The College of Europe in Natolin, in addition to delivering a rigorous academic curriculum, is committed to fostering holistic student development by enhancing their skills, competencies, and overall capacity. This strategic approach ensures that the graduates are well-equipped to navigate the job market.
For this reason, Natolin initiated a series of European Personal Selection Office (EPSO) training sessions titled: “How to succeed in the EPSO recruitment process?” led by Mr Lieven TACK, Founder and CEO of CALIPA Coaching, specialising in preparing candidates for EU traineeships and careers and EPSO selection tests.
EPSO’s core mission is to meet the EU institutions’ recruitment needs by selecting talented candidates through generalist and specialist competitions. In carrying out this goal, EPSO acts as a trusted matchmaker between the EU institutions and high performing professionals and graduates. It thus contributes to the building of the current and future European civil service.
The training sessions were divided into four groups, where the students learnt everything about the EU’s selection process:
- Part 1: Overview of EU careers and the EPSO application process
- Part 2: Reasoning skill tests
- Part 3: New Competency Framework and written (and other ) tests
- Part 4: EPSO interviews and simulation test.
The students obtained all the tips and hints they need to succeed in the EPSO selection process and start an EU career.
This programme was dedicated for those who plan to apply for the permanent posts in the EU Institutions, through this EPSO competition framework, which is open to citizens of EU and accession/candidate countries.
About the speaker:
Mr Lieven TACK is the General Manager at the West Flanders Development Agency, where he oversees strategic and operational initiatives in economic development for West Flanders. He has served a Visiting Professor in EU Economics at the College of Europe since 2004. Mr TACK was COO at the European Institute for Innovation and Technology Food (2017–2019) and held senior governmental roles, including Chief of Cabinet for the Belgian Minister for Science Policy (2016–2017) and Deputy Chief of Cabinet in the Flemish Government (2009–2016). Earlier in his career, he worked as an Economist for the European Commission, Advisor to the Flemish Minister for Foreign and European Affairs and Visiting Fellow with the Open Society Institute in Bulgaria and Romania.