The Minister of Justice, Public Administration and Digital Transformation, Damir Habijan, announced on Wednesday that a new, centralised recruitment system for the civil service will come into force on Monday, 4 November, with the aim of making the process more transparent and reducing corruption.

“It is part of the civil service reform, including the recruitment and salary system. Everyone who wants to work in the civil service will have their user profile on the application, where competency tests will be conducted depending on the position you are applying for. Applicants will have a code to protect their identity,” the minister said in an interview with Croatian Radio.

Transparent system for entering the civil service

After the tests, Habijan added, the candidates with the highest scores will be invited for an interview. “It is a very transparent system for entering the civil service, which will ultimately help reduce corruption and cronyism in recruitment,” he said

Many ministries have already advertised vacancies, and Habijan says the reason for this is not to circumvent the new rules that come with the centralised system.

“After the formation of the new government, there has been a reorganisation within the ministries. Accordingly, new rules and job classifications were decided and certain positions were advertised. This is nothing unusual,” said the minister.

In the Ministry of of Justice, Public Administration and Digital Transformation, the occupancy rate is between 65 and 70 per cent. “There is always a need for new employees,” said Habijan.