Candidates

In a comment posted on the last article, "Seeking job" noted that the reviews about the EPO on glassdoor.com criticised that the EPO did not respect the rule of law. Glassdoor is only the tip of the iceberg. Märpel asked around. University graduates are organised in trade associations and these are not publicly accessible on the Internet. But they help spread the word.

It normally works as follows:
-trade associations keep lists of their members
-if you are a member and seek a job at the EPO, you look on the list for somebody already working at the EPO and contact them
-that person tells you his or her opinion of the place.

Märpel would however suggest to be cautious and not give a frank opinion on a work phone (which will soon all replaced by Skype / Lync anyway), but instead ask for a number and call back from a private phone. Not so long ago, a principal director went around and said that the EPO was looking for candidates and that it was each employee duty to tell their friends what a great employer the EPO was. As in "we are so desperate for candidates, that you must lie to your friends: tell them the EPO is great!".

Except that it is not. It is a place where not even your pension is secure years after you left it (Judgement 4052). It is a place where the appeal committee decides against the personal in more than 98% of the cases. It is a place which still plans to put employees on 5-years contracts: word is that President Campinos wants to restart that project.

It is also a place which invested billions in a dubious investment fund and committed to further invest hundreds of millions of earnings each year in the future.

Therefore, as could be expected, the EPO experiences great difficulties in finding candidates when recruiting. But this is fine, as will be shown in the following article: the first move of President Campinos shows how he will solve that problem.