Landing a job with the United Nations (UN) is a highly competitive process that goes beyond just a strong resume. Consequently, after your initial application is screened, you’ll likely be invited to take part in a series of online assessments and competency-based interviews. These stages are designed to rigorously test your skills, values, and ability to thrive in a high-pressure, international environment. For this reason, this guide will provide a detailed breakdown of what to expect and how to prepare effectively for these critical steps when doing your UN job application
1. Understanding the UN’s Online Assessments
The UN uses various online assessments to screen candidates, and they can vary depending on the role you’re applying for. The tests are designed to measure a combination of verbal, numerical, and analytical reasoning skills.
- Written Exam: This is a timed assessment that often requires you to demonstrate your knowledge of a specific subject area, your analytical ability, and, what’s more, your capacity to work under pressure. For instance, you might be asked to summarize a long report, write a briefing note, or analyze a case study. The key here is to practice. Therefore, you should familiarize yourself with how to quickly identify the core arguments of a text and synthesize them clearly.
- Situational Judgement Test: This test presents you with realistic work scenarios and asks you to choose the most appropriate and least appropriate course of action. Your answers, in turn, should reflect the UN’s core values and competencies. Ultimately, there are no trick questions; the goal is simply to see if your approach aligns with the organization’s principles of integrity, professionalism, and teamwork.
- Numerical & Verbal Reasoning: Furthermore, for some roles, you will face timed numerical and verbal reasoning tests. The numerical questions, in particular, assess your ability to interpret and analyze data from graphs and tables, while the verbal section evaluates your comprehension and critical thinking from written passages. By all means, practice these types of tests in advance to improve your speed and accuracy.
2. A Deep Dive into the Competency-Based Interview (CBI)
The UN’s competency-based interview is the cornerstone of its hiring process. Interviewers will ask you to provide specific, concrete examples of how you have demonstrated a particular skill or competency in the past. To this end, the STAR method is absolutely essential.
Core UN Competencies to Prepare For:
- Communication: Have a story ready about how you effectively communicated a complex idea to a diverse audience.
- Teamwork: Similarly, for teamwork, prepare an example of a time you collaborated successfully on a team, especially one with different cultural backgrounds.
- Planning and Organizing: Think of a situation where you had to manage multiple urgent tasks and how you prioritized them to meet a deadline.
- Accountability: In terms of accountability, be ready to describe a time you took personal responsibility for a project, even if something went wrong, and what you learned from it.
- Creativity: Finally, regarding creativity, share an example of when you used a less conventional or innovative approach to solve a problem.
Your STAR Method Toolkit for UN job application:
- S – Situation: Briefly set the scene and provide context for your story. For example, you can say, “In my previous role as a project coordinator…”
- T – Task: Clearly state what your goal or responsibility was in that situation. For instance, you could say, “…my task was to launch a new community outreach program on a tight budget.”
- A – Action: This is, without a doubt, the most important part. Describe the specific steps you took to address the task. To illustrate this, use strong action verbs. For example, “I developed a digital marketing campaign, secured in-kind donations, and trained a team of volunteers…”
- R – Result: Explain the outcome of your actions. Accordingly, quantify your results whenever possible. For example, “…this resulted in a 25% increase in community participation and allowed us to complete the project 10% under budget.”
3. Final Tips for Success for UN job application
- Research is Critical: Don’t just research the organization; be sure to also research the specific department you are applying to. You need to understand their current projects and recent publications. In this way, you can tailor your answers and thereby show genuine interest.
- Practice, Practice, Practice: Furthermore, rehearse your STAR stories out loud. This will, therefore, help you refine your answers and ensure they are concise and impactful.
- Be Authentic: While it’s important to be prepared, don’t sound like a robot. Be genuine, enthusiastic, and confident in your abilities. Ultimately, the interviewers want to see the real you and your passion for the work.
By mastering the STAR method and understanding the purpose behind the UN’s assessments, you can confidently turn a daunting process into an opportunity to showcase your unique value and thus land your dream job.