Although new hiring methods have been rolled out in recent years in France (access path to civil service careers (PACTE), apprenticeships), recruitment is essentially by competitive examination, regardless of grade. But what happens in other countries?

Whether countries have a career-based or position-based civil service, a centralised state or federation system, government departments’ recruitment methods are highly contrasted, with employers having varying degrees of autonomy. 

Spain and Italy mostly recruit civil servants by competitive examination. In Italy, maintaining this procedure was the flipside of major statutory reforms (85% of staff are now on private law contracts).

Germany (and, similarly, Austria and the Netherlands) and the UK (together with Demark and Finland) hire almost solely by selecting applications and personal interviews, even for mass recruitment scenarios. In these countries, the process is highly decentralised and the departments, according to the resources at their disposal, determine their own methods or delegate to shared services centres such as Bundesverwaltungsamt in Germany and Palkeet in Finland, or to external service providers as is the case in the Netherlands and the UK.

A “combined” system is in place in a number of countries. Belgium recruits by competitive examination at local level and by application and interview at federal level. This is also the case in Sweden where competitive examinations are arranged for supervisory positions with applications and interviews for the other posts.

Candidates for civil service jobs in Ireland sit a selection test organised by the Public Appointments Service (PAS). In Malta, the process has two stages: selection from an application file followed by a competitive examination. Recruitment in Greece may use one of the two methods, or be carried out via a peer panel of incumbent civil servants.

Whilst involvement in the recruitment process is still largely dictated by qualifications, there is a tangible trend towards making selection tests more profession-based (already in Portugal and imminent in Italy), and for factoring in personal skillsets (Success Profiles in the UK) or private sector experience whereby seniority is earned for grading (Quereinsteiger in Germany).

This is the thinking behind Luxembourg’s administrative reform with the new “exam-competition” having been presented on 1 July 2018. The first part, which is overseen by the civil service, involves tests of academic knowledge and the second, under the ministry’s supervision, is focused on professional skills.

Although all the countries guarantee citizens equal access to employment in the public sector, recruitment methods outside France are changing to take account of new requirements and fiscal constraints. This is why the recruitment process is increasingly unrelated to the status or type of job held by the employee when he/she joins the civil service.

For more information: eupan.eu