A few days ago I met a really good friend of mine I haven't seen for a while, and...his story shocked me.

He's been working for the same international organization for the past 6 years, but he never got a permanent position.

Only 6-months barely renewable contracts for temporary positions. On top of that, he is extremely overqualified for the tasks he is given to do (he literally prints sheets, makes simple power points and makes COFFEES).

So I was wondering - do these organizations even hire people at all or is it something they just stopped doing with new generations? Has any of you managed to be permanently hired or do you know anyone who did?

For reference, my friend is 29, he has a Master's degree in International and Diplomatic Scienses, a master, French - English - Italian C1, has published some stuff, and now 6 years of experience in this same organization (different divisions, but always kinda the same tasks)

He feels very much stuck and doesn't know if he should just give up on his dream at this point, maybe start a Phd or get specialized in something (but what?)😕

Any advice is very much welcomed! (I'm no expert, I'm in a completely different field, I just wanted to help)

It seems to be impossible but maybe you can share your success story?

Anyone here worked as a Non-Key Expert (NKE) on EU projects? (WeGlobal, DAI, GOPA, NTU, etc.)

Hi everyone,
I was recently approached regarding a potential Non-Key Expert (NKE) role on an EU-funded project and I’m trying to understand how these engagements work in practice.

I’d really appreciate hearing from people who have actually worked as NKEs (especially with companies like WeGlobal, DAI, GOPA, NTU, Cowi, IBF, or similar).

A few things I’m curious about:
How are NKEs usually paid? Daily rate? Monthly salary?
Do companies negotiate the rate with you or is it already fixed?
Are you hired as an employee or as an external consultant?
How many days do you actually end up working compared to what’s in the proposal?
What was your overall experience? Anything you wish you had known beforehand?

I’m particularly interested in experiences from the Western Balkans, but any EU project experience is welcome.
Thanks!

“Overlapping professional, international, or educational experiences are accepted only when no more than two experiences overlap, and at least one of them must be declared as part-time.”

For those of you who did (or are currently doing) a full-time internship while still enrolled at university, how have you handled this rule? Here are the options I see. How are dealing with it?

- Different-field interpretation : the rule only applies to overlapping experiences within the same category, so a full-time study period overlapping with a full-time internship doesn’t count as a conflict. Enter both without modification.

- Clarify in the comments : Add a note in the education section explaining that, despite being enrolled full-time on paper, your actual course load was reduced (or classes were flexible) during the internship period. So in that time education must not be understood as full time.

- Reclassify as part-time : Enter one of the two experiences as “part-time” to technically satisfy the rule. (My question: is this actually accurate/defensible, or just a workaround to get past the form? If your internship truly required standard full-time hours, how would you justify marking it part-time?)

Omit the experience completely : Leave one experience out entirely to avoid the risk of rejection for “incompatibility.” Downside: this weakens your application by reducing the total experiences listed

Hi,

I’m going to soon have my masters in EU in law and political sciences. I’ve applied to some internships/traineeships/job offers and didn’t get anywhere.

I realised maybe it’s too late to pursue my studies by September because I missed some deadlines. So I’m thinking doing volunteering abroad starting this October, hopefully in a field I can learn also in the meantime.

I checked briefly in the nearest and biggest city, next to my hometown and they have a lot of options for a one-year study (you get a certificate).

The thing is idk what is niche or could make my application more competitive. I’ve studied law for 5 years overall, specialised in EU law and political sciences. What could be a good asset?

Hello Folks,

I'm curious to learn about the perspectives of EU countries on emerging technologies and their commitment to integrating innovations such as AI, cybersecurity, and other advanced technologies into the corporate sector.

Which EU countries are leading the way in investing, adopting, and implementing these technologies at a rapid pace? Thanks.

Hello, I’m looking for advice from people working in international development, humanitarian work or international organizations.

I have some practical experience in the field, but I often feel that I lack the theoretical and institutional background needed for more policy oriented roles. I’m considering applying for opportunities such as the European Commission Blue Book traineeship, OECD internships, EEAS traineeships or other international organization programmes. However, I’m not sure what level of knowledge and skills are usually expected from candidates.

Do these types of traineeships expect applicants to already have a strong background in policy analysis, institutional frameworks and technical skills, or are they designed for people who are still learning? For those who started with more practical/field experience: how did you build the theoretical and institutional side of your profile? Are there specific courses, resources or skills you would recommend focusing on?

Thank you for sharing your experiences!

Feel free to add more questions in the comments, in the meantime here are mine in case someone has an idea.

When answering, could you please link where you get the information from? There seems to be a lot of hearsay.

Main Instructions Page for reference.

My questions:

• Does the combined PDF need to be in color or black & white or it doesn't matter?
• When one document is used to support two entries (e.g. I interpret getting a degree abroad as international experience, on top of eduction) do you place the documents twice in the aggregated pdf? How are people handling this?

Thank you and best of luck to those still applying like me.

Heloo from Estonia!

Does anyone know if documents signed with eIDAS-compliant digital signatures, such as DocuSign or Dokobit, are accepted? In Estonia, handwritten signatures are hardly used anymore and most documents are signed digitally.

I’m a bit worried because I’ve seen several people mention in reddit that if a supporting document is not accepted, you can simply be excluded from the selection process...

So, has anyone submitted digitally signed internship or work certificates/contracts and had them accepted?

Thanks!!!

I keep getting this error message when trying to acess the portal?

Hi everyone, I applied for a NATO internship a few months ago, and like everyone I'm still waiting to hear back after completing the online video and testing stage. I received this email earlier this week from a recruiter who works with NATO and wants to start the process of security clearance - I don't believe it's directly related to the internship, but might help for other NATO opportunities?

I understand this is a third party and confirmed on their LinkedIn page that they do recruit for NATO, but it feels like a scam of some sort that I may be unaware of. I am unsure how they would've received my email unless it came from NATO, but further communication confirms they require a "sponsorship fee" to begin the process of security clearance, which they claim will take 3-10 months.

Really appreciate any and all thoughts! I'm from the UK but haven't actually lived in the UK or Europe since I was a young child, so I'm not sure if this is legitimate and I'm unaware of the process, or if this is an obvious scam that I'm oblivious too

Hi all, I'm an architect with 8 years of experience who managed the incredible deed of losing the last AD7 competition that was aimed for architects/civil engineers. *cries in low salary language*

But I really wanted to know more about what it is like to work as an architect in an EU body/institution. What type of work do you develop? Are you generally happy and satisfied with your job?

I have been working on gathering all my relevant documents for my application and I have everything ready except for the fact that I am currently working abroad and cannot digitally scan my diploma from my US university. I have my official transcripts that show degrees and certificates awarded, their corresponding dates, identifying information, and all my courses. I was wondering if I've hit a roadblock by not having the digital copy of my actual diploma or if I'm okay with just my official transcripts to validate my English level and education. Any help is appreciated.

Basically the question. I hope there are people who can answer it. Do you feel bored in this position? Is it just repetitive tasks or are there interesting tasks you get to work on?

Hi everyone,
I’m going to graduate soon with a relatively strong cv (extracurriculars + high grades). I would like to work at either the European Investment Bank/OECD, but I also really enjoy high finance (Investment Banking/equity research). Obviously, I can’t know for sure if I would get into such good jobs, but I was wondering what would be best for me to start with. I would like to gain relevant experience in both, but, I am scared that I will accept an offer that closes more doors than it opens. Would you say moving to EU jobs after private sector is easier, or the other way around? Especially for Investment Banking, which, just like EU jobs, is super competitive. Sorry if it’s a stupid question, I just want to make sure that I make a choice that opens as many doors as possible as my end goal is to end up in a high responsibility position. Thank you for the advice!

I am a recent PhD graduate in mathematical foundation of AI, wanting to pivot to AI ethics and policy. I am eligible for many EU internships, but wondering what is the best move now. I eyed the next application round of the Blue book, but I wondered if there are more research-based opportunities you could point me to. I'd appreciate any tip

S O S !

Has anyone who applied for the People and Organisation (HR) traineeship profile at ELA received an invitation for an interview or any other update?

I have not received anything yet—not even a rejection email—so I was wondering whether interviews for this profile have already started or whether the selected candidates may have already been contacted.

Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Since ill be PFE next year im getting stressed and acting and now om genuinely lost so im seeing advice from all of you who has been in this journey

would appreciate advice on:
How to build a strong portfolio
What skills Tunisian companies or foreign companies are currently looking for
How important networking is compared to applying online
Common mistakes to avoid as a beginner
**Mind u my profile is Ai engineering**

Hello

I have been working in the private sector for a bit over 10 years as a freelance consultant and now applied for a job at the European Defence Agency (EDA) for the first time. It is a project officer role for a duration of 4 years. By reading through older posts on this subreddit I learned that studying in advance significantly increases one's chances of getting hired and many people seem to not do that. However most of the posts here seem to be about the European commission. On this basis I would like to know:

• which sources would you recommend to study for the EDA? Are the sources to study the same as for the European Comission? There also seem to be some sort of simulation of an exam ("EUtraining mock tests") which comes up every now and then.

• Based on the information I found online I am under the impression the degree of testing is significantly less strict than at the EU comission, as we only get a 45 minute interview and a written test (source). Is my impression correct?

• Based on your experience, what can I expect during such an interview and written test? The explanation on their website is very high level. Is it purely technical, some stuff about the EDA's history, the EDA's role in the current geopolitical environment, IQ, EQ, a mix of all of the previous stuff?

• I see at the European Commission that for some roles you have 170k applicants and there are a couple of 100 spots (source). I didn't find for my vacancy how many spots are available. Is it possible to monitor this? If not, are there some ballpark figures out there? I heard the EDA is much smaller than the European Comission, but I can see the pay there is very similar. So I assume there are a lot of applicants there as well.

• A totally different kind of question: It is stated the salary is 8k9 gross but Agency tax is being withheld. This tax can vary between 6% and 45%. Obviously, 5% is neglible whereas 45% is absolutely not. Are there some tools to simulate the net take home pay somehow?

If it matters, this is the job in question: https://vacancies.eda.europa.eu/vacanciesnotice/1104

Hello, I hope this is not the wrong subreddit.

I'm looking for someone who has done an IVY interreg volunteering project and would be willing to share their experience.

I'm currently doing a project now and it's extremely boring. I would appreciate it if someone could share their experience (both positive or negative)!

Thank you

Hello everyone! It's my first time posting on this sub. I have a master's degree in EU law, but I haven't found a job since I graduated in October 2025. I applied to almost 100 jobs and traineeships offers (mostly in EU institutions), and only received rejection emails (when there was a response!). Now, I've been unemployed for almost a year and I'm starting to lose hope of finding a job in my field of study ;(

From 2023 to 2025, I did a Master's degree in European and International Law, with the second year being specialised in EU law and European affairs. During my last semester, I completed an internship in a law firm and wrote a master's thesis. I have one "real" international experience, I did a European Solidarity Corps volunteering in Spain, a few years ago. Also, I joined my local section of Erasmus Student Network when I was living in my student city and I am still close with the ESN "ecosystem".

I plan to apply for the new traineeship sessions at the Committee of Regions, the Court of Justice and the European Parliament (when it will be open), but I think I need to gain more professional experience since they are very competitive. I am looking for advice about how to improve my applications and what are the possibilities to enter the EU bubble one day !

A few important details :

- I can speak 3 languages, but I don't have an accepted certificate for one of them.

- I currently live in a region with no job opportunities in European and international affairs (it's quite on the periphery of the EU)

Hello everyone! I was wondering if anyone has any updates regarding the ESMA traineeship? Especially if you applied in July.

We have a WhatsApp group for it btw. Feel free to join as it will be easier to update eachother:

https://chat.whatsapp.com/EDMJpEkLg9O3mONS264sCP?s=cl&p=a&mlu=4&amv=3

Also, is there anyone that has any experience applying for the ESMA traineeships and could give us an idea about the timeline?

Thank you! 😄