Here are the main steps in the recruitment procedure for a patent examiner position at the EPO.
Step 1: Application
Fill in the online application form and send it to us. You will receive confirmation by email that we have received your application. Kindly note that, to be eligible to work for us, you must be a national of one of the European Patent Organisation’s contracting states.
Step 2: Preselection
Applicants are preselected based on how well they match the required profile.
The key preselection criteria are:
- University degree at master level or higher
- Command of the three EPO official languages (English, French, German)
- Openness to relocate to one of the EPO host countries / EPO sites
- Technical knowledge and background – clear and detailed description of previous work experience
- Motivation
- International mindedness
Step 3: Technical interview
If you are shortlisted, you will be invited to one (or more) technical interviews. The purpose of these interviews is to assess the suitability of your technical knowledge and background for the vacancies in question.
Step 4: Selection Board interview
If your technical interview is successful, you will be invited to take part in a final interview held by representatives from the technical field in question and the Talent Acquisition team.
You will also receive an email inviting you to complete an online personality questionnaire by a given deadline. We recommend that you check your inbox as well as your spam folder regularly to make sure you don't miss any important emails from us.
Step 5: Decision
After the interviews, usually one or more candidates are found to be suitable for the post and a final decision is taken.
Step 6a: Job offer
The selected candidate will be sent a job offer. The offer is conditional on passing a medical examination and a pre-employment screening check. This process is compulsory for all new recruits, meaning that they cannot start work with us until it has been completed.
Screening begins as soon as the selected candidate has accepted our conditional job offer and provided us with a letter of authorisation to start the process.
