Finding an international job in brussels: The European union structure

The European Union is a very large international organization. The EU is a true transnational body, and the EU's structure allows a lot of job mobility across the international career spectrum. The EU group of organizations also offers a large range of traineeships across a very wide range of functions. These are the main branches of the EU:

• European Parliament
• Council of the European Union
• European Commission
• Court of Justice
• Court of Auditors

European Parliament The European Parliament is an elected body. Citizens of member states vote for their representatives in Brussels. The European Parliament, like most elected bodies, has a large administrative and secretarial structure. The European Parliament is one of the more common baseline entry level jobs in international careers. Anyone from an EU member state is eligible for these jobs. That's a good basic grounding in the international job scene. It's also a good insight into how the international career is put together. Council of the European Union (All languages) The Council of the European Union represents the governments of the member states. That adds an element in the careers of government employees, and allows a transition from national government careers to the international careers due to the common skills elements.

European Commission(All EU languages)

The European Commission is sometimes called the engine room of the EU, and with some reason. Fortunately for those wanting international careers, the European Commission has a solid employment and recruitment track, too.

Court of Justice

The Court of Justice is perhaps the legal profession's main inside track in Europe's inner circle. The Court of Justice directly serves the European Parliament, Council of the European Union and European Commission.

Court of Auditors(All languages)

The Court of Auditors audits EU finances, acting as an external independent auditor. The Court of Auditors was established by the original EU Treaty.

Looking for a job in the European Union

Which brings us to one of the primary forces of the EU international careers. All careers in these branches are coordinated by The European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO)(All languages) EPSO is the organization which manages recruitment for the EU, and it also works as a centralized authority for EU agency employment practices, regulations, and systemizes the entire EU workforce. Fortunately for those looking for a career in the EU, EPSO also has a comprehensive list of its procedures, updates, and career paths. This is a particularly good, well organized, way to look at international jobs in general.

Career paths in the EU are:

• Based on life long careers
• Highly structured,
• Based on competition,
• Lead to very high level jobs across a large spectrum of roles.

That's a good description of international careers. The people who succeed have long, colorful careers at the top of their professions. Brussels is a great place to learn your way around the big institutions of the world, and learn how to enter a world some people barely know exists.