Deadline: January 31, 2018
Applications are now open for the October 2018 traineeship session at the European Commission. Every year, they offer paid traineeships for a period of 5 months to university graduates from around the world to learn about the European Commission’s activities and to acquire professional experience in a multicultural environment.
The traineeship offers
- EU knowledge – insight into the processes and policies of the European Institutions
- Practical experience – an opportunity to play a part in the Commission’s day-to-day business
- Opportunity to put academic theory into practice
Responsibilities
Trainees work all over the European Commission. The content of the job largely depends on the service you are assigned to. You may, for example, work in the field of competition law, human resources, environmental policy. A typical trainee’s daily work mainly consists of:
- Attending and organising meetings, working groups, forums, public hearings
- Researching and compiling documentation, reports, consultations, answering queries
- Running projects
Benefits
- A paid traineeship of 5 months with the European Commission (or some executive bodies and agencies of the European Institutions like, for instance, the European External Action Service or Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises), starting on either 1st March or 1st October.
- You will receive a monthly grant of 1,176.83 € as of 1st March 2018 and reimbursement of travel expenses. Accident and health insurance can also be provided.
- Every year, there are about 1,300 places available.
- If you are one of the selected candidates you get hands-on experience in an international and multicultural environment. This can be an important enrichment for your further career.
Eligibility
- The traineeship programme is open to university graduates, from all over the world who have a:
- Degree of at least 3 years of study (minimum a Bachelor);
- Very good knowledge of English or French or German (C1/C2 level in accordance with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages);
- Very good knowledge of a second EU official language (required for nationals of EU countries).
- If you are not an English, French or German native speaker as an EU citizen, then you need to have a very good knowledge of English, French or German in addition to your mother tongue.
- You must have completed at least 3-years of study with a degree to apply for a Blue Book traineeship. Only if you have a certificate or an official confirmation from your university that you have at least a 3-year degree will you be eligible to apply.
- You can apply once per session but as many times as you want until you are finally selected. If you do not pass the pre-selection, or you are in the Blue Book but not selected for a traineeship, you will have to submit again your application. It will undergo again the pre-selection with no guarantee that you will successfully pass it and be in the Blue Book again.
If you apply for translation traineeships (in the Directorate-General for Translation) you must be able to translate into your main language (normally your native language) from 2 other official EU languages (source languages):
- Your main language must be one of the official EU languages.
- Your 1st source language must be English, French or German.
- Your 2nd source language can be any of the official EU languages.
Requirement
- Openness to European matters
- Willingness to learn about the Commission’s working methods
- Contribution to our everyday work with a fresh point of view
- Proactive attitude
Application
- You can only apply for one type of traineeship at a time – administrative or translation.
- Before applying, take their survey to see if traineeship at the EC is for you
- See the FAQs for any questions you may have.
Click here to start your application.
For more information, visit Traineeships at the European Commission.
