EU to speed up recruitment in global 'war for talent'

Background

The European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) selects staff on behalf of the EU institutions. 

In July 2008, EPSO announced plans to reform its recruitment process to make appointments more focused on the personal and professional competences of candidates rather than detailed EU knowledge (EurActiv 22/07/08). 

European Commission Vice-President Siim Kallas told EurActiv in an interview in October that the Commission should address the EU's "rigid" recruitment and career development systems to bring them more in line with today's flexible labour market (EurActiv 16/10/09). 

Faced with a "succession crisis" in its languages department, the European Commission has launched awareness-raising campaigns aimed at encouraging young people to consider a career in languages amid concerns that retirees are not being adequately replaced (EurActiv 18/02/09; EurActiv 20/11/09). 

More on this topic

The global "war for talent" in graduate recruitment markets means "the EU's approach to staff selection needs to be modernised if we are in future to compete effectively for Europe's brightest and best people," David Bearfield, director of the European Personnel Selection Office, told EurActiv. 

"Our new competitions will focus on assessing the skills and competencies of people on-the-job, rather than their knowledge of the EU and its institutions," Bearfield said. 

"The new approach also speeds up the selection process, helping the institutions to recruit the people they need, when they need them," he said. 

Under the new procedure, details of which have been seen by EurActiv, candidates for positions at the EU institutions will be required to complete computer-based tests (CBT) on verbal and numerical reasoning, abstract reasoning and situational judgement to assess their suitability for further assessment. 

"Computer-based testing allows us to test very large numbers of candidates at centres around Europe, and provides very fast results. We are moving from a knowledge-based to a competence-based system of testing," Nicholas Heenan, responsible for communication at the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO), told EurActiv. 

EU knowledge will no longer be tested at the CBT stage, which sees candidates complete multiple-choice questionnaires in their home countries in the hope of being invited to Brussels for a full day of testing at an assessment centre. 

Successful candidates will then be questioned at the assessment centre stage about knowledge of the field concerned in an EU context. 

Outlining the thinking behind the reforms, Heenan said the EU needs to modernise its staff-selection procedure, primarily by "dramatically shortening" the length of time required to complete a competition, if it is to continue to attract the best minds in an increasingly competitive labour market. 

"We'll help people to find their place once they're in," the EPSO official continued, stressing that the goal of the new system was to assess the competences of candidates as more specialist knowledge can be gained on the job. 

Boosting efficiency of recruitment 

"Under the old system, it took 16 months to two years to make an appointment. The new selection procedure will take 5-9 months," Heenan said, explaining that the new regime draws on best-practice in the US, Canada and EU member states. 

Candidates attending the Brussels assessment days will be "systematically measured" against required 'competencies' including analysis and problem-solving skills, ability to deliver quality results, communication skills, ability to learn and develop, resilience, ability to prioritise and ability to work with others, according to the new guidelines. 

Candidates who make it to Brussels will be required to produce a written case study, make an oral presentation, complete a group exercise and attend a structured interview. 

Interviews will be held that day to assess knowledge of their fields "in an EU context". 

"The final mark will be based on competencies rather than individual test results," the EPSO official said, adding that holding interviews on the same day as the assessment exercises would "save a lot of time". 

New recruitment wave required 

Warning that some services will see "a 50% turnover" in their staff within 5-10 years due to impending retirements, Heenan said "the attention given recently to enlargement countries means a lot of the staff from the 'old' member states are already reaching retirement age," citing the UK among those countries whose staff numbers in the EU institutions are rapidly dwindling. 

The new annual cycle will see competitions published in March each year for administrators, July for linguists and November/December for assistants, Heenan explained. 

The last competition under the old regime was published in July, and there are still 78 competitions ongoing, which EPSO hopes to complete before the new system is introduced. 

The first cycle of competitions to be held under the new system will therefore take place in March 2010, and the first appointments from these will be made in autumn 2010. 

No date has yet been set for a formal announcement of the changes. 

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