reader’s guide to the ultimate eu test book · essential books for european personnel selection...

Reader’s Guide to TheUltimate EU Test Book

Essential books forEuropean PersonnelSelection Office (EPSO)competitions and EU careers

Reader’s Guide to The UltimateEU Test BookMarch 2020

What’s inside...Page 3: “The Family Tree”Page 4: Sample VerbalReasoning questionsPages 5-8: Sample NumericalReasoning questionsPages 9-10: Sample AbstractReasoning questionsPage 11: Sample SituationalJudgement questionPage 12: All about theCompetenciesPage 13: The Test Books inbriefPage 14: Working for the EU

Welcome to this quick guide to the1492 pages of The Ultimate EU TestBook range of titles!

The first version of The Ultimate EUTest Book was published in 2005. Sincethen it has established itself asEurope’s No. 1 bestselling resource forcandidates for EU selection competi-tions, unique in the authority andrange of its coverage. The Test Booknow exists in four specialist editions,three of them covering the EPSOexams and one for onward careerdevelopment.

An associated title is Working for theEU: How to Get In, which makes anexcellent introductory companion toThe Ultimate EU Test Book series.

András Baneth, founding author of TheUltimate EU Test Book

For the latest comprehensive informa-tion including where to buy inBrussels and Luxembourg plus links toonline retailers visit:

www.johnharperpublishing.co.ukwww.johnharperpublishing.co.uk

3 READER’S GUIDE TO THE ULTIMATE EU TEST BOOK

The “Family Tree”

READER’S GUIDE TO THE ULTIMATE EU TEST BOOK 4

Q1. Beethoven first joined Prince Lichnow sky’shousehold and studied under Haydn,Albrechtsberger, and pos sibly Salieri. Hismusic is usually di vided into three periods. Inthe first (1792–1802), which includes the firsttwo symphonies, the first six quartets, and the‘Pathétique’ and ‘Moonlight’ sona tas, his stylegradually develops its own individuality. Hissecond period (1803–12) begins with the‘Eroica’ symphony (1803), and includes hisnext five symphonies, the difficult ‘Kreutzer’so nata (1803), the Violin Concerto, the‘Archduke’ trio (1811), and the ‘Razu movsky’quartets. His third great period begins in 1813,and includes the Mass, the ‘Choral’ symphony(1823), and the last five quartets.(Biography.com)

A. Beethoven was born in 1770.B. The second period of Beethoven’s music began with

the Kreutzer sonata.C. Salieri had most probably died before Beethoven

was born.D. Beethoven composed the Moonlight sonata in the

first period of his musical life.

Q2. A tsunami is a series of ocean waves that sendssurges of water onto land and can reach heightsover 30.5 meters. The waves are typically causedby large, undersea earthquakes at tectonic plateboundaries where the ocean floor rises or fallssuddenly and displaces the water above it, launch-ing the waves that become a tsunami. They arealso caused by underwater landslides, volcanic

eruptions, and have been caused by the impacts oflarge meteorites plunging into the ocean in Earth’sancient past. Tsunamis race across the sea at up to805 kilometers an hour, about as fast as a jet air-plane, and can cross the entire Pacific Ocean in lessthan a day as their long wavelengths make themlose very little energy along the way. In deepocean, their waves may appear only 30-50 cm or sohigh, but as they approach shoreline and entershallower water, they slow down and begin togrow in energy and height. About 80 percent ofthem happen within a geologically active area inthe Pacific Ocean. (environment.nationalgeo-graphic.com)

A. Tsunamis increase in velocity as they near landfalland force swells of water onto the shoreline.

B. Volcanoes cause more tsunamis than do subaquaticavalanches.

C. A tsunami appears smaller at larger depths butincreases in strength as it gets closer to land.

D. The higher the height of the tsunami, the faster itmoves across the ocean

ANSWERS

1. DA. Insufficient information. The text gives no indi-

cation of when he was born.

B. Incorrect. His second period started withEroica not Kreutzer.

C. Incorrect. As Beethoven possibly studiedunder Salieri then Salieri could not have diedbefore Beethoven was born.

D. Correct.

2. CA. Incorrect. Tsunamis slow down as they

approach the shoreline and enter shallowerwater.

B. Insufficient information. The passage does notdiscuss their relative proportions.

C. Correct. Tsunami waves appear only 30–50 cmor so high in deep ocean, but as they approachthe shoreline, they grow in energy.

D. Insufficient information. We are told thattsunamis can cross the sea at up to 805 km perhour but not what the relationship is betweenspeed and height.

There are 150 verbalreasoning questions likethese in the AssistantEdition and 150 in theAdministrator.

You have to choose thecorrect answer basedsolely on the informationin the text.


1. If they are ranked by the percentage that a powerstation generates of the total electricity consump-tion of the given country, which station would bein the middle?

A. Three Gorges DamB. Itaipu DamC. GuriD. Grand CouleeE. Krasnoyarsk

2. Venezuela plans to build another power station ofthe same production capacity as that of Guri. Ifexisting power stations produce 78% of the elec-

tricity consumed in Venezuela, how much electric-ity will Venezuela have available for export aftercompletion of the new power station?

A. 20.97 TWhB. 34.523 MWhC. 34 523 MWhD. 20 970 000 MWhE. 34 523 000 MWh

3. If the electricity produced by the Three GorgesDam would be enough to cover 3.24% of the elec-tricity consumed in the EU, and the EU produces

Power Station Country Annual Electricity Production (TWh)

Itaipu Dam Brazil 98.30

Three Gorges Dam China 98.50

Krasnoyarsk Russia 20.40

Grand Coulee USA 20.00

Guri Venezuela 53.41

Country Annual Electricity Consumption Statistics (MWh)

Brazil 455 700 000

China 5 322 300 000

Russia 1 016 500 000

USA 3 886 400 000

Venezuela 85 850 000

1 TWh = 1 000 000 MWh

Each set of test questions is preceded by a chapterexplaining the methodology for tackling thequestions. The Numerical and Abstract Reasoningsections also have very detailed ‘Warm Up’exercises. All questions come with full answerexplanations as in this numerical reasoningexample.


30% of the electricity it consumes from nuclearpower, how much electricity in the EU is producedfrom nuclear power?

A. 912.04 MWhB. 91.20 TWhC. 912.00 TWhD. 912.04 TWhE. 3040.12 TWh

Q1. Correct Answer: E

Reasoning

We must calculate the percentage each powerplant’s electricity production represents of thetotal for that country and then see which oneis in the middle.

Calculation

To calculate the proportion the production ofa power plant represents in the total con-sumption of that country, we simply divide itsproduction by the country’s consumption.

Since all of the operations we will perform aredivisions, and there are five zeroes at the endof almost all consumption figures, we cansimply disregard those. In the case ofVenezuela, this means that we will divide by858.5.

Itaipu Dam / Brazil:

98.3 / 4 557 = 0.02157121

Three Gorges Dam / China:

98.5 / 53 223 = 0.001850704

Krasnoyarsk / Russia:

20.4 / 10 165 = 0.002006886

Grand Coulee / USA:

20 / 38 864 = 0.0005146151

Guri / Venezuela

53.41 / 858.5 = 0.06221316

The numbers above are a little hard to com-pare because they are so small, but with a bitof care it is possible. We can see that Grand

Coulee is the only one with 3 zeroes after thedecimal point, so that will be the smallest pro-portion. Also, Guri and Itaipu Dam only haveone zero after the decimal point, and the nextnumber is greater (6 versus 2) in the case ofGuri, so that will be the largest proportion, fol-lowed by Itaipu Dam.

This is what we have so far, from smallest tolargest proportion:

Grand Coulee / USA

?

?

Itaipu Dam / Brazil

Guri / Venezuela

We are now left with Three Gorges Dam /China and Krasnoyarsk / Russia – one ofthem will be in the middle. Both of them havetwo zeroes after the decimal point, but thenext number is greater in the case of Russia (2versus 1), so we have our final order:

Grand Coulee / USA

Three Gorges Dam / China

Krasnoyarsk / Russia

Itaipu Dam / Brazil

Guri / Venezuela

Krasnoyarsk is clearly in the middle.

Potential Shortcuts / Pitfalls

There is a great opportunity to estimate here.

We can quite easily see that Guri tops the listfor generating the highest proportion of itscountry’s electricity. The Guri power plantgenerates more than half the electricity ofeither the Brazilian or Chinese power stations,but Venezuela’s consumption is far smallerthan that of Brazil or China.

The next smallest consumption figure belongsto Brazil, yet Itaipu Dam has the secondlargest production, so it must come second(while Itaipu Dam produces almost twice asmuch electricity as Venezuela’s Guri, Brazil’sconsumption is about 5 times as large asVenezuela’s).

If we compare the USA’s consumption toChina’s, we see that they are fairly comparable(3.9 to 5.3) but the Grand Coulee generatesonly the fifth of the electricity generated bythe Three Gorges Dam, so it must be in the lastposition.

We are now again left with Russia and China,but without having performed any calcula-tions. The way to compare the Russian andChinese power stations is to look at the rela-tionship between their production and theirnational consumptions.

Krasnoyarsk to Three Gorges is 1 to slightlyless than 5.

Russia to China, however, is 1 to slightly morethan 5.

This means that the Three Gorges percentagewill be lower, so it will be the fourth in the list,leaving Krasnoyarsk in the middle.

Q2. Correct Answer: E

Reasoning

We must first calculate how much electricity iscurrently produced in Venezuela from thetotal consumption and the percentage whichcurrent production contributes to this. We willthen add the capacity of the new power sta-tion to this total and subtract Venezuela’s totalconsumption to see how much is left forexport.

Calculation

To find the current total production, we calcu-late 78% of the total consumption ofVenezuela. To keep things consistent, weshould decide whether we are going to per-form all calculations in TWh or MWh. We willuse TWh on this occasion.

The electricity consumption of Venezuela isthen:

85 850 000 MWh / 1 000 000 = 85.85 TWh

78% of this is produced by the existing powerstations:

85.85 × 78% = 85.85 × 0.78 = 66.963 TWh

After the completion of the new power station(which has the same capacity as that ofGuri), the new total production will be:

66.963 TWh + 53.41 TWh = 120.373 TWh

If we subtract the current total consumptionfrom the above figure, we get the amountavailable for export:

120.23 TWh – 85.85 TWh = 34.523 TWh

Since this is not among the answer options, wemust also convert this into MWh and check ifthat is correct:

34.523 TWh × 1 000 000 = 34 523 000 MWh

which is answer option E.


There are two major issues to be careful withhere.

First, we must notice and then not get con-fused by the different orders of magnituderepresented by the two different units ofmeasurement, as defined in a footnote to thetable. In situations like this, it is advisable tomake a decision about which one you will useand then consistently convert all values to thatunit before performing the actual calculations.

Also, it is tempting to simply double thecapacity of the Guri power station (since thenew one has the same capacity) and comparethat to the consumption of Venezuela. That,however, would disregard the informationgiven in the question text, namely that currentproduction represents 78% of the total con-sumption (which means there must be otherpower stations in the country).

Q3. Correct Answer: D

Reasoning

The electricity consumption of the EU isunknown at the beginning of this exercise, butwe know that the capacity of the Three GorgesDam is equal to 3.24% of this, from which wecan calculate the total (100%). Once we havethat, we simply take 30% of this total to get theamount generated from nuclear power.


There are 165 Numerical reasoningquestions in the Assistant Edition and165 in the Administrator Edition. Thequestions are different in the 2 editions.

These 3 questions are from theAdministrator Edition

Calculation

Since the total electricity consumption of theEU is unknown, let’s call it X. We do knowthat 3.24% of this is equal to the capacity of theThree Gorges Dam, and this capacity is aknown value:

3.24% × X = 98.5 TWh

Let’s convert 3.24% to a decimal:

0.0324 × X = 98.5 TWh

Our aim is to find the total consumption of theEU, or X. Remember, in equations like this, wewant 1 X to be alone on one side, and weachieve that by performing the same opera-tions on both sides. Here, all we have to do isdivide by 0.0324:

X = 98.5 / 0.0324 = 3 040.12346 TWh

This is the total consumption of the EU, 30% ofwhich is produced from nuclear power:

3 040.12346 × 30% = 3 040.12346 × 0.3 = 912.04TWh (rounded)


There are several things to watch out for inthis question.

– do not stop after having solved theequation − that is the total con-sumption of the EU, not the shareof nuclear power

– do not round prematurely: if youround the total consumption to thenearest whole number and you cal-culate 30% of that, you would erro-neously mark option C as thecorrect answer

– watch out for the units of measure-ment: all throughout the calcula-tions, we only worked with TWh,so be careful with the answeroptions expressed in MWh



There are 110 abstract reasoning questionslike these in the Assistant Edition and 160in the Administrator

QUESTION 1: WHICH FIGURE COMPLETES THE SERIES BELOW?

QUESTION 1: CORRECT ANSWER C

Rule 1: The square alternates between jumping diagonally between opposite corners and takingtwo clockwise steps.

Rule 2: The circle and the square swap their shading in every other step.

Rule 3: The group of dots follows the square, indicating the square's position in the previous step.


QUESTION 2: WHICH FIGURE COMPLETES THE SERIES BELOW?

QUESTION 2: CORRECT ANSWER D

Rule 1: The circles at the top left corner migrate from the left to the right corner one by one inevery other step. The migration starts between the first and second steps.

Rule 2: The circles at the bottom right corner migrate from the right to the left corner one by onein every other step. The migration already started before the start of the series, and continuesfrom between the second and third steps.

Rule 3: Circle clusters are shaded when there is an odd number of circles and unshaded when aneven number.

Rule 4: The triangle alternates between pointing up and pointing down.

Many candidates find abstract reasoningquestions very daunting. For this reason forboth the 2020 Administrator and Assistanteditions we have introduced for the first timedetailed warm up exercises which show how tosolve typical questions step by step.

SITUATION

At a weekly meeting you are making a pres-entation to a large number of members ofyour Unit, including several senior staff. Youprepared well for the presentation, buthalfway through you realise you are workingfrom an incomplete version of the slides andyou do not have the final few slides that showthe conclusion. There are still some slidesremaining in your slideshow that you knoware not missing. You have about 15 minutesleft to talk, and know that it will take about 5-10 minutes to find the updated version of theslides.

A. Apologise and state that you willneed to complete the talk nextweek as you are missing importantslides.

B. Apologise and ask a colleague tofind the correct slides while youcontinue to talk on the availableslides.

C. Continue the talk but focus mainlyon the slides available, discussingthe conclusion briefly where possi-ble.

D. Call a break while you find theslides, locate them, then return andtalk through what you can in theremaining time.

ANSWER.

EPSO competency: RESILIENCE

The most appropriate answer inthis case is Option B. While thisinvolves admitting that a mistake

was made with the slides, it shouldnot undermine confidence in whatyou have to say. By talking offscript (if you have to) while theslides are located, you can demon-strate your breadth of knowledgein the topic which could actuallyadd credibility to your talk.

Option A is the least effectiveresponse. While it is a difficult sit-uation to find yourself in, youshould seek to resolve it now. Yourisk losing impact and interest ifyou resume in a week’s time. Youalso risk wasting the time of thosewho are unable to attend the meet-ing both weeks.

Option C is a possible responseand it may actually help the pres-entation appear to go the mostsmoothly to your audience.However, it has the downside thatyou risk losing impact by notaddressing the conclusion in asmuch depth as you could. You arealso potentially wasting importantslides that you spent time develop-ing and could illustrate your keyconclusions well.

Option D is an appropriateresponse. This shows a determina-tion to fix the issue despite the dif-ficult situation. However, bybreaking off your presentation youmay damage the flow of the talk,and you may also need to rushyour final slides to keep to time.Thus, it would be better to ask acolleague to locate the slides.


There are 30 situational judgementquestions like these in the AdministratorEdition. This test is not used inAssistant competitions.

With the great reform introduced in 2010 EPSO,after wide consultation with the EU institutions,introduced the new system of “competencies”.These are the qualities that are sought in EU staff inaddition to the reasoning skills that are tested in thepre-selection exams. They are the “soft skills”needed to become a rounded official. Candidates in EPSO competitions face testing oftheir competencies at the Assessment Centre. This isthe final stage, usually takes place in Brussels andconsists of a series of exercises (some individual andsome taken as part of a group). Only a limited number of candidates get to theAssessment Centre. It is very challenging but thosewho succeed become “laureates” eligible for recruit-ment by the institutions as permanent officials.Thorough preparation is absolutely essential or yourisk being simply overwhelmed on the day.Our book for Assessment Centre candidates is TheUltimate EU Test Book Assessment Centre (now inits 2020 edition), by András Baneth and Jan De Sutterand it is used by a high proportion of those whosucceed.The competencies are not, however, a one-off, justfor the purposes of passing an EPSO exam. They arekey to your long-term development as an EU offi-cial – and that is the theme of our complementarybook The Ultimate EU Career Development Book,by Jan De Sutter.


All about the Competencies ….

The Ultimate EU TestBook AssessmentCentre 2020

The Ultimate EUCareer DevelopmentBook

Jan De Sutter, former EUofficial and EPSO selectionboard president who nowcoaches candidates for theAssessment Centre.

Both these booksare supported byour popular free touse self assessmenttool, which helpsyou understandyour strengths andweaknesses in theEU competencies


Administrators 2020ISBN 9781999959579444 pagesPublication date: March 2020● Extended new guide to EPSO

Administrator competitions and how tomaximise your chances of success

● The tests EPSO uses and how they aremeasured

● Methodologies, shortcuts and pitfalls intackling the EPSO tests

● 150 Administrator-level verbal reasoningpractice questions with full answers

● 165 Administrator-level numerical reason-ing practice questions with full answers,now with “warm up” exercises to targetspecific types of question

● 180 Administrator-level abstract reasoningquestions with full warm up exercise

● 30 situational judgement tests

The Ultimate EU CareerDevelopment Book

ISBN 9780993454936310 pagesPublished in 2016● The central importance of competencies

to your EU career● Understanding your strengths and

weaknesses and how to self-improve● Individual chapters on Analysis and

Problem Solving, Communicating,Delivering Quality and Results,Learning and Development, Prioritisingand Organising, Resilience, Workingwith Others and Leadership

● Self-assessment worksheets for eachcompetency

● Self-assessment can be done online forfree with extra features and competencypassport

● Improve your job satisfaction and careerprospects

AssessmentCentre 2020

ISBN 9781999959593316 pagesPublication date: March 2020● How the EPSO Assessment Centre

works and a typical day.● The competencies and how they are

measured● Individual chapters on the In-tray, the

Case Study, General Competency BasedInterview, the Oral Presentation, GroupExercise, Interview in the Field, andMotivational Interview

● Sample practice exercises for all the testtypes

● Detailed scoring guides for self-assessing your competencies

● Reserve List and Recruitment● Frequently asked questions and glossary● Common mistakes to avoid

Assistants 2020ISBN 9781999959586422 pagesPublication date: March 2020● Extended new guide to EPSO Assistant

competitions and how to maximise yourchances of success

● The tests EPSO uses and how they aremeasured

● Methodologies, shortcuts and pitfalls intackling the EPSO tests

● 150 Assistant-level verbal reasoning prac-tice questions with full answers

● 165 Assistant-level numerical reasoningpractice questions now with brand newwarm up exercise

● 130 Assistant-level abstract reasoningpractice questions with brand new warmup exercise

● Prioritising and organising test for AST-SC


Working for the EU: How to Get In

By Johannes de Berlaymont

This is the book for anyone wanting to know aboutthe opportunities a career in the EU public adminis-tration can provide – and the many different waysto ‘get in’. It is also highly relevant to those alreadywith temporary positions or internships who wantto move their careers forward.Among the many topics covered are:

● The wide range of positions in the EUinstitutions and agencies, in Brussels,Luxembourg and worldwide

● The types, advantages and disadvantages ofpermanent and temporary posts

● How temporary posts can become steppingstones to permanent or very long-term jobs

● The critical difference between being selectedand being recruited – and how recruitment reallyworks

● The little-known alternatives to passing an opencompetition

● The value of stages and other types oftraineeships

● The crucial importance of building yournetworks

● Why and how you should think strategically,keeping as many options open as possible

Johannes de Berlaymont is the nom deplume of a widely experienced formerEU insider.

€17 Local prices may vary

‘I think you should stress one posi-tive particularity of working in theinstitutions; nobody works here byaccident. Given the whole competi-tive selectiveness of the system – nomatter which way you get in – thereare hardly any of the indifferent,random colleagues one encounters inother organisations. Most colleaguesworked really hard to get in. Thatchanges the dynamics. People wantto be here.’

A quote from one of the manyEU officials who contributedtheir insights to the book

For the latest information about all our books visit

www.johnharperpublishing.co.uk

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