FAQs
What documents do I need to prove my eligibility?
Permanent staff – open competitions:
You must provide supporting documents to confirm the information declared in your application (identity, education, and professional experience), as follows:
1. Identity: You must provide a copy of your valid identity card or passport.
2. Education and qualifications:
- Upload your secondary diploma (for AST-SC / AST competitions) or post-secondary diploma (for AST and AD competitions), along with the list of courses you followed.
- Make sure to include the diploma that gives you access to the competition, as required in the Notice of Competition, point 3.3. “Specific conditions — qualifications and work experience” and that your name, stamps, signatures and serial numbers (if applicable) are visible.
Add proof of any relevant traineeships and trainings, provided they contribute to meeting the eligibility requirements (please refer to the Notice of competition).
Degrees, diplomas and/or certificates, whether issued in Member States or non-EU countries, must be recognised by a competent authority of a Member State.
See also: Do you accept my qualification/diploma issued in non-EU countries?
3. Professional experience:
You must provide documents proving the nature of your duties and the duration of your experience. Periods of professional experience that are not supported by a job description will not be considered by the Selection Board. Please note that no professional experience is required for the Graduate administrators competition (AD5).
Below are examples of the types of documents candidates should provide:
3.1: For salaried work:
- Documents from current and former employer(s) stating the nature and level of duties performed, such as letters from a hierarchical superior, appraisal reports describing your tasks, job descriptions provided by your employer, or contracts including detailed descriptions of the duties performed.
- Employment contract(s) with beginning and end dates, or first and last pay slips.
All documents must be dated, include your name, and bear the official company 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 documents
- Proof of membership in a professional association
Important information
- Supporting documents can be submitted in any of the 24 official EU languages and must justify the information provided in your application form. Each entry in your CV (education, professional experience) must be supported by relevant documents; otherwise, it will not be considered.
- It is the candidates' responsibility to provide the Selection board with all the information and documents needed to verify that they fulfil the conditions laid down in the notice of competition.
- If you fail to provide sufficient documentary evidence by the deadline indicated in the Notice of Competition, you may be considered non-eligible and excluded from the competition.
- In general, no supporting documents are required to prove language knowledge (please check the Notice of Competition for exceptions).
- Candidates may be contacted by e-mail to provide additional information or documents relating to a particular diploma or professional experience, if needed.
Make sure to provide all the documents you have at your disposal and that you are entitled to share. Your documents will be handled in line with our privacy statement.
For more information, please check the Notice of Competition, in particular the section “Supporting documents” and the FAQ section on Eligibility.
Contract staff selection procedures
Candidates for contract staff selection procedures cannot upload supporting documents to their CAST/P application/s in their EPSO account.
Supporting documents will be requested at the stage of recruitment tests and/or before recruitment by the recruiting services.
Candidates must be able to provide documents supporting the information declared in their application form (qualifications, professional experience, etc.). Recruiting services will inform candidates which documents must be provided (copies or originals) and by when.
EPSO cannot provide information on the specific rules applied by individual recruiting services. The information below is provided for illustrative purposes only.
1. Identity: You must provide a copy of your valid identity card or passport.
2. Education and qualifications - You must provide:
- Copies of diplomas and/or training certificates proving educational qualifications
- For diplomas or certificates issued outside the EU: a statement of equivalence issued by a competent authority of an EU Member State
3. Professional experience
All periods of professional activity must be supported by original documents or certified copies of the following documents:
3.1: For salaried work:
- Documents from current and former employer(s) stating the nature and level of duties performed, such as letters from a hierarchical superior, appraisal reports describing your tasks, job descriptions provided by your employer, or contracts including detailed descriptions of the duties performed.
- Employment contract(s) with beginning and end dates, or first and last pay slips.
All documents must be dated, include your name, and bear the official company 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 documents
- Proof of membership in a professional association
3.3: For freelance translators: Documents attesting the time periods worked and the number of pages translated
3.4: For freelance interpreters: Documents attesting the number of days worked, and the languages interpreted from and into.