Trainee Media and Communication

(2 Posts)

EDA - European Defence Agency

Brussels, Belgium

THE TRAINEESHIP

As trainees in EDA's Media and Communication Unit (MCU), the selected candidates will be part of a small and dynamic team responsible for all external and internal communication at the Agency. The Unit reports directly to EDA's top management.

TASKS AND DUTIES

Under the supervision of their traineeship advisor, the trainees will mainly be supporting the Unit's activities on media monitoring, media engagement, social media, internal communication and supporting event organisation. The trainees will be actively involved in specific communication campaigns developed and executed by MCU on EDA projects including web, social media, audiovisual, editorial and publications.

The Unit also produces a regular press review which is handled by the trainees. We also ask the trainees to support some of our administrative tasks such as: writing meeting minutes, taking care and updating the journalist and picture databases, the Media and Communication Unit’s project management plan and planning calendar, as well as preparing digital newsletters.

We offer the trainees a very diverse work experience covering the whole range of media and communication tasks.

On a typical day, the following tasks can be performed:

preparing daily press review;
preparing posts for different EDA social media accounts;
creating digital content (images & video);
reviewing and updating editorial content on the EDA website;
supporting social media campaigns;
supporting media engagement activities;
organising internal events or posting news on the intranet.

The trainees may need to take on additional tasks as required in the interest of the service.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Project outputs & learning outcomes

The traineeship will offer junior communication experts:

hands-on experience in all areas of internal and external communication including social media, event management, editorial and publications;
understanding of the role, contribution and potential impact of communication in a sensitive domain;
social media management experience;
understanding of the conceptual design and practical implementation of an effective internal communication strategy;
ability to critically assess media coverage and select relevant items for press reviews.

Technical/Soft skills to be acquired

From this experience, the trainees will gain:

ability to work effectively in a multinational/multicultural and complex environment;
ability to work in a small team and independently in their area of responsibility;
digital competences;
accuracy and attention to detail;
affinity with security and defence;
report preparation and writing skills;
ability to tailor messages to specific stakeholders and media channels;
web-tool/database management skills;
result-oriented planning and execution;
time management;
multi-stakeholder relations/management;
organisation of (international) meetings and events including protocol.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

To be considered eligible to take part in this selection procedure, on the closing date for the submission of applications candidates must satisfy all the eligibility criteria as specified below:

be a national of a Member State participating in the Agency;
be entitled to their full rights as citizens;
produce the appropriate character references as to their suitability for the performance of their duties (extract from the “judicial record” or certificate of good conduct will be requested prior to recruitment);
be physically fit to perform their duties;
have a thorough knowledge (minimum level C1 oral and written) of one of the languages of the participating Member States and a satisfactory knowledge (minimum level B2 oral and written) of another of these languages to the extent necessary to discharge their duties;
have no personal interest (financial, family relationship, or other) which could be in conflict with disinterested discharge of their duties within the Agency;
hold, or be in a position to obtain, a valid Personnel Security Clearance Certificate (national or EU PSC at SECRET UE/EU SECRET level);
have completed at least the first (minimum three-year) cycle of a higher education course (university education) and obtained a full degree or its equivalent by the closing date for applications;
have not previously undertaken for more than six weeks a paid or unpaid traineeship or any kind of employment in another EU institution, Agency, or body.

Please note the following:

Age limit:

No age limit is imposed on the candidates for traineeships; however, as a matter of priority, traineeships are offered to recent university graduates.

UK nationality:

Due to the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union on 31/01/2020, candidates from the United Kingdom who do not hold the nationality of another participating EU Member State, are not eligible.

Languages:

For native English speakers, the ability to communicate in another EU language will be tested during the selection process.

Personnel Security Clearance (PSC):

This is a certificate issued by a competent authority establishing that an individual is security cleared and holds a valid national or EU PSC, and which shows the level of EUCI to which that individual may be granted access (CONFIDENTIEL UE/EU CONFIDENTIAL or above), the date of validity of the relevant PSC and the date of expiry of the certificate itself. Please note that the procedure for obtaining a PSCC can only be initiated by EDA on behalf of the selected candidate.

Non-EU diplomas:

Only diplomas that have been awarded in EU Member States or that are the subject of equivalence certificates issued by the authorities in the said Member States shall be taken into consideration. In the latter case, the authority authorised to conclude contracts of employment reserves the right to request proof of such equivalence. For diplomas awarded in non-EU countries, a NARIC recognition is required.

UK diplomas:

Qualifications/diplomas awarded until 31/12/2020 in the United Kingdom are accepted without further recognition. For diplomas awarded after this date (from 01/01/2021), a NARIC recognition is required.

SELECTION CRITERIA

Only applications meeting all essential selection criteria will be assessed.

The pre-selection of candidates to be invited to an interview is based on a comparative assessment of all applications against the selection criteria and additional assets.

It should be highlighted that the selection criteria constitute a minimum threshold and that only candidates considered as most suitable are invited to an interview.

Essential:

On the closing date for the submission of applications candidates must satisfy all the essential criteria as specified below:

a University degree (or equivalent academic degree) in Communication, Journalism, Political Sciences, or similar;
advanced IT skills, particularly in MS Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook);
experience with different social media channels (i.e. X, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr, Instagram);
experience in providing and reading social media and website analytics/statistics;
basic knowledge of image and video editing software (i.e. Adobe Suite);
a very good command of written and spoken English (minimum level C1).