Traineeships For Translation Interns At The European Commission

Deadline: 31 January 2011
Open to: Holders of full university degrees or people who are able to translate into their mother tongue or main language from two EU official languages
Remuneration:  € 1,071.19 per month

DG Translation offers a small number of traineeships each year. These last five months and are open to graduates looking to gain some professional translation experience within the European institutions. The linguistic and academic requirements are the same as for permanent translators.
Trainees are usually assigned to a translation unit made up of translators with the same mother tongue or main language. As a trainee you do the same work as staff colleagues — translating into your mother tongue^* from at least two official EU languages. Your work is revised by experienced senior staff. In some cases you may be assigned to one of DG Translation’s administrative units.

Eligibility

You will need to meet a few basic requirements to take part in a recruitment competition for translators.
Formal qualifications
You must have completed a full university-level course of at least three years and obtained a degree.
Professional experience
No professional experience is required — and there are no age limits.
Language skills
You must:

• have a perfect command of your mother tongue/main language (language 1)
• have a thorough knowledge of English, French or German (language 2) and be able to translate out of it
• in addition to languages 1 and 2, have a thorough knowledge of a second language (language 3) and be able to translate out of it.

All three languages must be official languages of the European Union. Specific language requirements will be indicated in the competition notice.
Check our ideal translator profile to see if you have what it takes.
General terms and conditions
You must:

• be a citizen of one of the EU member states
• enjoy full citizen’s rights
• have fulfilled any obligations relating to military service in your home country
• meet the character requirements for the duties involved.

The European institutions apply an equal opportunities policy and accept applications without distinction on grounds of sex, race, colour, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, language, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, membership of a national minority, property, birth, disability, age, sexual orientation, marital status or family situation.

Salary

Trainees receive a grant of € 1,071.19 per month.

Application

If you meet the requirements above, fill out the online trainee application. The various stages of the procedure are clearly set out there.

The deadlines for applications are:

• 1 September for traineeships starting in March
• 31 January for traineeships starting in October.

The online application form is available for filling out only:

• from 1 July to 1 September (for traineeships starting on 1 March the following year)
• from 2 to 31 January (for traineeships starting on 1 October of the same year).

Completing the form

• when filling in the two points on the statement in support of your application, write in your target language (the language you translate into)
• use the checklist at the end of the form and make sure that the required documents are attached
• print, sign and include the date on the form
• send proof of knowledge of the languages stated (e.g. exam records, certificates of courses followed, Erasmus exchanges).

Further Information

The Official Webpage