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United Nations

United Nations. Janos Tisovszky Director, United Nations Information Service (UNIS) Vienna. United Nations: Introduction. What/who is the UN?. Forum (Member States) Actor (Staff) Community - platform/umbrella (other actors) Ideal (set of expectations). UN Secretariat.

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United Nations

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  1. United Nations Janos Tisovszky Director, United Nations Information Service (UNIS) Vienna

  2. United Nations:Introduction

  3. What/who is the UN? Forum (Member States) Actor (Staff) Community - platform/umbrella (other actors) Ideal (set of expectations)

  4. UN Secretariat • Carries out day-to-day work of the Organization and services its principal organs • Staffed by international civil servants • Headquartered in New York, Geneva, Vienna, Nairobi, with offices and field missions around the world • 44,000 staff members

  5. United Nations: Areas of Work • Development • Peace and Security • Human Rights • Humanitarian Affairs • International Law

  6. Priorities and the way ahead • Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has outlined five imperatives: • Five generational opportunities to shape the world tomorrow by the decisions we make today

  7. Five imperatives • Sustainable development • Prevention • Building a safer and more secure world • Supporting nations in transition • Working for – and with – women and young people

  8. Working for the UN

  9. Who we are We are international civil servants. Our work touches lives in every corner of the globe, is complex and multifaceted, and extends directly and indirectly to our 193 Member States. In the last decade, the United Nations has increased its field-based operations Over 50 per cent of our 44,000 staff work in field locations all over the world Over 100,000 personnel in 16 peacekeeping and 11 political missions

  10. Being part of the UN Member States Staff (including interns, associate experts, consultants and volunteers) Civil society players (NGOs, private sector, academia, creative community, etc.)

  11. Career Options Staff categories Young professionals programme Language competitive examinations Associate expert programme Volunteer programme Internship programme Temporary jobs

  12. Career Options: The different categories of staff at the United Nations Professional and higher categories (P and D) General Service and related categories (G, TC, S, PIA, LT) National Professional Officers (NO) Field Service (FS) Senior Appointments (SG, DSG, USG and ASG)

  13. Professional Jobs • Experience requirements after obtaining your degree: • P-2 = YPP or Language recruitment examination or 2 years without exam • P-3 = 5 years • P-4 = 7 years • P-5 = 10 years • D-1/D-2 = 15 years

  14. Types of Jobs • Administrators • Aviation • Cartography • Audit • Conference and Language Staff • Drug Control & Crime Prevention • Demographics • Economic Affairs • Electoral Affairs • Engineering • Information and Communications Technology • Information Management • Library Science

  15. Logistics • Procurement • Medical • Programme/Project Management • Security • Humanitarian Affairs • Human Rights • Legal Affairs • Political Affairs • Public Administration • Public Information, Radio & TV • Rule of Law • Social Affairs • Statistics

  16. Expectations of UN staff For expectations of UN Staff, see: Charter of the United Nations Staff Rules and Regulations

  17. Values, Competencies, Mobility Core values: Integrity, Professionalism, Respect for Diversity Core competencies and managerial competencies Mobility: Functional and geographic

  18. Staff selection Positions advertised on http://careers.un.org Open to external and internal candidates Exception: entry-level professional positions (YPP)

  19. 21 21

  20. YPP: the Process Application Convocation Written Exam Oral Examination Placement Assignment, Orientation and Development

  21. YPP 2012 Job families: Architecture Economic Affairs Information System and Technology Political Affairs Radio Producer (Portuguese + Kiswahili) Social Affairs Member States Participating: 79

  22. Application Important: incomplete and/or late applications will NOT be considered Acknowledgement: applicants will receive by e-mail an acknowledge receipt of their application Application number: Once convoked to the written exam, candidates will receive an application number. 24 24

  23. AdmissionFirst Screening- Eligibility Nationality: Must hold the nationality of a participating member state at the time of application Age: 32 years or younger (Date of birth: On or after 1 January 1979) Education: First-level university degree acceptable for each job family Language: Fluency in English or French Experience: No experience required 25

  24. AdmissionSecond Screening If more than 40 qualified applicants from the same participating Member State in the same job family, a second round of screening will be conducted Criteria for the second screening: Language: Fluency in additional official languages of the United Nations Degree: Additional and/or higher-level degrees acceptable for the job family Experience: Length of work experience acceptable for the job family 26 26

  25. Convokees All candidates will receive notification regarding their admission to the written examination Applicants may check the listing of application numbers on the United Nations Careers Portal http://careers.un.org Members States will be informed on the numbers of convokees by examination centre 27 27

  26. Written Examination Wednesday, 5 December 2012 Overall time for the written examination: 4.5 hours Structure: General paper Specialized paper Examinees are fully responsible for any expenses related to their travel to the examination centre

  27. General Paper Summary and several questions in International Affairs, To be answered in either English or French; Eliminatory

  28. Specialized Paper Essays and short questions in the substantive area To be answered in any of the UN official languages. The essay part of this paper is eliminatory

  29. The Examination: Oral Part Competency-based interview and possibly an oral presentation. UN Secretariat will cover the travel expenses of examinees invited to the oral examination

  30. Core values and competencies Core values: Integrity, Professionalism, Respect for Diversity Core competencies: Communication, Teamwork, Planning and Organizing, Accountability, Creativity, Client Orientation, Commitment to Continuous Learning, Technological Awareness

  31. Competency-based interviews “Past, demonstrated behavior is the best indicator of future performance” Questions ask about past professional experiences that can demonstrate that the applicant is competent

  32. Successful Candidates Placement To be placed in positions at the P-1 or P-2 level in any Secretariat duty station or peacekeeping operation.

  33. Reserve List Only those who cannot be placed will be kept on a reserve list, from which future vacancies will be filled. The reserve list has a lifespan of two years after the conclusion of the examination. Candidates who refuse one invitation to interview or one official offer of employment will be removed from the reserve list.

  34. Assignment, Orientation & Development Initial assignment: Two years Second assignment: In a different duty station Two-week orientation programme prior to first assignment Dedicated training budget to ensure professional development

  35. Lessons learned and tips(from participants in the YPP 2011)Written Exam • Time-keeping is extremely important(4.5 hours seems long, but it is a lot of writing. There is a lot to write- you tend to spend too much time with the topic you are familiar with or where you know a lot.) • Practice hand writing ahead of time. Practice time keeping.(Do a full 4.5 hour written exam with all four parts to check how much time you need for each, and to get a feeling for it. this helps to practice handwriting as well.) • Concentrate on the general part and try to do it really well (It is eliminatory!)

  36. Lessons learned and tips(from participants in the YPP 2011)Written Exam • Summarizing of texts is tricky(not because of the content but because of the hand writing - normally you use Word and word count on the PC so with handwriting you do not really know how much you have written) • For summary writing, practice summarizing UN documents and time yourself • Read and check the UN/NY website on a daily basis. • Judge the value of each question and distribute your time accordingly. • Answer every question, even if you don’t know or are not sure. (Take an educated guess. If you don’t write anything you automatically get 0 points, but there are no minus points for wrong answers.)

  37. Lessons learned and tips(from participants in the YPP 2011)Oral Exam • know the UN Core Competencies as detailed as possible

  38. Application Process • Evaluation of the application • Assessment exercise • Competency-based interview • Background checks • Selection notification • Search for job openings • Understand the position and location • Create a profile and draft application • Apply to a job opening

  39. Personal History Profile (PHP) Description of Duties Duties: What you did in your job Describe your responsibilities with careful attention to the vacancy for which you are applying Use Current job: present tense Past job(s): past tense Summary of Achievements Achievements: How well did you do in your job Provide specific examples where you made an impact/contribution in the positions you have held

  40. Cover Letter Describe how your experience, qualifications and competencies match the specific position You can distinguish yourself from other candidates by highlighting what makes you a good match for the position Structure Open with a statement of interest Summarize your qualifications, experience and competencies relating to the specific positions Close with a brief recapitulation Make it impressive and customize it

  41. Additional Tips The UN will first get to know you through your application/PHP Be truthful, accurate and specific Make your words count Prepare application/PHP offline using a word processor application (e.g. MS Word) Print application/PHP on screen or paper to proofread and review Save your applications

  42. The International Working Environment (1) Realization that challenges are truly global and interdependent (nexus approach) Need for engaging all possible actors Need for predictable/permanent mechanisms Need for certain principles to be in place for legitimacy.

  43. The International Working Environment (2) UN has a comparative advantage in all UN role and necessity is less questioned Increase in operational tasks The issue is to prove its effectiveness (not vis-à-vis other actors but as regards getting the job done)

  44. UN Working Environment: Demand on Results Results orientation means need for: more capable organization better operating structures better management and ultimately more capable staff more accountability – down to the level of the individual

  45. How will those changes impact on your work and possible career (1)? More operational → more stress on delivering Mobility Flexibility Versatility Integrity Accountability

  46. How will those changes impact on your work and possible career (2)? At times also dangerous with more operational tasks (as UN has become a target for terrorists and insurgents) Frustration (bureaucracy + want to do results + judged against ideals/expectations) BUT: also offers more variety – more interesting things to do – a real chance to make a difference – also be part of a unique community

  47. Thank you for your attention! www.un.org careers.un.org www.unis.unvienna.org

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