You have been successful in a competition.

What
happens now?

Go to chapter

• Reserve lists
• What you should do
• Φλα γ γ ι ν γ
• Ωη α τ τηε Ινσ τ ι τ υ τ ι ο ν σ
• Ρεχ ρ υ ι τ µ ωιλ λ δο
εντ

Reserve lists
After the end of each competition, EPSO provides the EU Institutions with a list of
successful candidates and their CVs in electronic format. EPSO has no further role in the
recruiting of candidates by the Institutions. At the same time, EPSO establishes the quota
per Institution, i.e. it determines how many successful candidates on the list may be
recruited by each Institution based on the needs they expressed prior to publication of the
competition, and on the number of available successful candidates. As a general rule, the
quota is lifted one year after the publication of the reserve list and Institutions can then
recruit freely.
As the name indicates, the reserve lists constitute a pool of potential recruits which is
valid, in general, for two to three years following the competition. The validity of reserve
lists may be prolonged by EPSO according to the needs of the Institutions. You will be
informed of this by EPSO. It may take a considerable length of time before candidates on
the reserve list are called for interview. It should also not be forgotten that being on a
reserve list does not guarantee you recruitment by the Institutions.
Top

Flagging
Each Institution has access to an internal tool for searching through the reserve lists. For a
period of about one month after the end of the competition Institutions will look at their
recruitment needs in terms of the specific profiles sought and other specific requirements
of the positions to be filled. They will check the profiles of the candidates on the reserve
list in order to identify those who best match these needs, in terms of language skills,
professional experience, education, etc. This process is known as 'flagging', since once an
Institution identifies a candidate of interest it declares this by setting a flag against the
candidates name. This status is visible to all other Institutions as well as the candidate
concerned. Each successful candidate receives via his/her EPSO Account a detailed
explanation of the flagging system.
Flagging system for open competitions
Top

Recruitment
As job opportunities arise, Institutions contact their flagged candidates for interview and
depending on the outcome, may make a formal job offer. For practical reasons, you may
also be asked at this time to undergo a medical examination which is required before any
decision can be taken on appointment. Should you not fulfil an Institution's needs, you
are again made available for consideration by other Institutions, i.e. the "flag" is reset to
indicate your availability once again.
Top

What you should do

Of crucial importance is that you update regularly your CV in your EPSO Account. The
tool used to search through the reserve lists by the Human Resources Departments of the
Institutions is based on the classifications that you yourself chose in the fields
Occupational Category and Education Type. Making yourself personally known to those
Institutions or Services in which you are specifically interested may also help you, but the
decision to "flag" and to invite a candidate for interview is made solely by the
Institutions.
You can check via your EPSO Account if you have been flagged by an Institution. If so,
you may not contact another Institution to solicit a job or an interview during the period
that flag is set.You may also check your status on the reserve list at any time by following
the relevant link in your EPSO Account. This link is activated about one month after the
end of the competition.
Top

What the Institutions will do

Flagged candidates are essentially reserved for a short period (up to three months) by the
Institution who set the flag. At the end of that period, should no recruitment offer have
been made by this Institution, the flag is removed and the successful candidate is made
available once again for other Institutions to consider.
The process of flagging first and foremost reflects the recruitment needs of the
Institutions. That is why your personal preference of where to work cannot always be
taken into account. All Institutions need highly competent staff in numbers
commensurate to their size and missions. It may be the case, therefore, that you wish to
work for a particular Institution, but will in fact be chosen by another. You have the right
to refuse an offer that you consider unsuitable, but there is no guarantee that a new offer
will be made.

• Recruitment contacts in the Institutions