Relevant work experience may be required in some cases.

In order for your professional experience to be taken into consideration, it must be an actual work relationship defined by the following elements:

• real, genuine work,
• on a paid basis, and
• as an employee (any type of contract), or provider of a service.

Your professional experience will only be taken into consideration if its content is relevant to the duties described in the Notice of the Competition or Call of expressions of interest.

Your professional experience will be taken into account as follows:

• Paid work under any type of contract (employee, self-employed, civil servant, entrepreneur, free-lance consultant etc.)
• Voluntary work: voluntary work will only be taken into consideration if there is a form of compensation. Voluntary work must be comparable to full-time work, both in terms of number of hours worked and duration.
• Internship: internships will be taken into consideration if they are paid.
• Obligatory military service: obligatory military service will be taken into consideration for a period not exceeding the legal duration of said service in the member state of which you are a national. (Military service can take place before or after you have obtained the qualification giving access to the competition).
• Maternity leave / parental leave / leave for adoption: this leave will be taken into consideration if it is in the framework of a work contract. If the event (birth or adoption) happens when you are unemployed, the corresponding leave will not be taken into consideration. 
• PhD: PhDs are assimilated to professional experience, even when unpaid and for a duration of three years maximum, provided that the PhD has been successfully completed.
• Part-time work: part-time work will be calculated on a pro-rata basis of the time worked. For instance, if you have worked half-time for six months, your experience will be calculated as three months.

Professional experience is taken into account only if acquired after the date on which the diploma giving access to the competition was obtained.

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