Want to contract in Strasbourg

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farout117 replied

17 July 2012, 13:44
Originally posted by JaybeeInCUK View Post

Hi all,

I want to work for the European Parliament or the Council of Europe etc, both based in Strasbourg. I should be pretty well placed to do so as I speak both French and German, as well as hopefully being granted SC clearance imminently.

What's the first steps? How do I go about applying, who are the preferred suppliers etc?

Cheers!

Are you sure its in Strasbourg? As far as I know both the Parliament and the Council IT deps are based in Brussels, not sure if they have something in Strasbourg tough. I have worked with one of the institutions in Brussels, never had problems with language, English and basic French are enough. If you are coming here and opening a BVBA, prepare to pay 55% or more taxes!
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cojak replied

17 July 2012, 08:36
Also be aware that the EU Parliament is split between Brussels and Strasbourg every 6 months.

Now that will make it interesting for you, a Belgian resident for 6 months of the year!
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wurzel replied

17 July 2012, 08:12
I worked for the EC in Alicante for a couple of years. I got the impression that most IT operations across the EU are outsourced to a cartel of suppliers. Have a look at these:

European Dynamics
Trasys
Intrasoft International - Home

I'm not sure what routes you can take to become an actual EU functionary, but those I knew who were functionaries had to metaphorically grease a lot of palms to get there. It is a very nice trough to get your snout into.

Last edited by wurzel; 17 July 2012, 08:22.
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JaybeeInCUK replied

16 July 2012, 19:24
Originally posted by stek View Post

Just going off my missus who speaks what sounds to me like fluent German (studied for yonks - degree etc) yet she doesn't consider herself fluent, she's Russian btw but her English is fluent, she's tried at NATO but they want Masters Degree first...

Fluency is a hard term to pin down, and hard to back up without a professional qualie...

It's pretty much always gonna get tested at the interview, I remember interviewing for a few multinlingual helpdesk roles in the late 90's and my lingual skills were always tested before I was hired.

Wouldn't mind working in Brussels either, but Strasbourg is my preference.
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stek replied

16 July 2012, 19:02
Originally posted by JaybeeInCUK View Post

French fluently, but not natively. Think how Thierry Henri speaks English. Can convey technical concepts to German listeners as long as they are sympathetic.

Just going off my missus who speaks what sounds to me like fluent German (studied for yonks - degree etc) yet she doesn't consider herself fluent, she's Russian btw but her English is fluent, she's tried at NATO but they want Masters Degree first...

Fluency is a hard term to pin down, and hard to back up without a professional qualie...
Leave a comment:
JaybeeInCUK replied

16 July 2012, 18:40
Originally posted by stek View Post

Fluently?

French fluently, but not natively. Think how Thierry Henri speaks English. Can convey technical concepts to German listeners as long as they are sympathetic.
Leave a comment:
stek replied

16 July 2012, 18:24
Originally posted by JaybeeInCUK View Post

Hi all,

I want to work for the European Parliament or the Council of Europe etc, both based in Strasbourg. I should be pretty well placed to do so as I speak both French and German, as well as hopefully being granted SC clearance imminently.

What's the first steps? How do I go about applying, who are the preferred suppliers etc?

Cheers!

Fluently?
Leave a comment:
JaybeeInCUK started a topic Want to contract in Strasbourg

16 July 2012, 18:09
Want to contract in Strasbourg

Hi all,

I want to work for the European Parliament or the Council of Europe etc, both based in Strasbourg. I should be pretty well placed to do so as I speak both French and German, as well as hopefully being granted SC clearance imminently.

What's the first steps? How do I go about applying, who are the preferred suppliers etc?

Cheers!
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