The EU Institutions and Agencies offer various EU career opportunities. Degree holders, have a wider range of opportunity prospects, ranging from short-term opportunities such as Traineeships to indefinite contracts such as Permanent Officials. 

Contract agents are recruited to perform manual duties, administrative or support-service tasks or to provide additional capacity in specialised fields, whereby, insufficient officials with the required skills are available. Contract Agent positions are available for a wide range of jobs, requiring different levels and types of qualifications. They are divided into four functional groups: 

a)    Function Group I (grade 1-3): Manual and administrative support-service tasks (Salary in 2019: €1,907 to €2,869);

b)    Function Group II (grade 4-7): Clerical or secretarial tasks, office management and other equivalent tasks (Salary in 2019: €1980 to €2,869);

c)    Function Group III: Executive tasks, drafting, accountancy and other equivalent technical tasks (Salary in 2019: €2,536 to €4,156);

d)    Function Group IV: Administrative, advisory, linguistic and equivalent technical tasks

Contract Agents are selected via the CAST Permanent selection process, which is different from Competitions. The main difference is that only a limited number of pre-selected candidates are tested. The submission of an application, does not mean that a candidate will automatically be invited to sit for the computer-based tests. Only candidates shortlisted by the recruiters will be invited to sit for the selection tests when a vacancy arises. 

Additional information on how to apply can be obtained here . 

Assistance: https://epso.europa.eu/contact_en

Permanent contracts are awarded to candidates, after a rigorous open competition procedure that enables an official to become a member of the EU civil service. Within the EU civil service there are three types of permanent contracts that can be awarded: 

a)    Administrators (AD 5-16) - drafting policies, implementing EU law, analysis or advisory work. (Salary in 2019: €4,500 to €16,000 per month)

The policy sectors covered include administration, law, finance, economics, communications and science. Translators and interpreters are also recruited as administrators.

-     AD5 being the entry level grade for University graduates; 

-     AD6 or AD7 in more specialised roles (whereby the applicant needs to demonstrate several years' relevant experience;

-     AD8 competitions are organised, however these are not held frequently;

-     AD9-AD12 is considered as middle management level (selection/recruitment in these grades requires previous management experience);

-     AD13-16 are usually senior management positions

b)    Assistants (AST 1-11) - executive or technical role in administration, finance, communication, research, or policy development and implementation. As a minimum, an AST 1 candidate must have completed secondary education and have previous relevant experience or have a relevant vocational qualification.

c)    Secretaries/Clerks (may change depending on competition) (AST/SC 1 to 6) - office management or providing administrative support at the EU institutions. Salary in 2019: €4,500 per month.

-     AST/SC 1, being the entry grade for new staff, in possession of a post-secondary certificate of at least 1 year attested by a diploma directly related to the nature of the duties, or secondary education attested by a diploma giving access to post-secondary education followed by at least 3 years' professional experience directly related to the nature of the duties, or professional training of at least 1 year, followed by a minimum of 3 years' professional experience. Both the training and experience must be directly related to the nature of the duties. Salary in 2019: €2,300 per month.

 Inter alia, Permanent Officials are also entitled to:

-     Basic salaries including annual adjustments in line with inflation and purchasing power in the EU countries;

-     An expatriation allowance of 16% of the basic salary is granted to officials who left their home country;

-     Family-related allowances are available to permanent officials according to their family situation, including a household allowance, a dependent child allowance, an educational allowance and a pre-school allowance;

-     Training such as language courses; 

-     Fit @ Work initiative

European civil servants' salary is not subject to national income tax. Instead, salaries are directly subject to a Community tax, which is paid directly back into the EU's budget. This tax is levied progressively at a rate of between 8% and 45% of the taxable portion of one's salary. An additional 'solidarity levy' is in place from 2014 to 2023.

Additional information on how to apply can be obtained here .   

Assistance: https://epso.europa.eu/contact_en