The Assessment Center stage (or AC stage) of Administrator (or AD) EPSO competitions is usually taking place from mid-September onwards and many Online EU Training users have asked us to discuss a few important issues to be aware of.
1. Know What They Are Looking For: It is crucially important that you are clear about what you need to project as a candidate and what EPSO is looking for. It would, for example, be a natural instinct for a lot of people to capitalize on their deep knowledge of a topic and assume a dominant role in a group discussion based on that knowledge. While this may prove that you are knowledgeable, that is actually only a small part of what the assessors will measure: rather, they will be looking at your cooperation, communication, compromising and questioning skills.
2. Know What Competencies Are: We can say that a competency is a “grouping of related behaviors, traits and motivations that each predict successful performance in a particular aspect of a role” - such as the role of an EU Administrator. Let’s take an example EPSO competency: delivering quality results - a person who takes personal responsibility and initiative for delivering work to a high standard of quality within set procedures. This sounds like a nice definition, but what does it exactly mean in practical terms?
3. Know The Exercises: When you first read about all the different exercises at the EPSO assessment centre such as group exercise, oral presentation, EU case study and structured interview, your first thought might be that it is overwhelming, in fact, an overkill. Just the opposite: the number of exercises is closely related to the number and types of competencies EPSO needs to assess, and each competency is assessed at least by two exercises. Your written communication skills, for instance, cannot be measured in a group exercise, and your oral communication or conflict management skills may not become apparent by completing a case study but rather by getting “provocative” questions from the EPSO assessors at the oral presentation exercise. This allows EPSO to look at the same thing from multiple angles.
4. Know What They Assess and Where: We mentioned the fact that each competency is measured at least twice during an assessment centre. The official “Assessment Center Matrix” is a table with all competencies and exercises listed, with markings in the cells showing which competency is tested in which exercise. Your team working skills, for instance, are measured in multiple ways: based on the Situational Judgment Test you had already completed in the pre-selection exam (by selecting the most effective and least effective course of action in such a scenario, the group exercise and the structured interview are measuring your relevant skills.
There are also special live online webinar trainigns to help you prepare for the EPSO Assessment Centre that you may want to consider.
Author Resource:
Hassan Bawab is the author of this article on European Union Jobs .
Find more information about EU Job Opportunities here.
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