E.U. Internships/Stages - Language requirement? Age?

j.s. pill II

I've been looking into applying to internships/stages for the EU institutions and fringe organisations in Brussles for early 2014. For language requirements, most application pages will list fluency in one of the core languages (english, french, german) as well as competency in a second language as a requirement.

I'm looking for some insights from people who may have worked in one of these positions, or who have been though the recruitment/application
process, in to how the language requirements are treated in practice. I understand that English would be a primary working language so, taking
the fact that I'm a native speaker into account, would less weight be applied to my secondary language skills (or lack of)?

Just a bit of background about myself. My degree and masters would have been in the politics and public administration areas. I'd be putting
German down as my second language. Now I only ever studied it up to junior cert but I took it up again in my final year in undergrad on a non
accredited basis. I did just one module, did it on a pass fail basis and passed it. I wouldn't say I'm bad at languages by any means, I just decided to drop it for leaving cert in favour or a subject I thought I was likely to get higer points in. Now I graduated in 2005 so it's been a long time since I sat in a German class. Realistically, I'd say I have the tourist basics as far as conversation goes though my reading ability is a bit better.

So would my lack of language skills put me at an insurmountable disadvantage given how lucrative and competitive these positions are?
I'd also appreciate some perspectives on the age factor: I'm 30 now but will be pushing 32 by the time I hope to start. I know internships/stages
are more geared towards recent graduates. Would my age be another disqualifying issue? I've been working in insurance for the last 6 years. Owing to a lack of opportunities I've been drifting around similar level positions for that time so I don't think there's any real danger of seeming overqualified. Can I potentially turn the work skills I have acquired to my advantage? I'd imagine I'd have some serious advantages over a fresh graduate in terms of how I'd approach a workload. From what I've seen, many application pages don't specify an upper age limit (though one I came across required a special cover letter for for applicants over 30 to outline why they think they should be allowed to apply at such an age) but I'd like to know how an applicant's age is treated in practice (I'd imagine they don't tend to specify upper age limits due to equal status rules).

So what do people think? Am I wasting my time given these 2 limitations? The applications are going to require a lot of time and effort over the next few months and I'm wondering if I'd be better off devoting my energies to some other pursuit. Insights will be very much appreciated.

imbroglio

Hi there!

I recently completed a stage with the Council of the European Union, and highly recommend anyone to apply for it. Here is my 2c on your questions:

If you are selected to complete an internship, you may be asked to submit proof of your competency in your second language. To be honest, I found that they weren't really that strict about getting proof of your language skills. A copy of my Leaving Cert sufficed as proof of my French. I was like you, only had the basics, and was fairly worried it wouldn't be enough. It was absolutely fine! The main languages spoken day to day between colleagues were English and French, so as you're a native English speaker, you'll be fine. All correspondence from the stagiaire office was bilingual English/French. You can also choose Irish as your second language, if you studied Irish at school.

Reharding your age, I would honestly say don't worry at all! Most stagiaires for each particular institution start on the same day, ie, the day I started there were 50 other people starting with me. The Commission is usually 600. If you are selected when you're 32, I guarantee that you will not be the oldest in your stagiare group. I completed my stage aged 24 and I was one of the youngest. Given the state of the economy across Europe, stagiaires are generally anywhere from 24 - 40. That's may not be statistically accurate, it's just my observation from sending time in Brussels.

I think that's it's worthwhile applying, a stage is a very enjoyable experience and it does put an impressive looking piece of work experience on your CV.

Sorry for the length:
I hope that was of some help, I will gladly answer any more questions if I can!

Hi there,

I did a stage at one of the European institutions a few years ago. Can't comment too much on the languages, as I have a modern languages degree, but I'd imagine working knowledge of a second language is OK. Pretty sure that language is allowed to be Irish. I think when I applied, they just asked me to rate my own language skills. I wasn't interviewed at all, but the rest of the stagaires in my department were. No idea why I wasn't!

Don't worry about your age at all. I was 25 when I did mine, and thought I'd be one on the oldest. I was younger than almost everyone else. I'd say mid to late twenties was the norm in my group, but there were people in their thirties as well. As for your past experience...I really don't know. I put my past experience down (like you, I had 5+ years of work experience already) and it was grand.

I personally haven't found that anyone has been very impressed by my stage, which was a bit of a disappointment. It didn't have the value for my CV I expected it to, although it could just be the types of employers I'm dealing with. I also didn't really enjoy it, but that was down to personal circumstances. I got stuck in a unit with some very b*tchy girls (Greek and Spanish stagiares) who were horrible and cliquey and the work they gave me was dull and pointless. Despite that, I did manage to make friends with nice people from other institutions and have some fun. The 'stagiaire' network in Brussels is huge. All in all, I'd say it would be worth doing. It was really interesting to see how the EU operates - you will be allowed to sit in on plenary sessions and such - and I'd like to go back as a permanent employee one day.

hazelboots

Hi there, I reckon you're age and work experience will be very relevant and make it more likely that you would be accepted. I applied for a stage having done a French and Politics degree so I had English, French and Leaving Cert German and Irish. I was refused. I asked around and I was told that as it is so competitive, they really only accept people with masters and relevant work experience. I was fresh out of UCD.

I have gone back to college to study law as that's the area I would like to get into. I'm thinking about applying again.

My question to the more knowledgeable than I is, what are the employment opportunities like in the EU after completing a Stage? Are there any? Or is it best to try and worm your way in with one of the MEPs?

hazelboots

*your.

Apologies.

j.s. pill II

hazelboots wrote: »

Hi there, I reckon you're age and work experience will be very relevant and make it more likely that you would be accepted. I applied for a stage having done a French and Politics degree so I had English, French and Leaving Cert German and Irish. I was refused. I asked around and I was told that as it is so competitive, they really only accept people with masters and relevant work experience. I was fresh out of UCD.

I have gone back to college to study law as that's the area I would like to get into. I'm thinking about applying again.

My question to the more knowledgeable than I is, what are the employment opportunities like in the EU after completing a Stage? Are there any? Or is it best to try and worm your way in with one of the MEPs?

The impression I've got from my own research is that securing steady employment after completing a Stage is extremely difficult. Just an update on my own situation; I've completely abandoned the notion of pursuing a Stage. Getting into one would not have been a major problem for me but the prospects for what would be available to me afterwards were less than appealing.

My sister completed 6 months earlier this year. She has a masters in Law, is fluent in German and is very hard working. She decided to come back to ireland to do her law exams as employment prospects were poor. She saw a lot of people falling into the trap of doing one internship after another without any prospect of getting anything beyond that.

Now, I really don't mean to discourage you completely. I just would strongly suggest that you pay a lot of attention to and do thorough research on what you can expect after you complete a Stage. I get the impression that a lot of people assume that getting accepted to a Stage is some kind of foot in the door - in reality it's just the bottom step of the ladder. Regarding my own situation, I am probably a good bit older than you (31) so my decision had a lot to do with my age; if I was 23 and just out of college I would have been far more likely to pursue a Stage. At that age, sacraficing a year or 2 to explore this avenue would not have been such a big deal but now, time is a bit more precious. And now aswell, I'd have to be conscious of what a deviation from the type of work I've been doing might look like on my CV.

This is just my own impression. I would strongly recommend that you talk to people who have been through the process, either on discussion forums like this or in real life. It mightn't be any harm to talk to someone in the UCD careers office either. Just don't expect any detailed information or frank assessments from them. They're probably more useful for information on the best way to apply for various posts.

Best of luck