Pros
There is only one reason to work here: salary and benefits are great. Actually there is a drawback to it: people stay for the salary and not because of motivation. Your colleagues will be the type of persons who are just content with that. In other words: certainly not an exciting and creative posse. The younger generation in the Commission is better. Hopefully things will change on some tectonic-movement timescale. I joined motivated by ideas: contribute to Europe, work on strategic policies, support innovation and the society. I found an environment of harassment, in which people are motivated by procedures and not by ideas, in which the ones who make career are the least inspired and knowledgeable, in which self-initiative is impossible, in which merit is obscured by million other issues. The bottom-line: join the EU Comm if you are just satisfied with a huge, non deserved paycheck, and try to sit on your benefits and resist the bullying of your supervisors. Disclaimer: few islands of a different nature exist in the commission. they are very rare.
Cons
- Managers are incompetent. People move between fields and get to work on issues on which they know nothing about - Merit is an unknown concept - Creativity? What is that? - Career is extremely slow. (But if salary means career for you, you'll be happy enough) - Important decisions will not be taken by you - Harassment, bullying are typical So my final words. 1. Does the message "Stay hungry. Stay foolish" mean anything to you? Do not even consider coming here. 2. If you are a dynamic person and still wanna try: try to start in a unit related to what you like. Don't accept compromises. Don't be shy in trying to understand the atmosphere of the unit in which you are interviewed. 3. Are you more of a notary type of person? You just like to be slow, don't mind a little bullying here and there, and think a good salary is enough to make you happy. This may be OK enough for you.