Marina Andreou represents the University of Nicosia as an EU Career Student Ambassador for the academic year 2022-2023
Marina Andreou, a UNIC Social Work student (Department of Social Sciences, School of Humanities and Social Sciences), has been nominated to take up the role of the University of Nicosia EU Career Student Ambassador at the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO). Marina has represented UNIC at the European Personnel Selection Office in Brussels, where she received a full induction training in order to promote and aid other fellow UNIC students to find suitable EU Careers in EU Institutions. The Training Conference took place between 8 – 9 October 2022 and aimed at bringing together the EU Career Student Ambassadors and prepare them for their role.
The role of the Student Ambassadors is important and diverse as they:
- Act as a point of contact for students interested in an EU career.
- Develop university networks and provide information on EU jobs.
- Maintain an active online and social media presence.
- Give presentations, attend university career events, and find interesting speakers.
- Answer questions about career opportunities with the EU.
- Research target groups and contact university media.
- Set up mailing lists and distribute information about EU jobs through the appropriate channels.
The University of Nicosia student was welcomed at the European Council by the Permanent Representation of Cyprus to the EU. Marina Andreou noted that the members of the Permanent Representation of Cyprus to the EU were great hosts. “The information they provided us with during our visit has been instrumental in understanding the true essence of the European Council. It was such a remarkable experience”, she stated, to continue saying that the Training Conference and presentations were inspiring and very informative. During the Training Conference, the Student Ambassador had the opportunity to meet high-ranking EU officials and build an amazing student network across Europe. The Student Ambassador had the chance to participate in various group activities and workshops that took place during the conference and there was a pleasant atmosphere for discussion and networking.
EU Career Ambassadors will receive further training in the form of masterclasses and regular coaching, all provided by EPSO for the current academic year. Additionally, there will be weekly updates and coordination by EPSO. Furthermore, Marina Andreou will maintain an active online and social media presence regarding EU careers opportunities and will be organizing/joining university events, as well as carrying out presentations, among others.
The organiser, European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO)
EPSO’s core mission is to meet the EU institutions’ recruitment needs by selecting talented candidates through generalist and specialist competitions. In carrying out this goal, EPSO acts as a trusted matchmaker between the EU institutions and high performing professionals and graduates. It thus contributes to the building of the current and future European civil service.
As an interinstitutional office, EPSO is responsible for selecting staff mainly for the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union, the European Commission, the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European Court of Auditors, the European Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions, the European External Action Service, the European Ombudsman and the European Data Protection Supervisor. Each one of these institutions recruits staff from a pool of successful candidates provided by EPSO.
Today, EPSO processes an average of 46,000 applications a year for approximately 1,300 places in the EU institutions.
The collaboration with the University of Nicosia
EPSO, in its effort to achieve a better dissemination of information regarding the competitions to interested citizens of Cyprus, has instituted, among other things, a network of EU Careers Student Ambassadors. This Network is made up of students who are interested in promoting EPSO’s philosophy and promote the employment opportunities offered in the EU institutions.
EPSO in collaboration with the national administrations (in the case of Cyprus, with the Public Administration and Personnel Department of the Ministry of Finance) requested a list of universities interested in joining the above network.
The Public Administration and Personnel Department of the Ministry of Finance in Cyprus has contacted UNIC Career Success Centre regarding this opportunity in January 2022 and the University of Nicosia responded positively to EPSO’s call for joining the network of the EU Career Student Ambassadors.
This is the first time that UNIC has joined the network of EU Careers Student Ambassadors.
Email address: [email protected]
