It’s the responsibility of the Selection Board appointed for the competition to interpret and evaluate the eligibility requirements and accept or refuse the information you submit. The results of this evaluation will be published in your EPSO Account together with the test results.

In the notice of competition you will find information on the eligibility criteria (incl. on qualification and professional experience), as well as useful information on the duties. Any interpretation of the terms are only the prerogative of the Selection Board, not of EPSO.

We suggest you to carefully read the notice of competition and to provide precise and exhaustive information in your application on your qualification and professional experience.

In line with the requirement sin the notice of competition, you are also required to upload supporting documents to your EPSO Account and to link the documents to the relevant entries in your application form. Please also check our relevant information on the supporting documents.

Candidates should be able to prove by supporting documents the claims made in their application form (as regards their qualifications, experience, knowledge of languages, etc). Candidates will be informed by the recruiting services as to which documents (copies or originals) they will have to present and when. This may be done at the stage of recruitment tests and/or before recruitment.

EPSO cannot provide information on the rules applicable in various recruiting services as regards the supporting documents. The following should be considered only as non-binding illustration of requirements that may apply:

1. Amongst other documents, candidates will have to provide a valid identity card or passport.
    
2. As a proof of their educational qualifications and training, candidates will have to provide:
   
   a) a copy of their diploma(s) and/or (training) certificate(s) attesting to educational qualifications;
   b) in cases of diplomas/certificates issued in a non-EU country, a statement of equivalency issued by a competent authority of an EU Member State.
    
3. All periods of professional activity must be covered by originals or certified copies of the following documents:
   
   a) Documents from former and/or current employer(s): employment contract(s) indicating the start and end dates of employment and/or first and last pay slips. These documents should indicate the nature, level, as well as a detailed description of duties performed, and they should bear an official header and stamp of the employer, and the name and signature of the person in charge.
   
   b) For non-salaried work, e.g. self-employed/liberal professions: invoices or order forms detailing the work performed or any other relevant official supporting documents specifying the nature and period of the duties performed or services rendered;
   
   c) For freelance translators: documents attesting the time periods worked and the number of pages translated;
   
   d) For freelance interpreters: documents attesting the number of days worked, and the languages interpreted from and into.

The Call for expression of interest (see Section 3) defines only the basic requirements for qualification and experience, that can also be found in the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants. The specific requirements will be defined by the recruiting services in accordance with their needs and vacancies. The recruiting services will assess the candidates’ eligibility based on information provided in the application form and supporting documents that they will ask the candidate to provide. This may be done at the stage of recruitment tests and/or before recruitment.

EPSO cannot provide information on the rules applicable in various recruiting services when assessing the qualifications and/or experience of candidates. The following should be considered only as non-binding illustration of requirements that may apply.

Educational qualifications

Degrees, diplomas and/or certificates, whether issued in EU or non-EU countries, must be recognised by a competent authority of an EU Member State.

Professional experience

1.  To be taken into account, professional experience must normally meet the following general conditions:
   
   a) It must be acquired after obtaining the required minimum educational qualification indicated in the notice of competition;
   b) It must constitute genuine and effective work;
   c) It has to be remunerated;
   d) It must involve a professional relationship, i.e. being part of an organisational structure or supplying a service;
   e) It must comply with the relevance criteria defined in the notice of competition.

2. Professional experience listed below may also be considered in the light of specific rules, for example:
   
   a) In case of voluntary work, ‘remuneration’ is to be understood as any financial contribution received, including cost reimbursement and insurance coverage. Furthermore, voluntary work must involve weekly hours and duration similar to a regular job.
   
   b) In case of traineeships, ‘remuneration’ is to be understood as any financial contribution received, including cost reimbursement and insurance coverage. A compulsory traineeship which is part of a studies programme, may be taken into account provided that (i) the traineeship is undertaken after achieving the minimum educational qualification indicated in the notice of competition, and that (ii) the traineeship is remunerated.
   
   c) A compulsory traineeship which is part of a programme leading to, or which is a pre-condition for, registration with a professional association in order to obtain a right to practise a profession (for example, admission to the lawyers’ bar association) may be taken into account irrespective of whether the work was remunerated. However, where the work was not remunerated, the traineeship period may only be considered provided that the programme was successfully completed and the right to practise obtained. In all cases, only the minimum compulsory duration will be taken into account.
   
   d) Compulsory military service that occurred before or after obtaining the required minimum educational qualification indicated in the notice of competition will be taken into account, including if it does not meet the relevance criteria defined in the notice of competition, but only for a period not exceeding the obligatory duration in the relevant Member State.
   
   e) Maternity, paternity, adoption, or parental leave may be taken into account if covered by an employment contract.
   
   f) In the case of doctorate studies, the period taken into account shall not exceed three years, provided the doctorate was obtained, and irrespective of whether the work was remunerated.
   
   g) The period taken into account in cases of part-time work shall be calculated pro rata, e.g. half-time work for six months will count as three months.

You can request special adjustments of selection tests for the CAST Permanent procedure in your application form by ticking the box ‘special requirements’. You will also need to fill in a detailed information form on your special needs and send us relevant supporting documents.

Should you be granted reasonable accommodations for the tests organised by EPSO, you will be informed on the details before your test date. In some cases, defining and putting in place the necessary adjustments may take some time, and therefore you might be invited to take the tests during the next testing period. Should this be the case we will inform you as soon as possible.

EPSO will make sure that all pre-selected (shortlisted) candidates are invited and tested in the best possible conditions.

Please note that other (recruitment) tests are organised directly by the recruiting services. Should you need special adjustments at the stage of the recruitment tests, please inform the recruiter as soon as you have received an invitation for the recruitment tests. Please note that EPSO will not share any information regarding your condition or special needs with the recruiters.

Candidates to contract agent selection procedures (CAST/P) cannot link supporting documents to their CAST/P application(s). Candidates will be notified by the recruiting services as to when they must provide documents supporting the declarations made in their application form. The recruiting services will determine which documents are acceptable.

Candidates must upload and link scanned copies of their relevant documents, supporting the information in their application form by the deadline in the notice of competition.

Note: Candidates to contract agent selection procedures (CAST/P) should not link supporting documents to their CAST/P application/s.

Candidates must provide scanned copies of their relevant documents, supporting the information in their application form. These need to be:

A. uploaded to your EPSO account,
B. linked to your application form.

Details on the supporting documents to be uploaded can be found in the general rules governing open competitions attached to the notice of competition.

The deadline by when candidates must upload (to their EPSO account) and link (to their application) the scanned copies of the documents is published in the notice of competition.

A. Upload documents to your EPSO account

Please first upload the scanned copies of your documents to your EPSO account by clicking the "Upload supporting documents" button available in your EPSO account.

Your relevant supporting documents may be related to one of the following 4 file types:

1. ID Card/passport,
2. education and training,
3. professional experience,
4. other documents.

You can upload up to 20 files for categories 1, 2 and 4 and up to 50 files for category 3 (2MB max. per file).

The documents must be PDF or JPG. No other file formats are supported.

Consider renaming your document in case of an error message: use only one dot (.) before the file extension (pdf, jpg) and avoid special characters (_-/ etc.) or blank spaces in the file name.

You can view a previously uploaded document by clicking on the Display icon (eye shaped) and you can delete a document by clicking on the waste bin icon. You can only delete a document that is not yet or no longer linked to an application.

B. Link documents to your application

Once you have uploaded your documents to your EPSO account, you must link them to the relevant data in your application by clicking the button "Link supporting documents" available next to each application in the "Application(s)" tab of your EPSO account.

By clicking the button "Link supporting documents" you access the list of supporting documents uploaded to your EPSO account. The documents are grouped by "File type". For each entry under “Education and Training” and “Professional Experience” you must link a document previously uploaded in the corresponding file type. Your ID Card/passport must also be supported by a linked document.

You may execute the following actions:

1. Display (view) the document (eye shaped),
2. Link the document (chain shaped),
3. Unlink all documents (All on top)
4. Unlink the document (broken chain shaped).

Supporting documents will not be transferred to the recruiting services.

The Selection Board will only consider the documents you have duly uploaded and linked to the relevant entries of your competition application in your EPSO Account. These documents must justify the information provided in your application form, and based on which you are admitted to the competition.

Each entry of your online application form (education, professional experience) must be supported and confirmed by relevant documents. Every document uploaded should be linked to the entry it refers to in your online application. Instructions on how to upload your documents are available under How should I upload / link my supporting documents?

1. Identity: a copy of your valid identity card or passport

2. Education:

• Diploma that gives you access to the competition as required in the Notice of competition, Specific conditions — qualifications and work experience:
  • For AST competitions: secondary and post-secondary diplomas;
  • For AD competitions: post-secondary diplomas.
• Official recognition of your diploma, if needed: diplomas, whether issued in EU or non-EU countries, must be recognised by an official State body, e.g. an EU Member State’s education ministry. See also Do you accept my qualification/diploma issued in non-EU countries?
• Documentation on trainings followed, provided it gives access to the competition (please refer to the Notice of competition).

3. Professional experience:

Periods of professional experience that are not corroborated by a job description will not be taken into account by the Selection Board. Make sure you provide documents proving the nature of your duties and the duration of your experience:

3.1. For salaried work:

• Documents from current and former employer(s) stating the nature and level of the duties performed (letters from hierarchical superior, appraisal reports describing your tasks, job descriptions provided by your employer, contracts including detailed descriptions of the duties performed, …)
• Employment contract(s) with beginning and end date, or first and last pay slips.

Documents must be dated, bear the official company's header and/or stamp, as well as the name and signature of the person in charge.  

3.2. For self-employed - liberal professions:

• Invoices, contracts, order forms;
• E-mail correspondence;
• Minutes of meetings;
• Tax bills;
• Membership of a professional association.

Declarations on honour or documents that do not fill the requirements above will not be taken into account. If you fail to provide sufficient documentary evidence by the required deadline, you may be considered non-eligible and excluded from the competition based on the lack of supporting documents.

Candidates may be contacted by e-mail to provide additional information or documents on a particular diploma or professional experience.

The Selection Board will only consider the documents you have duly uploaded and linked to the relevant entries of your competition application in your EPSO Account. These documents must justify the information provided in your application form, and based on which you have been admitted to the competition.

Each entry of your online application form (education, professional experience and Talent Screener if applicable) must be supported and confirmed by relevant documents. Every document uploaded should be linked to the entry it refers to in your online application. Instructions on how to upload your documents are available under How should I upload / link my supporting documents?

1. Identity: a copy of your valid identity card or passport

2. Education

• Diploma that gives you access to the competition as required in the Notice of competition, Specific conditions — qualifications and work experience:
• • • For AST competitions: secondary and post-secondary diplomas;
    • For AD competitions: post-secondary diplomas.
• Official recognition of your diploma, if needed: diplomas, whether issued in EU or non-EU countries, must be recognised by an official State body, e.g. an EU Member State’s education ministry;
• Documentation on trainings followed, provided it gives access to the competition (please refer to the Notice of competition).

3. Professional experience

Periods of professional experience that are not corroborated by a job description will not be taken into account by the Selection Board. Make sure you provide documents proving the nature of your duties and the duration of your experience:

3.1. For salaried work:

• Documents from current and former employer(s) stating the nature and level of the duties performed (letters from hierarchical superior, appraisal reports describing your tasks, job descriptions provided by your employer, contracts including detailed descriptions of the duties performed, …)
• Employment contract(s) with beginning and end date, or first and last pay slips.

Documents must be dated, bear the official company's header, stamp, as well as the name and signature of the person in charge.  

3.2. For self-employed - liberal professions:

• Invoices, contracts, order forms;
• E-mail correspondence;
• Minutes of meetings;
• Tax bills;
• Membership of a professional association.

For more information, please check the notice of competition, in particular the section “Supporting documents” and the FAQ sections Eligibility and Selection based on qualifications (Talent screener).

If you fail to provide sufficient documentary evidence by the required deadline, you may be considered non-eligible and excluded from the competition based on the lack of supporting documents.

The day before your assessment centre tests at the latest, you must provide scanned copies of your relevant documents, supporting the information in your application form. These need to be:

A. uploaded to your EPSO account,
B. linked to your application form.

Details on the supporting documents to be uploaded can be found in the general rules governing open competitions attached to the notice of competition.

A. Upload documents to your EPSO account

Please first upload the scanned copies of your documents to your EPSO account by clicking the "Upload supporting documents" button available in your EPSO account.

Your relevant supporting documents may be related to one of the following 4 file types:

1. ID Card/passport,
2. education and training,
3. professional experience,
4. other documents.

You can upload up to 20 files for categories 1, 2 and 4 and up to 50 files for category 3 (2MB max. per file).

The documents must be PDF or JPG. No other file formats are supported.

Consider renaming your document in case of an error message: use only one dot (.) before the file extension (pdf, jpg) and avoid special characters (_-/ etc.) or blank spaces in the file name.

You can view a previously uploaded document by clicking on the Display icon (eye shaped) and you can delete a document by clicking on the waste bin icon. You can only delete a document that is not yet or no longer linked to an application.

B. Link documents to your application

Once you have uploaded your documents to your EPSO account, you must link them to the relevant data in your application by clicking the button "Link supporting documents" available next to each application in the "Application(s)" tab of your EPSO account.

By clicking the button "Link supporting documents" you access the list of supporting documents uploaded to your EPSO account. The documents are grouped by "File type". For each entry under “Education and Training” and “Professional Experience” you must link a document previously uploaded in the corresponding file type. Your ID Card/passport as well as your Talent screener information must also be supported by a linked document.

You may execute the following actions:

1. Display (view) the document (eye shaped),
2. Link the document (chain shaped),
3. Unlink all documents (All on top)
4. Unlink the document (broken chain shaped).

Supporting documents will not be transferred to the recruiting services.