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But numerical reasoning?! I was terrified of numerical reasoning!! I really have no sense of numbers, and I had no idea what secret method I could apply to pass. In fact, the secret method is practicing day and night: I bought an Unlimited package, and did at least one full test with 50 verbal and numerical reasoning questions every second day. I also realised the small tricks of how to speed up my calculation by excluding unnecessary data from the tables, applying proportions instead of actually counting, memorising the % ratios and decimals, and being very focused on the question. This way I managed to increase my correct answers from 8 to 38 (out of 50) while I decreased the "exam time" from 75 minutes to 50. It paid off - I passed the pre-selection!
The written part was much easier for me as I'm a graduate in English literature. What really helped in fact was that three weeks before the exam I had prepared five full essays with names, numbers and loads of data on topics that I thought were quite likely to come up. Two very similar topics did in fact come up, which made me shiver, though this is no rocket science: the essay is always a broad topic with a focus on current affairs. As I memorised my home-made essays quite well, all I had to do was pick the one I remembered most and voila, an essay with so many concrete info that the jury probably thought I had access to Google in the exam hall.
Finally, the oral exam was a bit tricky: I had to travel to Brussels (which was later reimbursed, otherwise I couldn't have afforded it), but the flight was late so I arrived to the hotel almost at midnight. The exam was at 9.00 in the morning the next day, and to my misfortune, bus drivers were on strike the whole morning! In the end I arrived two minutes before the start, which was not a very pleasant feeling, but the jury was quite understanding (even though they were 5 people!). My advice is to give yourself enough time to arrive, find the place etc., making sure you have a 'Plan B' in case something goes wrong. The exam itself was quite tough, with lots of open-ended questions like 'What do you think about the EU's response to the financial crisis?' or 'What major trade or other sensitive issues can you mention in EU-US relations?'. I heard from friends doing law that they were asked about recent case law on the Laval-case and other legal stuff like the upcoming telecoms package. I learned that it's very important to read the news and be up-to-date for the oral exam.
All in all, the procedure is quite tough and rather long (I heard EPSO wants to shorten it from next year which is great) and you must always be very very well prepared for each stage. As I said above, the most important it to keep up your motivation all the time, because you either seriously decide to get an EU career or shouldn't even start at all. Good luck!"
Last Updated on Thursday, 20 May 2010 10:58
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| Comments - Page 2 |
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Page 2 of 2
But numerical reasoning?! I was terrified of numerical reasoning!! I really have no sense of numbers, and I had no idea what secret method I could apply to pass. In fact, the secret method is practicing day and night: I bought an Unlimited package, and did at least one full test with 50 verbal and numerical reasoning questions every second day. I also realised the small tricks of how to speed up my calculation by excluding unnecessary data from the tables, applying proportions instead of actually counting, memorising the % ratios and decimals, and being very focused on the question. This way I managed to increase my correct answers from 8 to 38 (out of 50) while I decreased the "exam time" from 75 minutes to 50. It paid off - I passed the pre-selection!The written part was much easier for me as I'm a graduate in English literature. What really helped in fact was that three weeks before the exam I had prepared five full essays with names, numbers and loads of data on topics that I thought were quite likely to come up. Two very similar topics did in fact come up, which made me shiver, though this is no rocket science: the essay is always a broad topic with a focus on current affairs. As I memorised my home-made essays quite well, all I had to do was pick the one I remembered most and voila, an essay with so many concrete info that the jury probably thought I had access to Google in the exam hall. Finally, the oral exam was a bit tricky: I had to travel to Brussels (which was later reimbursed, otherwise I couldn't have afforded it), but the flight was late so I arrived to the hotel almost at midnight. The exam was at 9.00 in the morning the next day, and to my misfortune, bus drivers were on strike the whole morning! In the end I arrived two minutes before the start, which was not a very pleasant feeling, but the jury was quite understanding (even though they were 5 people!). My advice is to give yourself enough time to arrive, find the place etc., making sure you have a 'Plan B' in case something goes wrong. The exam itself was quite tough, with lots of open-ended questions like 'What do you think about the EU's response to the financial crisis?' or 'What major trade or other sensitive issues can you mention in EU-US relations?'. I heard from friends doing law that they were asked about recent case law on the Laval-case and other legal stuff like the upcoming telecoms package. I learned that it's very important to read the news and be up-to-date for the oral exam. All in all, the procedure is quite tough and rather long (I heard EPSO wants to shorten it from next year which is great) and you must always be very very well prepared for each stage. As I said above, the most important it to keep up your motivation all the time, because you either seriously decide to get an EU career or shouldn't even start at all. Good luck!"
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| Last Updated on Thursday, 20 May 2010 10:58 |
