Fixed-term contracts (CAST)

The EU institutions and agencies employ staff on fixed-term contracts to provide additional capacity in specialised fields where there are not enough permanent officials with the required skills.
Contracts are offered for specific manual or administrative tasks. They are generally limited in duration – often for an initial period of 6-12 months.
Contract staff are recruited from a pool of applicants (kept in a database) following a selection procedure usually organised by the European Personnel Selection Office.

The difference between an open competition and a selection procedure for contract staff (CAST) is that:
- there is no assessment centre stage
- the number of successful candidates is not predefined.

Regular annual selection procedures of contract staff for a limited number of generalist profiles such as secretaries, administrative staff, human resources staff, financial managers, auditors, IT and telecommunications specialists, will be introduced soon.
The majority of positions are based in Brussels and Luxembourg.

European Commission specific rules for employment of contract agents pdf

European Parliament specific rules for employment of contract agents pdf

Overview of selection procedure

There is a two-phased procedure starting with reasoning tests or CV sift (depending upon the profile) followed by a competency test:

for generalist profiles, the first step consists of verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning tests
for specialist profiles the procedure begins with selection based on qualifications (CV sift)
the competency test may be a written, oral or other practical test in the field (for example translating a text).

If successful, your name will generally remain in the database for three years.

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