Languages Today, issue 9: Autumn 2011 – Joanna Heptinstall
UK language students and job-seekers can benefit from the huge opportunities being offered by the EU
WANTED: UK university graduates with languages for high flying careers travelling the world. On-the-job training provided. Large salaries guaranteed.
Sounds too fantastic to be true? Wrong. In the tussle for a handful of graduate worthy career opportunities in a bleak UK job market, it seems that one of Europe’s largest employers is being overlooked by UK university graduates. The European Commission employs a 32,000-strong workforce, set to grow as more countries join the EU. Yet just 5% of its employees are from the UK, even though the UK contains 12% of the EU population, making Britain hugely under-represented.
Overlooked opportunities
Last year the UK produced the lowest number of applicants of all EU member states. A recent Foreign and Commonwealth Office survey of 2,200 university students showed that undergraduates at UK universities don’t know enough about employment opportunities in the European Union institutions. Although just over half of the respondents wanted to work for an international organisation, 81% had never heard of the EU recruitment competition, the system through which new employees are recruited.
It’s a situation created perhaps by Britain’s cultural and geographical sense of detachment from Europe, together with a long history of weak foreign language skills compared to continental Europeans, further diminished in recent years following the study of a second language being made optional at GCSE.
Happily, the European Commission is making moves to off-set the balance, with a range of incentives for students, graduates and budding linguists, and an easier to access system for taking on new recruits, selecting them on potential rather than skill… a system which stands to benefit our linguistically-challenged job-seekers.
Building a multi-lingual society
As an international organisation of 27 member countries, the European Commission needs a multilingual workforce to keep its cogs turning smoothly. Every European Commission employee must have a thorough knowledge of one of the official languages of the EU and a satisfactory knowledge of a second. And since 2002, European Commission Language Policy has aimed for every European citizen to be able to speak at least two foreign languages in addition to their mother tongue. The European Commission actively promotes the teaching and learning of languages through various European education and training programmes. Consequently, the European Commission is a huge source of learning and career opportunities for budding linguists.
The main in-road to the European Commission’s civil service for graduates is through an administrator role. Administrator is a broad label encompassing policy-makers, lawyers, economists, translators, plus many more specific disciplines. New recruits will be, according to the European Commission’s website, “the best people from across Europe”. High-flying hopefuls should: “…have a motivation to work for Europe and want to make a difference to the lives of its 500 million citizens” and “be eager to learn and develop their knowledge and skills; and want to use and enhance their language abilities”. They must also possess: “strong analytical, organisational and communication skills, (the ability) to adapt easily to a variety of environments and stakeholders; the drive to deliver results; and the ability to work effectively as part of a multi-cultural team”.
In return, they can look forward to a potentially fascinating job with the chance of overseas postings, a working environment where learning new skills and languages are encouraged, and a financially and intellectually rewarding career.
A place for excellence
Specialist linguists may find their future lies within the European Commission’s two professional language services which aid the organisation’s day-to-day management.
The Directorate-General for Translation (DG Translation) is the European Commission’s in-house translation service. It employs a workforce of 2,500 translating texts – laws, policy papers, reports and correspondence – into and out of the EU’s 23 official languages, and a few others when needed. EU translators have a wide range of academic backgrounds, though their common denominator is an in-depth knowledge of at least two EU languages plus their mother tongue. They must be able to translate and communicate complex and subtle issues, arguments and laws between professionals and experts who are not necessarily multilingual themselves.
DG Translation’s sister service, the European Commission’s Directorate General for Interpretation (DG Interpretation), also known as SCIC, interprets the spoken word. Its 500 staff interpreters and up to 400 freelance interpreters enable the smooth-running of up to 60 meetings per day, ranging from consecutive interpreting between two languages, for which one interpreter is required, to simultaneous interpreting at one of 40 major annual conferences into and out of 23 or more languages, requiring at least 69 interpreters.
Similar to DG Translation staff, EU interpreters have a wide range of academic backgrounds, with a common denominator of at least two EU languages apart from their mother tongue. These two services are among the largest of their kind in the world. They operate separately from one another, so one is either employed as a EU translator or an interpreter.
Critical lack of UK employees
David Smith, Head of English Interpreting at the European Commission says: “The European Commission’s interpreting service faces a potential succession crisis for English linguists. Without an increase in qualified graduates from interpreter schools and universities, the EU institutions will lose at least one third of their English language interpreters by 2015 due to retirement, and about half in a ten-year perspective.”
John Evans, Language Officer for the London-based DG Translation Field Office, says: “One of my duties in the Commission’s office in London is to raise awareness in the UK of the opportunities for translators in the EU institutions. We work with universities and schools, through initiatives like the Juvenes Translatores competition and our graduate traineeships, to encourage budding linguists to consider a career in translation. There are jobs for them.”
According to a 2009 study, the European Union language industry’s turnover is set to increase by at least 10% annually over the next few years and it is estimated that the industry will be worth up to 20 billion Euros by 2015. Making the most of the European Commission as a source for training and potential employment makes sense for anyone with language ability.
Opportunities for students and teachers
There is much that language students and their teachers can benefit from by accessing European Commission initiatives, which range from Europe-wide translation contests for A-Level age students to online teaching resources.
Lifelong Learning
The Lifelong Learning Programme is the European Commission’s main initiative to encourage language learning. With a budget of nearly seven billion Euros for 2007 to 2013, the programme funds exchanges, visits and networking activities. Four sub-programmes fund different levels of education. Comenius is targeted at schools, promoting exchanges, school development, and staff education. Erasmus funds around 200,000 higher education students every year to study abroad, plus projects to increase co-operation between institutions. Leonardo da Vinci funds practical projects in vocational education. Initiatives range from giving individuals work-related training abroad to large-scale co-operation efforts. The Grundtvig programme focuses on developing adult education and also helps to tackle problems associated with Europe’s ageing population.
University excellence
The European Commission’s two language services DG Translation and DG Interpretation both maintain links with universities, and initiate a number of programmes and activities aimed specifically at promoting translation and interpretation as a profession. The European Masters in Translation (EMT) was set up by the DG Translation in 2005. It is a mark of quality achieved by a network of 54 European universities offering masters level translation programmes. As well as core skills, they recognise that translators need entrepreneurship, project management and negotiation skills.
Similarly, DG Interpretation’s two masters projects: European Masters Diploma in Conference Interpreting; and European Masters Diploma in Conference Management, bring together universities to pool expertise and best practices.
Visiting experts
University students can access a real-life EU translator via the DG Translation’s Visiting
Translator Scheme; and Pedagogical Assistance involves experienced interpreters from DG Interpretation visiting to train, sit on exam boards and provide teaching tools.
Securing funds
Training institutions may secure funding through the DG Interpretation’s grants for Training in Conference Interpreting. They also provide subsidies to projects which involve teaching unusual language combinations, cross-border cooperation projects and Post-graduate Conference Interpreting courses.University graduates can apply for a DG Interpretation Bursary. Preference is given to applicants with a language combination most suited to DG
Interpretation’s current and foreseeable requirements.
Resources for teachers
Teachers’ corner is a one-stop resource for a wide range of teaching material about Europe. There are websites, brochures, books, maps and posters which explain what the EU is and what it does. You can download or order resources and teacher’s guides in a variety of languages, for students in four age groups: 0-9 years; 9-12 years; 12- 15 years; and over 15 years. The ‘Passport to the European Union’ is particularly popular.
Juvenes Translatores
The annual Europe-wide Juvenes Translatores contest offers 17-year-old linguists a chance to compete in a prose translation contest in any language pair from the 23 official EU languages. Schools wanting to take part can sign up from 1 September. The competition itself is scheduled for 24 November. Last year’s UK winner was Scottish student Emma Robertson from Perthshire. Fiona Graham, an EU staff translator, says: “Juvenes Translatores demontrates one way of using language knowledge in the ‘real’ world and provides hands-on experience. Juvenes Translatores also provides accompanying language teachers with networking opportunities which can lead to fruitful exchanges between schools.”
EU career openings for UK linguists
Making the grade
The main route for graduates into the European Commission is as an administrator, a broad term covering policy development or project management. An administrator could be responsible for inspecting fishing fleets in member states, or drafting a decision of the European Court of Justice. Those with the right training can specialise as lawyers, economists or statisticians.
The other two routes are assistants and linguists. Assistants play a supporting role in internal management, covering budgetary and financial affairs, personnel, computing and document management. Linguists work for DG Translation or DG Interpretation.
Two-stage recruitment process
In 2010 the EU revamped its Europe-wide selection procedure. Graduates no longer take the feared test, which required a broad knowledge of EU matters that most UK graduates don’t have. Now the EU recruits on potential. The two stage recruitment process, the Concours, starts with a multiple choice, computer-based pre-selection test. This covers verbal and numerical skills and abstract reasoning. It has to be done in the candidate’s second language.
Once this pre-selection test is passed, it’s off to Brussels for an assessment, including group exercises, a presentation, and an interview. Happily for typically less linguistically-strong UK applicants, the test is more about giving a good impression. The whole process takes seven to nine months, whereas in the past it could take two years. Successful candidates will be placed on a ‘reserve list’. This is a database from which the EU Institutions can select staff. For the most common job profiles, the reserve lists will remain valid for one year only. There are three recruitment cycles a year: administrators in March; linguists in July; and assistants in December.
Daunted by the Concours?
UK graduates can apply for the European Fast Stream run by the British Government. They’ll spend two years in the UK Civil Service with EU-related responsibilities and six months on an internship with the European Commission. If they fail the Concours they can carry on in their UK post and try again another year. The Fast Stream opens on 19 September 2011 and closes on 30 November 2011.
Leg-up for UK graduates
The Foreign Office launched an EU careers campaign in February 2011 to persuade more graduates to consider a career in Brussels before applications for the annual intake of administrators opened in March. It is possible this will be repeated in 2012. The Foreign Office’s website describes what jobs are on offer.
Trainees
Over 1,200 graduates benefit each year from EU trainee programmes. They are organised by the European Parliament, Council of the European Union, European Commission, Court of Justice of the European Communities, European Social and Economic Committee, Committee of the Regions, DG Translation and European Ombudsman. Visit ec.europa.eu/stages for more information.
Visit EPSO for an invaluable page of useful links, from lists of EU organisations to general info about Brussels including transport and leisure.