever wanted to know!

Certification: what’s being tested?

*Update 02.10.2023: the deadline for applications for the 2023/2024 edition is Friday 6 October 2023 at 23:59 (Brussels time).* Original article: We have been contacted in the meantime by colleagues who are interested in participating but who are disappointed by the lack of detailed information about the exams and the skills tested. Sadly, the MyIntraComm European School of Administration My EuSAnet Certification page has little more than an outline to offer on this topic. Continue reading Certification: what’s being tested?

Certification: you asked, we answer!

You asked us (conference, 28.1.2021) how many assistants (ASTs) successfully complete the certification process (no mean feat!) but do not find an administrator (AD) post.[*] This information is not so readily available but we’re good at digging and we asked HR to fill in some blanks and clear up discrepancies.

We count 1097 successful officials (the certifiés/those ’certified’ as apt [1]) in total from all 15 certification procedures to date (2005-2019 [2]) using HR reports for 2015 and 2019, together with administrative notices. HR confirms this count but provides figures which differ slightly from those published (see updated tables below [3]). Continue reading Certification: you asked, we answer!

Certified ASTs: an endangered species?

*20.10.2022–14.12.2022: Evaluation and pre-selection of eligible applications by the DGs/Services for 2022/23 exercise*

Belated congratulations to our 42 colleagues declared certifié in December 2020 *and 44 from 2021* they now finally begin the very last stage in this long and arduous quest, that of finding an AD post, well done and good luck in your search! Continue reading Certified ASTs: an endangered species?

Certification in the JRC – one size does not fit all

The numbers speak an unmistakable language.  The success rate of JRC ASTs in the certification procedure is considerably below that of ASTs from other DGs. While JRC’s ASTs accounted for approximately 9.5% of all ASTs in the Commission in 2019 [1], henceforth considered to be the benchmark, their share of certifications is much lower and persistently so (Figure 1): Except for a one-off-high in 2016 with a share of 7% (although still below 9.5%), the share of certifications in other years was much lower. Continue reading Certification in the JRC – one size does not fit all