Tips for applicants

• Understand the job requirements and your motivation: find as much information as possible about the job, the work of the Bank and the department in which the job is located. Apply to the opportunities that best fit your strengths, competencies and aspirations. A clear match and a strong and genuine motivation are already big steps towards a successful job application.
• Write a strong motivation letter: when you read a job vacancy, you may already see yourself performing that job, and think “this is me!”. In your motivation letter, you just need to convey this message, explaining how your competencies will help you perform that job and why do you want to do it. This space is yours: fill it with your story!

• Be concise: present your qualifications succinctly but comprehensively. We will review each application carefully, but make sure you highlight how you meet our requirements.
• Be authentic: try to avoid pro forma CVs from websites that might be common for many applicants. Tell us who you are in your own words and explain your skills, competencies, and achievements. Use active sentences to convey exactly what you have done in relevant fields of expertise.
• Be specific: each job is different and has its own language. For this reason, each job application is different. Be relevant for each application.

Before taking the online ability test, it’s important to familiarise yourself with the question types, format, and time limits. Practising similar tests in advance can help you feel more comfortable and improve your performance.

• Practice, practice, practice: with a friend, in front of a mirror or on video. Assess your ability to talk about yourself, your competencies, and your experiences.
• Note down your experiences: prepare a wide range of brief stories, with concrete examples, about the professional experiences, competencies and results that might be relevant to the role. This will make it easier for you to bring them to mind on the day of your interview. Tell your story in a structured way, following a simple order to show: the context, your specific role, your contribution, what was the outcome and what you learned.
• Research: spend some time reading material and information about the Bank, the department/division to which you are applying and its activities. You can retrieve a large amount of information from our website, our social media or from the news. Show us that you care.
• Just be yourself: don’t try to play a role or follow a script that is not authentic. Let your true personality shine through. Here at the EIB we are looking for genuine people to thrive in our culture.