(This is a guest blog post from Joanne Fry who is writing in her personal capacity.)The Story So Far
Having decided a year ago to make a commitment to getting a job in the European Commission, I realised I had some serious work to do if I was going to be ready for the EPSO Competitions this year. I started researching everything I could about the various stages of the process, and what competitions I would be eligible to apply for. For 2010-11, my options were Administrator (AD5-7) in the field of European Public Administration and Assistant in the secretarial field (AST1), so I applied for these competitions as soon as they were announced.
I knew in November 2010 when I applied for the AST1 competition that the first stage of tests – th computer-based verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning tests, along with the secretarial skills test for AST1, would take place in London from January.
I had done a bit of research into the tests, having bought ‘The Ultimate EU Test Book’ by András Baneth and signed up to the Arboreus Online EU Training website (the only two reliable sources of information on the EPSO tests I have ever found) and began practising. I was most concerned about the abstract reasoning questions as I’d never done anything like that before. Also, the tests were in my second language (French), which at that point was more than a little rusty!
The Struggle, the Efforts and the Lessons
Over the next couple of months I tried to practise some questions every day, timing myself, in order to get faster and more accurate. In reality, I found that trying to find a full hour every single day to practise was just too difficult and a bit unrealistic. Instead, I decided to try to do half an hour in my lunch break at least three times a week, along with spending some time reading French newspapers online to aid my French verbal reasoning score.
I did find that my scores improved, but not by as much as I needed them to. Really, the aim is to get over 80% of questions correct in under the time limit, and the best I could do was 75% in just over the time limit by the time I took the AST1 tests.
On reflection, I think I was well prepared for the AST1 tests, as I had been practising questions at AD level, which is why I think I passed. When I got to the Prometric test centre in London, I found that I was able to confidently answer the Verbal and Numerical reasoning questions in well under the time limit – which is reflected by the fact that I scored 19/20 and 9/10 respectively.
However, the abstract reasoning questions were a bit different from the ones I had been expecting, which threw me somewhat, and I only scored 5/10. However, the scores for Numerical and Abstract reasoning are aggregated, so I still scored over the pass mark. The secretarial skills tests, though not intellectually taxing, were still pretty difficult. The accuracy and precision test in particular was incredibly pressurised time-wise, and I hadn’t been able to practice this so it felt very stressful.
My overall mark was 69.33/100 – still not the 80% I was after – but it was good enough with my skills, qualifications and experience to get me through to the assessment centre in Brussels.
I knew in November 2010 when I applied for the AST1 competition that the first stage of tests – th computer-based verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning tests, along with the secretarial skills test for AST1, would take place in London from January.
I had done a bit of research into the tests, having bought ‘The Ultimate EU Test Book’ by András Baneth and signed up to the Arboreus Online EU Training website (the only two reliable sources of information on the EPSO tests I have ever found) and began practising. I was most concerned about the abstract reasoning questions as I’d never done anything like that before. Also, the tests were in my second language (French), which at that point was more than a little rusty!
The Struggle, the Efforts and the Lessons
Over the next couple of months I tried to practise some questions every day, timing myself, in order to get faster and more accurate. In reality, I found that trying to find a full hour every single day to practise was just too difficult and a bit unrealistic. Instead, I decided to try to do half an hour in my lunch break at least three times a week, along with spending some time reading French newspapers online to aid my French verbal reasoning score.
I did find that my scores improved, but not by as much as I needed them to. Really, the aim is to get over 80% of questions correct in under the time limit, and the best I could do was 75% in just over the time limit by the time I took the AST1 tests.
On reflection, I think I was well prepared for the AST1 tests, as I had been practising questions at AD level, which is why I think I passed. When I got to the Prometric test centre in London, I found that I was able to confidently answer the Verbal and Numerical reasoning questions in well under the time limit – which is reflected by the fact that I scored 19/20 and 9/10 respectively.
However, the abstract reasoning questions were a bit different from the ones I had been expecting, which threw me somewhat, and I only scored 5/10. However, the scores for Numerical and Abstract reasoning are aggregated, so I still scored over the pass mark. The secretarial skills tests, though not intellectually taxing, were still pretty difficult. The accuracy and precision test in particular was incredibly pressurised time-wise, and I hadn’t been able to practice this so it felt very stressful.
My overall mark was 69.33/100 – still not the 80% I was after – but it was good enough with my skills, qualifications and experience to get me through to the assessment centre in Brussels.
Assistant vs Administrator Exams
It was a different story, however, in terms of the AD5/AD7 CBT tests. The questions were harder than the ones I had been practising, even though the fact that they were in my main language didn’t make it any easier. In fact I found the real situational judgement test was quite different from what I was expecting.
Anyway, I did not achieve the pass mark, having only scored 4/10 on both the Numerical and Abstract reasoning tests and reaching an overall score of 59.342/80; I needed at least 61.5/80 to be in the lower half of the top 20% of candidates at AD5 in the European Public Administration profile, and actually around 70/80 to be selected to go forward to the assessment centre stage.
So – whilst I decided to give my practice questions and prep for March 2012 (AD competition) a short break, I had to get ready for the AST1 Assessment Centre on 6th June in Brussels!
(to be continued...)
Questions? Comments? Post them below!
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About Joanne: It has always been my ambition to work on a European level; during my MA studies in Public Policy and public Administration I found that the area I was most interested in was European Integration; the role of the Commission in European Public Policy is fascinating, and is the subject of great debate. I would relish the chance to work in such a fast-moving political arena. European Integration formed part of my MA Public Policy degree and I have written several Master’s level essays on the subject. In terms of having a familiarity with the European Union and its institutions, I worked in the European Parliament in Strasbourg for a year during my undergraduate degree, which gave me some insight and first hand experience of the way EU politics works.
By theonikol | 04 Jan 2012
Dear Audrey,
thank you so much for your response . I am wondering if you are willing to talk about your experience with me . It would be extremely helpful for me.
Best regards,
Theo
By Audrey | 04 Jan 2012
Hi Theo,
Last year I passed the AST1 CBT (but failed at the AC stage) and I think Online EU Training provides tests that closely resemble those at the real EPSO exam (test structure, difficulty level, etc). You also have the same "+" and "-" icons when you wish to enlarge a chart.
Good luck with your exam!
Audrey
By Theo | 03 Jan 2012
Dear Joe
hi and a happy new year to you and your loved ones.
Since I am preparing for ast1 competition I would like to ask you if the structure of the epso tests were at the same form as those in the eutraining site. e.g accurancy tests structure, is it the same as on epso tests ? (charts on the right, answers on the left, charts can be larger with "+" icon, same difficulty level and tricks)
Thank you in advance.
Theo