Certification

Certification 2024/25: and so it begins!

Assistants, Certification Print This Post

*Update 14.10.2024 there are 289 eligible Commission candidates. You have until 23.59 on Friday 18.10.2024 to appeal non-inclusion. If you want us to check your draft with you, we’re here for you!*

Original Article: Apologies for the very short notice, we didn’t see any announcements and now the deadline is fast approaching.  The Certification exercise is open and the deadline for submitting your motivation letter is Monday 30 September at 23.59. Please don’t miss your chance to participate! Here is the published information. Don’t leave it to the last minute: the letter text is uploaded via sysper (similar to the way the self-assessment is done) and can sometimes take more than one attempt. Continue reading Certification 2024/25: and so it begins! →

Are we testing competences or IT setup?

Certification, EEAS, EPSO, Internal Competitions, Newsletter - 2024-03-15, Outside the Union Print This Post

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 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] IT environments and the online testing/exam platforms used[2] (whether EPSO or internal exams, the issues encountered overlap). Continue reading Are we testing competences or IT setup? →

Certification resit options: let’s pool our information!

Assistants, Certification, Newsletter - 2024-02-28 Print This Post

*Update 30.04.2024 resitters, you have until Friday 17.05.2024 noon (CEST) to register for the certification procedure. If you haven’t received the email, get in touch with them.* Original article: The deadline for making a decision on which exams to resit (or not) is Friday 26.01.2024. As ever, we’re all about making informed decisions. Several of you have got in touch to say that the answers you have received do not match the information in our article Certification resit options: energy efficiency? It is not clear to us whether there is a DG-specific reason for this or whether the answer itself has changed, leaving recipients to try to find whose information is most recent.

Continue reading Certification resit options: let’s pool our information! →

Certification resit options: energy efficiency?

Assistants, Certification Print This Post

To those of you resitting any part of the Certification, please be aware that you can choose to do any or all of the outstanding exams: the choice is up to you (the deadline for making the choice is Friday 26.01.2024). This flexibility of choice is not particularly clear in the corresponding European School of Administration (EUSA) website. Continue reading Certification resit options: energy efficiency? →

Echoes of unhappiness

Assistants, Certification, Contract Agents, EPSO, Internal Competitions, Local Agents, Newsletter - 2023-12-13, Promotions, reclassification, Secretaries and clerks, Staff Categories, Temporary Agents, Training Print This Post

*Update 08.03.2024: do women have fewer promotable tasks i.e. are women spending time and energy on less-valued jobs? What are your thoughts?*

Original article: In our Newsletter (10.10.2023), we announced a survey for assistant (AST), secretary/clerk (AST/SC), Contract Agent (CA) or Temporary agent (TA). The survey is now closed, and we thank the 1581 colleagues who contributed. We present here our preliminary results and will follow up in more detail in a later edition of our newsletter. The majority of respondents were ASTs and CAs, female colleagues, mainly from 40- to 60-year-old, based in Brussels/Commission.  

Continue reading Echoes of unhappiness →

Certification: 5 days to appeal non-inclusion

Assistants, Certification, Newsletter - 2023-12-13, Newsletter - 2024-01-08 Print This Post

We send you this in advance, so that you can be ready for whatever the future holds: the old ‘hope for the best and prepare for the worst’. The draft list of the (normally 100) Commission certification applicants selected for interview with the Joint Certification Panel is normally published each year 5-6 January (to be published:  administrative notices). To those of you who find your names listed there, well done and good luck! You’ve come this far, keep up the hard work! To everyone else, all is not lost, don’t give up just yet! You still have the option of appealing your non-inclusion, essentially asking the Joint Certification Committee to have a second look at your file. In January 2023 28 colleagues appealed and 4 of them were successful. Continue reading Certification: 5 days to appeal non-inclusion →

Certification programme overview and details

Assistants, Certification, Newsletter - 2024-01-08 Print This Post

Congratulations to the 35 Commission colleagues who completed Certification in 2023! For those of you participating in the interviews for the 2023/24 edition you have 5 days to appeal non-inclusion on the list of those who will go on to the next interviews, get ready! For those who manage to get their names on that list, there is training available for the interviews. Generation 2004 is aware of the exceptionally poor exam results in 2024, we are awaiting the publication of the corresponding report to make comparisons with the previous 17 certification exercises. Continue reading Certification programme overview and details →

Training offer for external competitions and certification

Administrators, Assistants, Certification, Education, EPSO, Events, Internal Competitions, Newsletter - 2023-12-13, Newsletter - 2024-01-08, Secretaries and clerks, Temporary Agents, Training Print This Post

*Update 15.01.2024 additional dates for Certification dates added below.* Original article: we offer (in collaboration with Yasemos Europeos) online training to assist you in preparing for external (EPSO) competitions and certification.

For AD7 competition, you can benefit  from a special discount if you are a member of  Generation 2004. Before you register, ask for the special discount code to our secretariat.

You can find the video recording and the PowerPoint presentation of the free webinar here.

Continue reading Training offer for external competitions and certification →

Training offer for certification & internal competitions

Administrators, Assistants, Certification, Education, EPSO, Events, Internal Competitions, Newsletter - 2023-12-01, Secretaries and clerks, Temporary Agents, Training Print This Post

*Update 15.12.2023, check out our 2024 training.* 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.

You can find the video recording and the PowerPoint presentation of the free webinar here.

Continue reading Training offer for certification & internal competitions →

Event: certification – mission (nearly) impossible

Assistants, Certification, Events, Newsletter - 2023-10-10 Print This Post

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 →