Working as a staff translator for DG Translation

If you would like to become a permanent staff translator with us, you should apply for one of our open recruitment competitions. We cannot consider speculative applications — though you can work for us temporarily or on a freelance basis without taking part in a competition.

Staff translator

The European Commission requires translators whose mother tongue or main language is one of the official languages of the European Union.

Competitions for translators will normally be held every 3 years for each language, although the interval is sometimes longer.

Permanent, temporary or contract?

These are three different categories of staff translator — each with its own recruitment procedures and terms and conditions.

Other jobs

The European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) has details of other career opportunities in the EU institutions, including in DG Translation. There you'll find more details about the following different types of staff.

	Permanent officials	Temporary staff	Contract staff
Categories^*	Administrator (AD) Assistant (AST)	Administrator (AD) Assistant (AST)	Function Group I, II, III, IV
Duration of contract^**	Permanent	1^st contract — up to 4 years 2^nd contract — up to 2 years	3-36 months for FG II, III and IV
Regulations governing employment conditions	Staff regulations for EU officials (Articles 1-110)	Staff regulations - employment conditions for non-officials (Articles 1-50) Commission Decision on temporary agents	Staff Regulations - employment conditions for non-official (Articles 1-7; 79-119) Commission Decision on contract staff
How to apply	Enter an open competition. If successful, you will be put on an EPSO "reserve list". When a suitable vacancy becomes available, it may be offered to you.	Reply to a DG Translation call for temporary agents. If successful, you will be put on a "reserve list" of potential temporary staff. When a suitable post becomes available, it may be offered to you.	Reply to an EPSO open call for contract agents (CAST call).

^*Categories:
- AD posts: completed a full university-level course of at least three years and obtained a degree.
- AST posts: post-secondary education, with diploma OR secondary education, with diploma and appropriate professional experience of at least three years.
- Function group IV: university diploma following at least 3 years — study and appropriate professional experience of at least 1 year.
- Function group II and III: post-secondary education, with diploma, OR secondary education diploma plus 3 years of appropriate experience.
- Function group I: successful completion of compulsory education.
^**The maximum cumulative duration of temporary contracts at the European Commission is 6 years over a 12 year period