European Union Looking for Translators

Happy Friday, dear readers! Today's quick post is to let you know about an employment opportunity with the European Union that just landed in our inbox. The mighty European Union, the largest employer of interpreters and translators on the planet, is looking for German, Spanish, Greek and Swedish translators. From the posting, it's  not entirely clear to us if these positions are in-house in Brussels or if they are freelance positions, but surely the European Union will be able to answer all your questions. Please have a look at the following link for more information and to apply.  

While Dagy is an accredited freelancer conference interpreter with the European Union, we don't have any first-hand knowledge of the selection process for translators, but we'd love it if colleagues who translate for the EU would be willing to share their experiences by leaving a comment. 

Best of luck and keep us posted!


6 comments:

Unknown on July 25, 2014 at 11:03 AM said...

Hi Judy and Dagmar,

The selection process that is about to be launched is for permanent in-house translator positions with the EU institutions in either Brussels or Luxembourg. Candidates who are successful could end up working in the European Commission, European Parliament, Council of the European Union, European Court of Auditors, the Translation Centre or the European Economic and Social Committee/Committee of the Regions.

The selection procedure takes about 9-12 months. First there are computer-based tests (verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning, plus some language comprehension tests). Only those candidates who do best in these tests (so it's best to get lots of practice in!) will go through to the next stage, which consists of translation tests. The best translators will then go through to the final stage: a one-day assessment centre comprising a structured interview, group exercise and oral presentation. The assessment centre has to be carried out in a second language: French, German or English. The successful candidates will then be placed on a reserve list and recruited from the list as and when vacancies arise in the German/Greek/Swedish/Spanish departments of the translation services of the various EU institutions.

More detailed information can be found by clicking on the links on the EU page that you've linked to in your post.

Hope that helps!

John (EU translator)

Judy Jenner and Dagmar Jenner on July 25, 2014 at 1:24 PM said...

@John: Many thanks for taking the time to post this invaluable information -- how fantastic. We bet many colleagues will find this incredibly helpful. We are very happy small business owners not looking to give that up, but surely many will jump at the chance of being considered for employment at the European Union. What a fab opportunity!

Oh, and great meeting you in London last year.

Unknown on July 28, 2014 at 5:14 AM said...

Great to meet you too last year! It's a shame I won't be in the country when you're back on tour in the UK in Manchester in September. Best of luck with everything!
John

Judy Jenner and Dagmar Jenner on July 28, 2014 at 9:56 AM said...

@John: Bummer -- we would have loved to see you again. Let's make it happen next time, and safe travels! Going anywhere fun?

Unknown on August 17, 2014 at 11:01 AM said...

I'll be back working in Luxembourg, using my languages again in translation rather than just talking about them! I was in London on a three-year secondment, which has now come to an end. Hopefully our paths will cross again some time in the future.

Judy Jenner and Dagmar Jenner on August 18, 2014 at 6:34 PM said...

@John: How fantastic. We bet you will enjoy actively working with your languages again. Be sure to keep in touch, and yes, we are quite certain our paths will cross again in the very near future.

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