Wanted: Maltese translators to work in Luxembourg

Interesting job opportunities are opening for Maltese translators to work for the European Commission in Luxembourg.

The Directorate-General for Translation has launched a selection procedure for temporary staff to translate Commission legislative and policy documents into Maltese.

Around 50 Maltese translators in the Commission in Luxembourg have already joined the hundreds of official EU?translators from all member states. Their work brings Europe closer to its citizens by translating EU regulations, directives, publications and websites into a language they can understand. They form a closely-knit community, but found no difficulty integrating in the cosmopolitan society of their new country of residence.

In addition to economic incentives, Luxembourg offers many attractive features, and the skiing slopes of the Vosges are not far away.

"When I moved to Luxembourg, I hardly knew what to expect," says a young Maltese translator. "I soon discovered it has many things in common with Malta."

The two smallest EU members have almost the same population, although Luxembourg's is spread on an area eight times larger.

"And, as in Malta," adds a translator who left Malta two years ago to move to the institutional heart of Europe, "there is a large share of Italian speakers in the Grand-Duchy".

As a matter of fact, language is not a problem for Luxembourgers. Alongside the three official languages - French, German, and Luxembourgish, a Franconian language similar to German - many other tongues are spoken in the elegant streets around the city centre.

"A real paradise for a linguist," comments the Maltese translator.

"Entry requirements for this selection include at least three years of university studies, attested by a degree," says Francisco Valeri Cobo, the acting head of the Commission's Maltese language department.

Candidates are encouraged to apply and send their curriculum vitae to the secretariat of the department.

In addition, candidates must have a perfect command of written Maltese as the main language, a very sound knowledge of either English or French as the source language, and a sound knowledge of a second official EU source language.

Candidates should be computer literate and proficient in the use of various Microsoft Office applications. Experience in translation would be an asset.

This job opportunity should be of interest to language professionals such as translators, language teachers, lecturers, writers and journalists. It may also interest professionals in specialist fields such as law and engineering with a sound command of foreign languages.

"We translate all sorts of documents, from legislation, reports, statistics, white and green papers, to brochures, booklets and webpages for public consumption," says Valeri Cobo.

The job selection will take place through a two-hour written test, held concurrently in Malta and Luxembourg. The test will consist of the translation of a text approximately 45 lines long regarding EU activities, from English or French, according to the candidate's prior choice, into Maltese. Candidates may use a non-electronic dictionary. This test will be marked out of 40, with the pass mark being 20.

The 20 best candidates who obtain a pass mark in the written test will be admitted to the next stage of the selection, which will consist of an oral test. Here, the candidates' knowledge of EU institutions and affairs, the translation profession and their second EU source language will be tested. The oral test will be marked out of 20, with 10 being the pass mark.

The 15 candidates with the highest aggregate marks in the written and oral tests and a pass mark in each will be included in a reserve list, but this does not constitute legal guarantee of employment.

Prior to being recruited by the European Commission candidates also have to undergo a medical examination.

Successful candidates will be offered a temporary contract for up to three years.

They will enjoy essentially the same conditions of work as permanent officials. Furthermore, they will be eligible to apply for any future opportunity leading to permanent employment with EU institutions.

A free information booklet specifically addressed to Maltese prospective candidates is available from the Maltese language department by e-mailing the department's secretariat on dgt-mt-00- secretariat@ec. europa.eu.

For the conditions of employment, candidates are advised to refer to the EU staff regulations (Conditions of employment of other servants of the European Communities) on http://eurlex.europa.eu/lexuriserv/site/en/consleg/1962/r/01962r0031-20060701-en.pdf Interested candidates should e-mail their CV to dgt-mt-00-secretariat@ec.europa.eu by September 22 at 5 p.m.