想去歐盟工作？準備跑“求職馬拉松”

A less than three percent chance of getting the job. Months of studying, learning hundreds of acronyms and obscure politicians' names to be able to answer tricky quiz questions in seconds. Would you go for it?

Every year, tens of thousands of Europeans do, entering the European Union's public service job marathon. The prize is a 21st-century rarity: a highly paid job for life.

"Preparing for the competition is a big adventure, it invades all your time, your life," said a woman who took part in the competitions. "It's like a sport ... you need to train every day."

In the past five years, more than 290,000 hopefuls have applied for EU jobs. A mere 7,049 were eventually recruited by the 27-nation bloc's institutions, mostly based in Brussels, but also in Luxembourg and a few other EU states.

They got in at the end of a grueling process which takes at least a year, sometimes three to four, starting with a multiple choice quiz on the EU's history, financing and politics, as well as verbal and numerical reasoning tests.

"You have to be the type for exams, you can't just be good for the job," said Jasmine Seiffert, a 39-year-old German who tried to get a job as an EU proof-reader.

這份工作的錄用率不到3%。還要花上幾個月的時間去記幾百個縮寫和拗口的政治人物名，以保證在應付那些刁鑽的考試題時能夠對答如流。你願意試試嗎？

每年，歐洲都有數萬求職者爲了到歐盟供職而參加這場“求職馬拉松”。不過，這場比賽的“獎品”是21世紀的稀缺品：一份薪酬豐厚的終身工作。

一位有過歐盟求職經歷的女士說：“準備這個應聘很冒險，它幾乎佔去了你全部的生活和時間。整個過程就像從事體育運動……每天都得訓練。”

過去五年，共有超過29萬的求職者申請過歐盟的工作。最終僅有7049人被歐盟（目前共有27個成員國）各機構錄用，這些機構大多設在布魯塞爾，也有一些設在盧森堡和其他幾個成員國。

整個招聘過程會讓人精疲力盡，少則持續一年，多則三四年。初試階段主要包括選擇題測試，內容涉及歐盟的歷史、財政及政治，以及書面表達和數字推理測試。

39歲的德國人傑西•塞非爾特應聘過歐盟的文字校對員一職。她說：“你得是個考試型選手，僅能勝任工作還不夠。”