nEUrosis

Job Ads

May 3rd, 2007 by Paolo Berrino

Instead of the usual entry on how well or bad the EU is doing in this and that policy, this time I will write about those like-minded people who want to live the European Union. These are the job seekers in Brussels. A bunch of men and women from all the 27 countries of the EU and beyond, gather in the so-called capital of Europe to participate closely in a project deemed by many as rather detached from anything that matters in citizens’ lives.

If there is one thing in common among the members of this random, colourful bunch, it is that every single one of them speaks, thinks and dreams primarily about how to get a job, how to change one’s job, how to improve one’s job, how networking is useful for this job, and how many ’stages’ [internships] you did before you actually got a job.

Working in Brussels means being part of a small multi-lingual hub, where people manage to communicate in some caricature of the English and French languages (one day I must write a piece about what I call the Euro-English – there are plenty of funny stories of this oft-violated language, especially by me). This “elite” includes about 40,000 officials working for the European Institutions, and an unknown number working for all the NGOs, lobbies, international organisations, think-tanks, consultancies and so forth, that like the moon, live off the deflected light of the Commission, the Parliament and the Council. But to be part of this world, first things first, one needs a job.

Now, there are several types of job seekers. The first is the trainee, also known as intern, or stagiaire. They say there is a difference between these three, but in reality they all boil down to the same thing: getting inexpert officials-to-be work for peanuts, or not even that much, doing the job of an expert secretary. Sometimes they are lucky and actually get to dip their fingers in real projects, so they learn something useful. In other cases, they are lucky enough to be paid, a luxury for their kind. Most of these blessed paid exeptions have mananged to get their hands onto one of the exclusive and famed Traineeships at the European institutions, which are as few as they are desired. Rarely does anyone get one of these on the first, second, or even third attempt. So, the most ambitious future administrators go to work somewhere else for a couple of years while periodically applying for a traineeship at the institutions. And when (if) fate finally smiles at them disguised as a bland e-mail from the Traineeships office, they gingerly toil out for far less money than what they’d be making elsewhere.

It’s tough for the trainees (yes, this is why they drink so much, and not occasionally in working hours - Ed.). I met people who went through several internships before getting a real job. This is definitely an unpleasant outcome of the Brussels system, because it favours those who can afford to live in Brussels without a salary, and not those who are best prepared. Few people fresh out of university have the means to live unpaid in a Western European capital, particularly those from the new member states.

However, the most determined will find their corner of European Union turf - after hundreds of applications, discouragement and the occasional “wanna drop it all and go home” feeling.

All aspiring interns go through the idealistic phase when they believe that perseverence will get them the internship of their dreams. Every time they send an application, they do it with the profound belief that they are perfect for that job, that they will surely get the telephone call… Soon enough, after many a day of silent phone and empty email, they change their minds and lower their standards.

Then there is the ”I came to Brussels to work for the Commission” kind of interns. These are a special brand of competitive, well-bred functionaries, who would do anything in their power to work for the Institutions. This implies studying as hard as they can to pass the competition, and networking as hard as they can to get one of the temporary contracts. Sometimes they are so obsessed with doing the job, that they become sad, petty people before even getting in – so they fit the bureaucratic profile. Why all this? Well, it is not without a reason that the Institutions are called golden cages. No matter how boring it gets, it is a secure and bloody well paid job. In other words, impossible to quit!toddmarrone.com/artwork/computer.htm

Networking is the word on everybody’s lips. There are experts for this too. You can spot them wandering around Place Luxemburg (a meeting area for EU officials), at the birthday party of somebody they probably don’t know, and at the club parties organised by some stagiaire, all at the same time! I still have to understand how they do it, but I tip my hat to such a dedication. The rationale is the conviction that the more people they meet, the more chances to get a nice job they have. Hardly - if everyone goes to a place looking for someone more important than himself, then networking becomes an exercise in futility. Thus, networking is primarily a matter of chance more than of crashing every cocktail party in town.

There are more psychological nuances of the Brussels job seekers. There are the experts in “interpretations of job ads”, then there are those who came just to continue the binge drinking they mastered during their Erasmus programme, the annoying ones who discuss endlessly the secrets of the perfect application letter, and those who simply make an appearance at the office they want to work and try to cajole the people there into letting them stay.

Brussels has a very dynamic job market, probably the biggest in Europe, for those interested in international and European politics. Although there are many cultural, linguistic, and job-seeking differences, the uniting factor for this city-within-a- city is indeed the EU. In between one job add and the next, Brussels-based Europeans live their lives discussing the past, the present, and the future of this one political body. In a sense, they are the citizens the EU does not have.

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