Website to assist EU job hunters

FINDING a job anywhere in the European Union is about to become much easier with the launch of Europass.

This specially devised CV will let employers and employees find one another much more easily and conveniently in the future.

The website-based service is specially designed to bridge the language and qualification borders between people in different EU member states.

Employers frequently have difficulty understanding the value of a person’s academic or professional qualification from another country.

They can often be confused, too, about the level and fluency a potential employee has in the language he or she is required to work in.

Now an innovative website, together with national help-desks, is being established to enable EU citizens to get over these problems.

The free service will also help students who want to study in another European country to find a suitable course.

Over the next five years, the European Commission, who launched Europass yesterday, said they expect some three million people to use it.

Ján Figel, the European Commissioner for Education and Training, said that for all citizens that apply for a job or a learning opportunity, it is vital that their qualifications and competencies are clearly understood and properly appreciated.

“Europass will help them to do so anywhere in Europe, as well as in their own Member State,” he said.

Although currently only available in English and French, it is planned that the website will cover all other EU languages by the end of February. It will allow people complete online, with the help of a tutorial and examples, their own Europass CV and Europass Language Passport.

In each country, a National Europass Centre will promote the service and coordinate all related activities, in cooperation with the relevant organisations and authorities.

The Europass portal is at http://www.europass.cedefop.eu.int