I'm putting everything on the table because I'm past the point of polishing.

I'm 27, Italian, based in Geneva. Master's in International Relations from a French university, with a thesis on the OSCE's role in the war in Ukraine, built on interviews I secured myself with two former Secretaries General of the Organisation and a former Deputy Chief Monitor of the Special Monitoring Mission.

Six months at the UN in Geneva on protocol and correspondence for senior management. Four months with the Belgian MFA protocol service. Support work during an IPU Council session. Currently a paid part-time contract on an EU public diplomacy project in Geneva, plus volunteer research on disarmament and conventional weapons for an NGO. Italian native, French C2, English C1. My current contract is remote and light on hours, so I am genuinely free to relocate.

On paper it reads well. In practice: a year of applying, sometimes from morning to evening, and mostly rejections or silence. Two final-stage interviews are pending, one answers next week. I can't keep waiting for the next "maybe".

I don't want to go back to Italy. I want field experience, and I am willing to go anywhere for it — Lima, or wherever. Disarmament, mine action, security, SSR. What I can't do is another unpaid placement. I've done three internships and I simply can't afford a fourth. Paid, junior, temporary, difficult: all fine.

Question 1: how does a European with an HQ-only profile get a first field posting?

Every field vacancy I find is either a national position reserved for citizens of that country, or requires prior field experience even at junior level. I'm an EU citizen with no second passport and no local status outside Europe. Which organisations actually hire people like me? Which contract types — rosters, junior consultancies, project-based, short-term deployments? I'm not looking for "network more". If I'm searching in the wrong places or with the wrong keywords, tell me.

Question 2: is my profile the problem, or is it the market?

I keep being told I'm a strong candidate and then not selected. If my experience reads as too much protocol and senior-office support and not enough programme delivery or field analysis, I'd rather hear it bluntly now than in another year. What is actually missing? A certification? A specific junior role? Should I leave Geneva first? If you'd look at my CV and think "this person won't get hired for X because they lack Y", please say so.

Question 3: for those who broke into disarmament, mine action or SSR — what was the move that changed things?

An organisation, a course, a country, a contract that looked insignificant at the time?

I'm already working on the psychological side of this with a professional, so I'm not looking for encouragement. One very specific piece of advice would be worth more to me than a hundred messages saying keep going.

Thank you to anyone who takes the time.

I start my European affairs Master's degree but I'm a national of a candidate member state. I'm no longer delusional about careers in EU institutions after graduation, or in international organizations in general. I still want a stable job in a big European capital where I live. edit : I'm already living in the EU

What I'm thinking is switching for a different Master's. So that after my graduation it will not be insanely hard to get a job. And, most importantly, that after 15 years of work experience in the field, I will build an expertise that would be useful in the EU institutions. Let's say, in a certain DG of the EC, or something like that.

But I don't know which field to choose. I must admit that at the moment I don't have any strong mathematical skills, I haven't studied deeply economics, etc. And I already feel to old to start from year 1 of bachelor's degree.

So, I would prefer doing another Master's maximum. I was thinking something business related, but I'm not sure if some generic experience in project management would make me a very interesting candidate for the EU institutions in the future. But maybe it depends on in how big of a company I will work ? If it's something tech related or LVMH ? What about other fields? Finance and banking? Sustainability/Corporate Social Responsibility? AI? Data analytics? Though, again, I'm not sure if everything is accessible to me, with my non technical education.

Thank you in advance for your piece of advice.

i recently passed the CAST FG IV recently but the only CA position open right now for my profile is an FG II. from what i understand, people aren’t normally promoted to other function groups, but rather apply to other vacancies of a higher level.

is it worth then even doing an FG II job, if i would constantly be looking for something higher up?
i am of course also planning to send spontaneous applications and try my luck that way to a higher position, but im curious if anyone has had this experience/could share their view

Hello everyone, I'm here looking for realistic advice on what could I do with my life. I'm at a point where I secured a nice full-time, permanent, white collar, State job, in northern Italy, while being still relatively young (26-27 yo)

Before that, I worked as a temp worker/contractor (not a civic servant) in the Government Agency that basically processes International Protection requests. I would directly interview asylum seekers and write decisions and all of that. I didn't mature much experience actually, merely 6 monts, because I later won the competition that brought me where I work right now, which is some economic agency that has nothing to do with what I studied (History masters degree + migration law course).

I keep thinking about the old job (I was apparently good at it and learnt way faster that other young coworkers + I quite frankly enjoyed it even if it was tough). In the end I accepted the new offer cause it granted me stability and wealth. But, it doesn't make me happy and I feel like I'm becoming stupid and dumb and wasitng my potential aswell.

I thought about EUAA. Working for the EU would be amazing, and I would love to do it. I'm thinking that what I had before could allow me to take a bigger step, even if it exposed me to further instability and uncertainty (economic situation in Italy is dire, to the point that I would feel responsible for a child, in case I had one, to have them live in such a lost case). But I don't really know how unsafe such a bet would be.
I don't really wish to work in "dangerous/stressed" areas, I enjoy working at the office, examining cases, working with individuals, think, write, research and examine files. I wish though that kind of office activity could really make a difference in the world. I don't want to write people how much the owe to the Treasury O.O.

A public competition is coming in a few months. If I'm extremely lucky I could become an officer, but I doubt I could get back where I was before through this procedure. It could take years before it happens, and only then I would start maturing a prolonged experience viable for EUAA.

So I would ask you: how hard is it to join EUAA. How does it even work? I'm overwhelmed with information and I don't really know where to start.

Would it even make sense to throw away my current position, or the chances are so slim that it's best to be cautious and wait for a public competition to join the Public Office as a proper civic servant?

I would love a european career, I don't necessarily need to live in Italy, if it means I can have a nice career. I don't want to waste my potential, even though I'm not really sure I have what it takes. I'm not a peculiar student, I don't excel in anything in particular. But I would love to try, if I really have a chence.

It's extremely hard to give up the position I have right now, considering the hellish economic landscape in Italy. But I don't want to lose a life chance, if I really have it.

Avete idee su come farsi prendere al pool di young journalists? Magari qualcuno che ha già partecipato

Is anyone else also not able access the EU website for Blue Book Traineeships? (traineeships.ec.europa.eu).

It worked fine earlier in the day but whenever I try now I get the notification "Your connection is not private. Attackers might be trying to steal your information from traineeships.ec.europa.eu (for example, passwords, messages or credit cards)."

Hi!
I have C1-C2 levels in Duolingo English test when it comes to language skills such as literacy, writing etc. However, in my speaking scores I got 125 (up until 129 is, according to Duolingo, B2). My overall score is C1.

In the BBT application, I have to type my global score and the specific scores in the different skills (writing, literacy, speaking …).
Do anyone know if B2 is ok for the speaking score if the rest lives up to the minimum C1? And the global score is C1? 🥹

Or would I need to take a new test?

Hi everyone!
I’ve recently been offered a 12-month traineeship at the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Luxembourg, in the Finance & Procurement Sector, starting later this year.
I’m trying to learn more about what the experience is like in practice, particularly from people who have previously worked at EPPO or completed a traineeship there.
If you have worked at EPPO, I’d be very grateful if you could share a bit about your experience:
What was your day-to-day work like?
What was the workload like?
What kind of tasks and responsibilities did you have?
How was the working environment and team?
Did you feel that you learned a lot during the traineeship?
What did you do after finishing the traineeship?
Did the EPPO experience help you move into another EU institution or a related role?
Looking back, would you recommend the experience?
I’m especially interested in hearing from former trainees, as I’d like to understand how useful the experience was both professionally and in terms of career opportunities afterwards.
I’d really appreciate any honest experiences or advice. Thank you! 😊

Good evening, I am in the fortunate position of having two traineeship offers, one at the European Central Bank (ECB) and the other at the European Investment Fund (EIF), and I would appreciate some outside perspectives to help me decide.

For context, I am an MSc Data Science student. I have previous internship experience in a EU institution and in the tech industry, along with some research experience in AI. I genuinely liked my experience in the EU bubble and would love to build a career in this sector as a technical / analyst profile (,ECB, EBA, Eurostat, etc).

Working at the ECB has been a dream of mine since I started university. However, this specific role is much more administrative and focused on quality testing, which is not a great fit for my background and feels less meaningful to me. During the interview, management even expressed concern that I might get bored due to my technical profile, which makes me hesitate, but they expressed they were open to help me find tasks suitable to my profile.

On the other hand, the EIF offer is a 5-month traineeship on the Private Equity side as a pure Data Scientist. The role is highly technical, involving dashboard migration and using LLMs to speed up pipelines. While Private Equity isn't my primary field of interest, I loved the interview process. The team has a strong technical focus, they were enthusiastic about my profile, and they are willing to give me freedom on my projects. The main downsides are the short duration, the unlikelihood of it leading to a permanent job, and having to turn down the ECB.

I am incredibly grateful to have this choice, but it makes me incredibly unsure of what to choose, and I keep going in circles. I fear closing the door on my dream institution if I refuse the ECB (which is hard to do after 40+ rejections for traineeships over two years). But if I take it, I worry about losing my technical skills and locking myself into an administrative profile that will be difficult to pivot from later, either internally or in the private market, or lock out some other opportunities that might come later (I have been called twice from the reserve list).

I would love to hear your advice on how hard is it to move internally and stay afterwards and what are the typical exit strategies after these roles?

Thank you in advance!

Hi everyone, I have applied for the blue book traineeship admin ag and i'm wondering what are my chances of getting into the pre-selection phase.

I'm Italian (M26), studied an english-taught business administration bachelor at Bocconi and then a master in marketing management in cattolica university

I also have 3.5 yrs of experience at a global media agency based in Milan, where I worked as a comms strategist for big international accounts. I've been freelancing for the past year as a communication consultant for small to medium sized brands, mainly in hospitality, real estate, B2B and e-commerce.

I speak italian and english (c2 level certified) and have an international experiences in NY where i attended an english college for a month. I'm targeting DG COMM because my whole professional life has been about communication and media, but I really don't have a preference.

I thought my profile was solid, but now I'm starting to worry that I might get penalized by the amount of applicants from my country :(

Hi all,

I recently completed my registration in the CAST candidate lists of a few profiles (specifically EU policies and project management), and I'm now browsing the vacancies for temporary positions to send applications. I've seen that each vacancy has additional requirements, some concerning the years of professional experience that the candidate has in the specific sector, and that's where I wouldn't know what to write!

I'm fresh out of a PhD, but in the country where I did it a doctorate is considered education and is paid through scholarships, doesn't have a proper work contract - does that mean that my 4 years of PhD do not count as professional experience, whereas PhDs from countries that consider that a job have those years recognised as employment? Also, other than my PhD I've done a few internships and volunteer work that could be extremely relevant for applications within the EU (I mean that the activities that I carried out during these experiences are directly connected to EU policies and frameworks): do these also not count at all?

I would generally use my EUROPASS CV when applying to these vacancies, and in it I've indicated all these experiences under the professional experience section, not only because that's what the guide to creating an EUROPASS profile suggests, but also because only by doing that I would have the fields I need to describe my activities and so on - whereas in the education or in other sections, the fields are very limiting in terms of what you can share.

To sum it up, should I count these things (PhD, volunteer work, internships) as professional experiences both in the CV and in the application form of each CAST vacancy? Should I leave them in the CV but put 0 years of experience in the application form? Should I remove everything and risk losing points in the evaluation of my profile?

Thanks for any suggestions you could give me!

Hello!

I am looking for a way to enter the EU career. I already have a bachelor degree and a master degree in international relations. I have been trying to get an internship in this field (not necessarily a high rated job like the parliament, but also in smaller agencies) but with no success.

I have recently started thinking if I should apply to a postgraduate master programme (with mandatory hours of internship), maybe in Bruxelles, so that I could more easily find an internship. But I fear that after this I would have to start over and I would have wasted time and money. Does the title and the network one might create during the master really help in finding an internship/job after it?

I have a quite average profile I would say, my only specialization is knowledge of Chinese language and the Chinese area in general, and I have already done an internship in my state's embassy and some jobs.

If someone found themselves in this situation and wants to tell me about their experience I would be really grateful.

Thank for your help!

Hi! I'm a first-year physics student. I've heard, mainly on youtube, of people that are doing research summer internships in their first year at university. The vast majority of them are CS students doing summer-interns in big tech or similar. I was wondering if also for physics students there are similar opportunities. I'm also passionate about CS so I will also be open to do some more CS related internships. Is there a GitHub repo with a list of all european summer internships or some easy way to find them?

I’m thinking of applying to the European Commission’s traineeship program and I want to know how feasible it is for my profile. I’m a non-European citizen, 29-year-old and have a bachelor’s in international Relations, postgraduate studies on economics and a master’s degree on Culture and art Management in international contexts (full scholarship holder). I have work experience in international cooperation in culture, education, migration and diplomacy, and international sales/commerce.

I know my profile is a bit scattered, but my goal has been to focus on international cooperation on culture, education and migration.

I don’t know whether an EU traineeship would be beneficial for my profile.

Is there any non-European citizen who could advise.

Thankss

Hi everyone, I applied for the Council of the European Union – FG III Assistant to lawyer-linguists position. Has anyone here gone through an interview or selection process for a similar role at the Council, especially in the Legal Service or for a linguistic/legal assistant position? I’m mainly wondering: What kind of interview questions were asked? Were there competency-based questions? Was there a written or practical test? Did the test include proofreading, comparing language versions, Word/Track Changes, legal terminology, or spotting errors in documents? Was the interview only in English, or also in the target language? How long did the interview/test take? Is there anything you wish you had prepared better? I understand that each selection process can be different, but any recent experience would be very helpful. Thank you!

Hello,

It makes me a bit confused about whether my SOP should be focused on a specific DG or It should be general?

Do I need to stress more on achievements or the origion of what made me choose my career trajectory?

I would appreciate if any of you could spare some time for me

Hey all,

I got accepted for the October Blue Book intake at the Commission.

For past trainees; how was your experience, and did it actually help you land a job afterwards?

Did any of you who did the BBT manage to stay on as an interim or CA, if so how did you pull that off, and is there anything you'd recommend doing early on in the 5 months?

Anybody has any experiences with any of the units in DG.HR?

Any tips or honest reality checks are super appreciated…

The lucky selected trainees will start to look for accommodation.
- Never wire money via western union or Ria or others to places like Nigeria - a Belgian landlord has a Belgian bank account.
- Never pay for a place you have not seen.
- Have the contract checked by https://www.commissioner.brussels/i-am-an-expat/
before signing.
- Look out for mold. There are shady places being rented out.
Good luck!

Hi everyone, I applied for the Council of the European Union – FG III Assistant to lawyer-linguists position. Has anyone here gone through an interview or selection process for a similar role at the Council, especially in the Legal Service or for a linguistic/legal assistant position? I’m mainly wondering: What kind of interview questions were asked? Were there competency-based questions? Was there a written or practical test? Did the test include proofreading, comparing language versions, Word/Track Changes, legal terminology, or spotting errors in documents? Was the interview only in English, or also in the target language? How long did the interview/test take? Is there anything you wish you had prepared better? I understand that each selection process can be different, but any recent experience would be very helpful. Thank you!

I just wanted to know if this seemed reasonable to try an AD8 competition with only a master and 4y of work experience in a big company ? Are they aiming at more senior people ?

Hi! I passed CAST FG IV and I've started to apply to various positions in the EU Commission. I started to apply earlier this summer and I haven't heard anything back yet.

I'm wondering what I can expect as a timeframe, does it sometimes take months to hear back or is it just an exception due to the summer holidays? Is it normal to not receive any updates, not even a rejection? And lastly, is it worth contacting the HR of the DGs I applied to follow-up?

I've been looking for inspiration on how to pivot and move out of Belgium as well. I've been trying for a long time but I am determined to move out of Belgium permanently directly for a new job.

I don't particularly want to move to where my parents are (mostly in Italy), and the opportunities I applied for were not very solid anyway. I have given up on Spain (even though i am a near-native speaker) due to conditions, salary, no one answering the job applications etc, no one is answering on EURES either.

I have eliminated Greece, Portugal all the "nice hot spots" an option for now, which leaves the "usual suspects," The Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg and I've interviewed with Poland and NL. I trawl LinkedIn sometimes and see other people's trajectory, to see if I can draw inspiration.

Personally, offline, I only met people who have given up and either moved back with their parents or moved to their spouse's country/job. Some of them move for another degree.

I'm 36 for reference, and though I may not have the same background as you, I would love to hear your story. You can DM me if it's too personal to post here.

Hello, has anyone ever stayed at or heard of the Co-Living “Colive “ in Brussels? I really like their rooms, but I’m scared of scams considering the prices and curious to read your experiences