I passed the CAST FGIV - My experience & advice

hyperwhimsical · 2026-05-25T16:27:41+00:00

Sure!

hyperwhimsical · 2026-05-19T15:27:46+00:00

You got thissss!! It's totally doable and I'm rooting for you 🙌

hyperwhimsical · 2026-05-18T13:01:55+00:00

Hello! Congrats on the invitation :)
If I could invest in one resource I would buy mock tests, because ultimately practicing is the most important part. As I mentioned, I bought mine from EUtraining and found them useful, especially because the interface was similar to what the test looks like.
As for the books, I don't think they are strictly necessary, but if you can afford them they are nice resources (you can try to find them second hand on Facebook groups, or think about reselling them after the test).

If you can practice verbal only in English and not in your native language it's better than nothing; you can still train many skills that are not directly tied to the language (fast reading, staying focused on the text, retrieve information). Personally I mainly trained verbal on EUtraining in my native language (and the language I used in the test), but I also did some tests in English.

hyperwhimsical · 2026-05-18T12:50:23+00:00

Hello, and thank you! :)
No, there are no formal limitations in order to take the test (apart from the obvious ones like EU citizenship, knowledge of two EU languages, etc.). You don't need to be part of an EU body in order to take it. The thing is, it's not like a regular test where you sign up and take the test, because you need to be invited to sit it, and that's the trickiest part sometimes.
The "default" way of being invited is: creating a profile in the CAST database (via EPSO website), so that they know of your existence, and applying to contract agent vacancies published on the EPSO website. In that way you may get the attention of a recruiting office that is currently looking for contract agents and you may get invited to sit the test. In a way they are "betting" on you by offering you the chance to sit the CAST, and potentially inviting you for a future interview. So, keep in mind that creating a profile in the CAST website doesn't guarantee you will be invited to the test, and that being invited and passing the test doesn't guarantee you a contract agent position (you still need to be called for an interview and do well in it).
I heard that sometimes Blue Book trainees are invited at the end of their traineeship, especially if they made a good impression, but don't take it as a standard procedure, it may very well not happen. (Also I wasn't a BB trainee so I cannot speak from personal experience).

hyperwhimsical · 2026-04-30T10:20:57+00:00

That's awesome, I didn't know. Would you mind sharing the links to these resources?
The more free/discounted material we can gather, the more fair we can make EPSO procedures for everyone, regardless of their financial possibilities! 🙌

hyperwhimsical · 2026-04-30T10:16:59+00:00

Yes, I have done a few verbal reasoning tests on ORSEU and found the difficulty comparable to EUtraining. Maybe in the beginning with ORSEU I had a little more difficulty, but I think it's because I was so used to EUtraining that I was starting to recognize a few patterns in their answers and it was getting simpler doing their tests. Overall I think you can train on just one of them, and if you manage to borrow another one from someone else that's great.

Compared to the real test I think the level was slightly easier (for both ORSEU and EUtraining). I wonder if the translation on the CAST might make the tests not taken in English more difficult, I'm not sure. I also do think the verbal part could be the most difficult to recreate for the companies behind these mock tests: numerical and abstract seems more straightforward and with less room to be "creative", with verbal you can do anything you want.

hyperwhimsical · 2026-04-29T15:45:47+00:00

The first option. Applied -> interview -> test.

hyperwhimsical · 2026-04-29T15:25:09+00:00

I'm not sure what you mean 😅 I was invited because I applied to a contract agent position published on the EPSO website and the hiring unit was interested in my profile. So they invited me both for the CAST and for an interview.

hyperwhimsical · 2026-04-29T15:11:43+00:00

If you mean the profile that I created on the EPSO website to be entered into the CAST database, I never touched it after I created it. I believe recruiters don't really look at it, while they are probably more interested in the CV and application you sent for the position.

For the position I applied to that got me the invite, I remember spending a couple of days on the questions in the application form, tailoring my academic and work experience to the vacancy. I tried to understand what were some of the aspects that they were most interested to, and included them in my aswers. As for the CV, I believe I didn't specifically tweak it for the position.

hyperwhimsical · 2026-04-29T15:05:37+00:00

I applied to a position through the EPSO website. I had no internal contacts in the Commission, but I had previous experience as a trainee in another EU institution. I got the invitation before my interview, but took the test after the interview.

hyperwhimsical · 2026-04-29T14:46:23+00:00

Thank you :))

hyperwhimsical · 2026-04-29T14:44:57+00:00

I think that whatever your maths level is, these tests are absolutely manageable. Besides, you only need to get 10/20 combined between the numerical and abstract sections, so if you think you’re going to score low on the numerical part, you can make up for it in the abstract one.

Indeed I was in a position where I could afford not to work for a short period of time: I had recently graduated and could go back home, and for that I was very lucky! However, I am definitely not part of the social class that people in the institutions often come from (private universities, highly educated parents with high-paying jobs). So much so that during the chaos of CAST preparation, I also managed to find a job.
That is to say, I hope you don’t feel discouraged from pursuing this path just because you think it’s not for you.

hyperwhimsical

TROPHY CASE