did not request references... happened to someone else?
I believe the references were p’requested by them during the application process.
I am on the waitlist. Out of curiosity, could you share a bit about yourself (school, achievements, etc)?
ECB Graduate Programme
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did not request references... happened to someone else?
I believe the references were p’requested by them during the application process.
I am on the waitlist. Out of curiosity, could you share a bit about yourself (school, achievements, etc)?You mean reserve list or on hold?
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did not request references... happened to someone else?
I believe the references were p’requested by them during the application process.
I am on the waitlist. Out of curiosity, could you share a bit about yourself (school, achievements, etc)?You mean reserve list or on hold?
Is the reserve list good?
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did not request references... happened to someone else?
I believe the references were p’requested by them during the application process.
I am on the waitlist. Out of curiosity, could you share a bit about yourself (school, achievements, etc)?You mean reserve list or on hold?
Is the reserve list good?
I do not know, someone says yes, someone also says it is just a polite rejection.
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I believe the references were p’requested by them during the application process.
I am on the waitlist. Out of curiosity, could you share a bit about yourself (school, achievements, etc)?You mean reserve list or on hold?
Is the reserve list good?
I do not know, someone says yes, someone also says it is just a polite rejection.
Schade! I hope to be contacted for more and other opportunities or positions in the future from reserve list
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I believe the references were p’requested by them during the application process.
I am on the waitlist. Out of curiosity, could you share a bit about yourself (school, achievements, etc)?
You mean reserve list or on hold?
Is the reserve list good?
I do not know, someone says yes, someone also says it is just a polite rejection.
Schade! I hope to be contacted for more and other opportunities or positions in the future from reserve listIn the past, I was on the reserve list and got contacted a total of three times with offers. This was for a Ph.D. Traineeship role.
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If you guys are wondering why you did not made into the next phase, it's simple: 1506 applications were sent this year, nearly double the amount of applications in the past years. I too was not selected, and last year I made into into the final interview. It's disappointing, sure, and it doesn't help that this is a very opaque process, but there's simply an excess supply of graduates that has been exacerbated by the pandemic. At this point you can consider yourself lucky if you were in the top 25%.
Also please keep in mind that the ECB is not necessarily looking for economists in the graduate programme. You'll be surprised how many people without a phd get hired at the gp every year.
And quotas ARE a thing (and it's not just gender quotas...) everybody who says otherwise has either not looked at the profiles of previous gp participants or are lying to themselves.Former ECB GP here, let me tell you how this works in reality (and believe me, this is 100% true). The major problem with the ECB GP is that it is managed by the ECB HR department. ECB HR are probably among the worst HR in international organizations I know of: they are lazy, incompetent and corrupt. The former head of the GP committee Manfred K. had to be removed from HR because he was spying employees health records to pressure some staff who were often absent and find a motive to fire them...
Back to the GP: The ECB has a PhD traineeship program which they mainly draw from to create the shortlist of candidates for the GP (among the ones who applied obviously). HR doesn't look at the 1500 CV they receive, obviously, even after screening with the online tests, they just pick from candidates they know. It is way easier.
My year, 85% of the GP were former ECV trainees. And the few people who were not had connections (their PhD advisor knew the ECB people well, they have done a traineeship in a national central bank, etc.)
Therefore, if you are an outsider, your chances to be taken are extremely small.
Now, for insiders - former trainees - you need your HoD to push for you at the GP committee, giving the right phone calls to HR, etc. to make sure that you are going to be shortlisted. Then, you need to perform well at the panel, obviously, even though the quotas are helping a lot female candidates.
Also, just fyi, in 2015, HR put one of their own HR assistant in the GP (I am not joking). She was like 45 with an undergrad in psychology but HR uses the GP track to give her a 3-year contract the time for them to find a better position for her.
It tells a lot on how the ECB HR manages the GP process...
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Why do they even borther to open the program .. this is wierd !
If you guys are wondering why you did not made into the next phase, it's simple: 1506 applications were sent this year, nearly double the amount of applications in the past years. I too was not selected, and last year I made into into the final interview. It's disappointing, sure, and it doesn't help that this is a very opaque process, but there's simply an excess supply of graduates that has been exacerbated by the pandemic. At this point you can consider yourself lucky if you were in the top 25%.
Also please keep in mind that the ECB is not necessarily looking for economists in the graduate programme. You'll be surprised how many people without a phd get hired at the gp every year.
And quotas ARE a thing (and it's not just gender quotas...) everybody who says otherwise has either not looked at the profiles of previous gp participants or are lying to themselves.Former ECB GP here, let me tell you how this works in reality (and believe me, this is 100% true). The major problem with the ECB GP is that it is managed by the ECB HR department. ECB HR are probably among the worst HR in international organizations I know of: they are lazy, incompetent and corrupt. The former head of the GP committee Manfred K. had to be removed from HR because he was spying employees health records to pressure some staff who were often absent and find a motive to fire them...
Back to the GP: The ECB has a PhD traineeship program which they mainly draw from to create the shortlist of candidates for the GP (among the ones who applied obviously). HR doesn't look at the 1500 CV they receive, obviously, even after screening with the online tests, they just pick from candidates they know. It is way easier.
My year, 85% of the GP were former ECV trainees. And the few people who were not had connections (their PhD advisor knew the ECB people well, they have done a traineeship in a national central bank, etc.)
Therefore, if you are an outsider, your chances to be taken are extremely small.
Now, for insiders - former trainees - you need your HoD to push for you at the GP committee, giving the right phone calls to HR, etc. to make sure that you are going to be shortlisted. Then, you need to perform well at the panel, obviously, even though the quotas are helping a lot female candidates.
Also, just fyi, in 2015, HR put one of their own HR assistant in the GP (I am not joking). She was like 45 with an undergrad in psychology but HR uses the GP track to give her a 3-year contract the time for them to find a better position for her.
It tells a lot on how the ECB HR manages the GP process... -
Why do they even borther to open the program .. this is wierd !
The ECB is a European public institution. Hence, if you want to recruit someone, you need to go through a formal campaign, advertized widely, with competition, interviews, etc. So you need to maintain the appearances, even if you know exactly who you want to hire even before the recruitment campaign starts.
This is not only the case for the GP, but for many other positions too. ECB HR have developped strategies to avoid the standard and transparent recruitment process. ECB HR are so corrupt that some staff have officially complained and the ECB had to cancel 5 appointments of staff in the past due to nepotism and favoritism: https://bruxelles.unionsyndicale.eu/en/ecb-annuls-appointment-complaints-favouritism/
To give you an idea. I know at least two people who got recruited via the "reserves list strategy". You are a Head of Division and you have a RA/trainee that you like but who is not good enough to succeed in a standard ECB recruitment campaign. You ask your RA to apply to another position, where he/she has zero chances to be accepted but kindly ask the HoD of the recruitment campaign to put her on a "reserve list".
ECB HR allowed HoD to fill a position by directly drawing from a reserve list instead of opening a formal recruitment campaign, which might be slightly risk as you have other managers on the panel who might be honest. Hence, you can hire who you like by drawing from the reserve list of unrelated recruitment campaigns, with very low standards.
The ECB system is rigged, and this is probably one of the reasons why ECB staff level has steadily decreased over time.
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Question to former graduates:
I got an email for the ECB economist graduate programme of 2022 that my application is on hold and that they may come back to me if they decide to involve other candidates. They have moved 4 candidates forward (for 4 placements). Anyone any experience with this? Any change that I will still get selected or is it over?