Applicant Guide

United Nations
Office of Human Resources, Department of Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance
17 January 2019
Chapter 1: Job openings in the UN
1. In the employment of its staff, the United Nations strives to category
meet the highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity to Public Information Tour guides in New York
deliver on its promise in achieving the goals of peace, inclusive Assistants category
sustainable development and human rights for all. Consultants, Language Teachers Language teachers in New York and
category Geneva
individual contractors, interns and United Nations Volunteers are also
engaged to support various aspects of the organization’s work.
4. The movement of staff members from the Field Service
category up to the FS-5 level and the General Service and related
2. The United Nations Careers Portal at [Link]
categories (other than the National Professional Officer category) to
provides details on the different opportunities and currently available
the Professional category in the United Nations is exclusively allowed
job openings at the United Nations. This guide briefly highlights the
through the Young Professionals Programme competitive
nature and context of those opportunities, and provides instructions on
examinations. The announcements for these examinations are
how to apply for jobs with an emphasis on staff positions.
published on the United Nations Careers Portal.
Staff categories
Job opening types
3. Positions in different staff categories are advertised on the
5. Job openings are usually advertised to fill specific positions
United Nations Careers Portal:
which are available for a period of one year or longer. Some job
openings in field operations are only open to rostered candidates who
International recruitment
have been preapproved for selection, as explained in Chapter 5.
Professional and Internationally recruited staff performing These job openings are called recruit from roster job openings. To
higher categories analytical and conceptual work, normally
be preapproved for selection in field operations, applicants may apply
outside of the country of origin and with
the expectation to move geographically for generic job openings which are advertised for that purpose.
throughout their career
Field Service Internationally recruited staff in field 6. Temporary job openings are advertised to fill staff positions
category operations whose functions range from available for less than one year. The position may be temporary due to
procedural, operational and technical to budget constraints or limited duration of need.
analytical and conceptual
Local recruitment Non-staff opportunities
National Professional Nationals and permanent residents of the
Officers category country of service performing analytical 7. Opportunities for consultant and individual contractor contracts
and conceptual work within a national may also be advertised on the United Nations Careers Portal.
context Consultants are engaged in an advisory or consultative capacity to
provide specialized skills or knowledge not normally possessed by
General Service Staff whose functions range from routine staff. Individual contractors may be engaged to perform staff-like work,
category or repetitive to complex and
such as translation, editing or part-time maintenance.
paraprofessional

Trade and Crafts Drivers, electricians, building 8. Undergraduate students in their final year of studies and
category management staff in New York graduate students wishing to enhance their educational experience
Security Service Security officers in New York and gain experience in the work of the United Nations may apply for

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internships on the United Nations Careers Portal. Interns work full-time 12. Click the job title to learn more about the position.
for two to six months. Interns are not paid.

9. United Nations Volunteers are individuals who volunteer for at

least six months and who are deployed mainly to support field
operations. Many of them already have relevant expertise and several
years of work experience. United Nations Volunteers receive an
allowance. For further information on United Nations Volunteers and on
how to apply for these opportunities, visit [Link].

Finding job openings

10. The United Nations Careers Portal is the right place to start
looking for opportunities in the United Nations. Applicants may also
access job openings through Inspira, the United Nations’ talent 13. The United Nations Careers Portal is available in both English
management platform. While both websites may be used to browse and French. Applicants can change the language by clicking Français
and search job openings, applicants must create an account in Inspira or English on the top right side of the browser page.
to submit applications.

United Nations Careers Portal: [Link]

Inspira: [Link]
11. In the Search Job Openings section, applicants may conduct an
open search or enter search criteria such as the job category. Click 14. To search job openings in Inspira, applicants need an account.
Search and browse job openings. If they already have an account, they
may log in to Inspira by entering the
username and password. Otherwise,
applicants should create an account
according to the instructions provided in
Chapter 2.

15. Inspira is available in both

English and French. Applicants can
change the language by clicking
Français or English below the login
button.

16. After logging in, enter keywords

such as job title or duty station in the
search boxes to look for job openings (1
year or longer) or temporary job
openings (less than 1 year). Click Search.

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 19. Applicants may view saved searches and job alerts by clicking
My Saved Searches & Job Alerts link on the top of the Job Search page.

Saved job criteria and job alerts are active for a period of six months.

20. To mark specific job openings for later,

applicants may click the star icon ( ) on the far-right
side of the searched job opening from the search list or
in the title box after opening the job opening. Once the
icon fills up in yellow ( ), applicants may see the job
openings again by clicking My Favorite Jobs at the top of the Inspira
17. For an advanced search, click Job Search at the home page.
top of the home page to search by keyword, category,
level, time of posting, job network, job family and duty 21. Notifications relating to job applications, job
station. Click the job title to learn more about the position. alerts, selections, etc. may be viewed by clicking My
Notifications on the Inspira home page.

Accessibility

22. Accessibility features are available on both the United Nations

Careers Portal and Inspira to assist persons with disabilities. This
accessibility menu can be read by assistive screen readers (e.g. JAWS,
NVDA).

23. To turn on the accessibility features, click the grey Accessibility

button located on the upper-left side of the browser for the Careers
Portal and at the bottom-right side of the browser for Inspira.

18. Applicants may click Save Search Criteria to keep the search
results and receive notifications for new job openings matching the
search criteria. When saving the search criteria, applicants will be
asked to name the search. They may set up notifications by checking
the box Use As Job alert. Once that has been done, click Save Search.
Job alerts are not available for temporary job openings.

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 26. Applicants may seek assistance or send in any queries by
clicking Contact Us located at the top of the Inspira landing page. On
this page, applicants will find frequently asked questions (FAQs) per
category and subcategory. Otherwise, applicants may submit a specific
inquiry by clicking Email Us.

24. Select an accessibility profile from the menu. The list of profiles
includes: Screen Reader, Keyboard Navigation, Color Contrast,
Monochromatic Colors, Text Color Contrast and Block Blinking. Once a
profile is selected, the webpage will automatically refresh with the
feature.

25. Click on “Define your Settings” to choose colors (Normal,

Grayscale, High Contrast) and other settings which include: Help Layer,
Alternative navigation, Speed control, Block blinking, Screen reader,
Magnify. After selecting the preferred options, click on the Apply
button.

Need help?

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Chapter 2. Opening an Account
27. Applicants must have an account in Inspira, the United Nations’ mailed to the applicant, but it is advisable to write it down for ease of
talent management platform, to apply for job openings. Creating an reference.
account in Inspira is easy. Employees may also transfer previously
acquired roster memberships to employee accounts in Inspira. Log in to Inspira and update profile information

Who needs to create an Inspira account? 34. Once an account has been created or issued, enter the User ID
and Password and click Login.
Applicants other than United Nations Secretariat staff
members 35. For the first login, applicants should update their profile by
clicking My Profile at the top of the Inspira home page. The mandatory
28. Applicants need to create an account, unless they are staff fields of My Profile must be completed before submitting any
members of the United Nations Secretariat or other United Nations and
related organizations adopting Inspira as their talent management
platform.

Employee accounts for the United Nations staff members

29. Staff members are issued employee accounts when they join
the United Nations Secretariat. The same applies to staff members of
other United Nations and related organizations adopting Inspira as
their talent management platform.

30. The employee account information is sent to staff members via

an automatic e-mail notification. Staff members are required to use
this account to apply for job openings. Former staff members may application.
continue to use these accounts following separation.
36. In Nationality & Residence, a copy of the personal details page
Creating an Inspira account of the applicant’s passport containing the photo and biographical data
should be uploaded, unless the applicant is a current employee. If a
31. Go to [Link] and click passport is not readily available, the applicant may provide another
Create account here. travel document or photo ID.

32. Enter the given and family name,

password, primary e-mail and date of birth.
Once the account is created, the date of birth
cannot be changed. 37. Applicants must ensure their contact information including
telephone number, e-mail address and physical addresses are current.
33. Click Register. The system will Hiring managers may try to reach them via phone and e-mail.
automatically create a User ID. It will be e- Applicants may update their contact information by going to the
following pages depending on the account type:

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 subsequently obtained after the transfer in the external account will be
 External account holders: My Profile > Personal Details automatically transferred to the employee account.
 Employee account holders: Main Menu > Self Service >
Personal Information 40. For external accounts with roster memberships, changes to the
first name and given name are not possible. External account holders
with roster memberships who wish to change their names in Inspira
should raise a support ticket and provide documentation to evidence
the name changes.

Transferring roster membership from external account to

employee account

38. To transfer roster memberships acquired on an external

account to an employee account, in the employee account go to either
1) Main Menu > Self Service > Transfer roster memberships; or 2) My
Roster Memberships and click Transfer Roster Memberships. Applicants
should complete their employee account profiles prior to initiating the
transfer and follow the instructions to verify that they are the owner of
both accounts.

39. After transferring the roster memberships from an external

account, applicants will not be able to submit new applications using
the external account. This will not affect applications which have
already been submitted from the external account prior to the transfer.
Applicants will continue to receive status updates of the submitted
applications in the external account. Any roster memberships

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Chapter 3: Applying to job openings
41. During the application process, applicants will be asked to the information carried over from that application to create new
provide details and documentation pertaining to their educational applications tailored to the specific job openings they are applying for.
background, work experience, language proficiency and other
qualifications, knowledge and skills. It is important for applicants to
elaborate in the application that they satisfy the criteria specified in
the job opening. The United Nations may screen applicants through
automatic screening, manual review and other evaluation methods.

Assessing qualifications

42. Once applicants have found a job opening that interests them,
they should pay special attention to the criteria specified for education,
work experience, languages and competencies. Applicants are
encouraged to apply for job openings for which they at least meet the
“required” criteria and have previously demonstrated the specified
competencies.

43. The criteria indicated as “required” are mandatory to be

considered for the job opening. The criteria which are specified as
“highly desirable” or “desirable” are not mandatory. However, some or
all desirable criteria may be necessary for applicants to be shortlisted.

44. Applicants should also pay attention to the competencies

stated in the job openings. Applicants may be assessed to determine if 47. Applicants who do not have stable internet connection and are
they have these competencies through different evaluation and unable to complete their application online may fill out the application
assessment methodologies including a competency-based interview. offline first and load the application by following paragraphs 68 to 71.

48. Applicants, especially rostered candidates, are encouraged to

Starting an application
apply early. Job openings advertised to fill specific positions may be
45. Applicants may create a draft application online filled with rostered candidates who are preapproved for selection
which is not associated to a specific job opening in Inspira. during the posting period. No application will be received following the
Click My Applications on the top of the Inspira home page, posting period of the job opening.
and then click Create Draft Application on the upper right-
hand side. 49. Applicants accessing Inspira from the United Nations Careers
Portal will be required to log into Inspira. Applicants who do not have
an account must create an account according to Chapter 2.
46. To start applying for a specific job opening, click Apply Now
from the job opening in the United Nations Careers Portal or Inspira.
Application snapshot
Applicants may replicate a draft or submitted application, and update

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50. The application process consists of the following steps. question responses should be supported by details provided in the rest
Applicants must fill all fields marked with an asterisk (*). Applications of the application including for education qualifications, work
should be saved at each step of the process so that the information experience and language fluency.
can be retrieved later.
Education
Steps Description
52. Applicants should list high school diplomas and university
1. Welcome Let us know how you learned about the job opening. degrees equivalent to Bachelor’s, Master’s or Doctorate degrees. To
2. Let’s start Decide whether you want to create your application add a high school diploma or degree, click on Add Education Details in
from scratch; replicate a draft or previous application; the Education section of the application and fill out the fields.
or use an offline template. Applicants who have completed and been conferred a high school
diploma or a degree should provide the details of these qualifications
3. Screening Answer a series of questions to help us identify
questions candidates who meet the criteria specified in the job and indicate that the diploma or degree was “obtained.”
opening.

4. Education Provide information about your university degrees

and high school diploma.

5. Work Provide information about your work experience and

experience supervisors.

6. Languages Indicate your languages skills, especially your

proficiency level in the working languages of the
Secretariat (English and French) including your
mother tongue.
7. Skills & Add trainings that you have taken including
Training certificates and diplomas. Add any publications.

8. Cover Include your cover letter and provide professional

Letter references for reference checking especially if you
have had less than three supervisors. Upload
performance evaluation reports, degree certificate,
high school diploma, transcripts, etc. Answer
mandatory questions.
9. Review Review all information added in the application before
your clicking Submit Application.
application
[Link] Review the Terms and Agreements and click Certify
and submit and Submit Application.
53. High school diploma and degrees must be issued by academic
Filling out the application institutions which are accredited to issue them by the competent
authorities where the institutions are based. The ultimate decision on
Screening questions their recognition and equivalency is made by the United Nations upon
the review of the nature, level, context and content of the education
51. These are specific questions relating to the criteria specified in programme and accreditation status of the issuing institution.
the job opening for identifying candidates who meet them. The
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 57. In the Work Experience step of the application, click Add Work
54. Many universities and degrees are searchable from the Experience. Proceed to fill the information in the entry form. Include all
preloaded database in the application form. In case a university or relevant work experience in the application.
degree cannot be found and the United Nations has not otherwise
recognized the degree, applicants should confirm the accreditation
status of the institution and degree through the institution itself and
the appropriate ministry of education and accreditation bodies. After
confirming that the institution is accredited to issue the specific
degree, applicants may list the degree by selecting “Other/I cannot
find my school” in the field for Name of Institution. Applicants should
then select the second option from the dropdown, as shown below, and

manually enter the name of the institution.

55. Applicants should attach a soft copy of the degree certificates,

transcripts and other supplementary materials supporting the level and
accreditation status of the degrees listed in their application in the
Cover Letter section. This especially applies to applicants who are not
staff and who are not holding a permanent, continuing or fixed-term
appointment with the United Nations.
58. In the Description of duties and achievements field, applicants
56. Short-term certificates or diplomas which are not equivalent to should make sure to describe the duties followed by related
a high school diploma, or Bachelor’s, Master’s, Doctorate degree or achievements. This is the opportunity for applicants to elaborate on
equivalent should not be listed under Education. They may be included how they meet the work experience criteria of the job opening.
in the Skills & Training section.
59. Applicants should provide the contact information of their
Work experience
employers and supervisors. The United Nations may contact them for

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employment record verification and qualitative reference checks. If the either English or French, the two working languages of the United
applicants do not wish the United Nations to contact their current Nations Secretariat, is required for any job openings.
employer and supervisor, they may so indicate for the current work
experience. However, if they are selected for a job opening, their 61. To be considered fluent in a language, the proficiency level in
current employer and supervisor will be contacted. all four specified areas (i.e. reading, speaking, understanding and
writing) must be “fluent.” To be considered to have knowledge in a
language, the proficiency level in at least two out of the four specified
areas must be “confident” or “fluent.”

Skills & Training

62. In this section, applicants may list:

 Short-term certificates or diplomas which are not equivalent

to Bachelor’s, Master’s, Doctorate or equivalent degrees
 Licenses and professional certificates (e.g. Certified Public
Accountant – CPA)
 Publications (e.g. books, articles, journals and reports)

Cover letter

63. A cover letter should be brief and targeted to the job opening
that applicants are applying for. The cover letter should highlight their
most relevant experience, qualifications and competencies. It should
also demonstrate the applicants’ suitability for the position and how
they can contribute to delivering the team’s mandates and goals.

References

64. The United Nations seeks professional

reference mainly from the applicants’ supervisors.
Applicants who have had a relatively short career and
Languages
less than three supervisors may include other
60. Applicants should remember to indicate their proficiency level professional referees such as professors, thesis
for the languages specified in the job opening including their mother advisors, mentors, colleagues, clients or other persons with whom they
tongue. Applicants will not be considered for job openings if they do have had professional relationships.
not indicate proficiency in the required languages. Generally, fluency in
Submitting the application

65. Applicants should review their application carefully before

submitting it. Once the application has been submitted, applicants will
not be able to make changes to it. They may withdraw an application,
but they cannot apply to the same job opening again.

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66. Applicants give consent to reference verification at the time of the application process (Let’s start), download the Offline Application
submitting the application. The United Nations and its authorized Template. Alternatively, applicants can download the template through
service providers may contact the academic institutions, employers, a link located at the bottom of the Inspira home page.
supervisors, references, organizations of the United Nations system
and other international organizations and governments, and 70. Follow the instructions provided in the offline application
investigate if the applicants meet the highest standards of efficiency, template and fill out the form.
competence and integrity standards required for employment with the
United Nations. When applicants specifically express their consent to 71.
contacting the current employer and supervisor in the application, they
may be contacted at any stage of the recruitment process. Selected
applicants may not have the option of opting out of reference
verification with the current employers and supervisors.

67. If applicants need to update their profile, they may save the
application and go to My Profile. After they have updated their profile,
they may retrieve the application by clicking on My Applications in the
Inspira home page.

Using offline application

68. While it is easier to fill out the application online, applicants

who do not have stable internet connection may use the offline
application form. As the first step, applicants should download the
latest version of the template. Only the latest version can be uploaded
back to Inspira. While applying for a job opening, choose the “Load from File” option at
the second step of the application process (Let’s start). Once the
69. To start an offline application, applicants should create a draft template has been uploaded, complete the remaining process to
application or an application for a specific job opening, and in step 2 of
submit the application.

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Chapter 4: Evaluation and assessment
72. After submitting the application, applicants may go through
various stages of evaluation and assessment. 79. Before the interview, applicants should familiarize themselves
with the indicators of each competency stipulated in the job opening
Automatic and manual screening and think about the past examples where they demonstrated those
indicators.
73. Upon submission, applications go through an automatic
screening process in Inspira based on a set of pre-established rules on 80. During the interview, the interview panel normally consisting of
age, academic qualifications, length of work experience, family three United Nations staff members including the hiring manager, will
relationships, criminal record and others according to the United ask for examples when they have demonstrated the competencies,
Nations Staff Regulations and Rules, applicable policies and particularly how they handled or addressed a situation or task.
requirements of the job opening. In some cases, the United Nations Applicants may be asked to give both positive and negative examples
may conduct manual reviews requiring applicants to respond in a for some of the competencies. These questions are called behavioural
timely manner. questions. Appraisal and comparison questions may be used to obtain
further insight on the applicant’s behaviours. Several probing or follow-
Evaluation up questions may also be asked until the interview panel has gathered
sufficient evidence.
74. The hiring managers evaluate the released applicants and
create a shortlist of applicants based on the criteria specified in the job 81. The below table shows some examples of different question
opening. types which are asked during a competency-based interview:

Assessments Behaviora  Give me an example of…

l  Please describe a situation when you had to… and
75. Shortlisted applicants may be invited to participate in how did you go about it?
assessments such as written exercises, presentations, technical tests, Appraisal  What was the feedback you received from your
knowledge-based interview, competency-based interviews or other team members?
assessments.  What feedback did you receive about your role in
this project?
76. Assessments are normally scheduled for a specific date and Comparis  In relation to leadership specifically, what makes
time slot. Applicants who do not respond to invitations or cannot be on you stand out as compared to others around you?
reached by e-mail or phone in a timely manner, or do not participate in  Which of your previous experiences working in a
assessments will be disqualified. team was the best as compared to others, and why?
Probing/  What happened next?
77. Applicants should follow all instructions. Failing to do so follow-up  What were your specific responsibilities in the
including missing the deadline for submitting the response may lead to team?
disqualification. Cheating will immediately disqualify the applicants
from further consideration. 82. A competency-based interview typically lasts 30 to 60 minutes.
Depending on the location of the applicant and availability of
Competency-based interviews communication methodologies, a mix of in-person, video or phone
interviews may occur.
78. For job openings and generic job openings, the competency-
based interview is a mandatory assessment methodology. Only a
select number of applicants are invited for this interview. The goal of
this interview is to gather objective evidence of the applicants’
competencies through their past behaviour and performance.

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Chapter 5: Application results and roster placement
Checking application status selected applicants, are placed on the roster, which is a pool of
preapproved candidates for subsequent job openings at the same level
83. Applicants may check the status of their application in Inspira and with similar functions. However, placement on the roster is no
by clicking My Applications. Each status has the following meaning: guarantee of a future selection or appointment. The
scope of the roster may change as determined
appropriate by the United Nations Office of Human
• Draft means the applicant has started a draft application but has
Resources in the Department of Management Strategy,
not submitted it.
Policy and Compliance.
• Applied means the applicant has just applied to the job opening
and the application is being screened through Inspira.
86. Roster candidates receive an invitation to apply
• Under Consideration means the application has been screened by when job openings are advertised where they are preapproved for
Inspira, and the recruitment process is on-going. selection. Roster candidates are encouraged to apply as early as
• Recruitment Completed means the process has been completed possible because the hiring managers may immediately recommend
with the selection of another applicant. roster candidates for selection without the full evaluation and
• Rostered means the applicant was recommended for the job assessment process.
opening although he or she was not selected.
• Selected means the applicant was selected for the job opening. 87. To view roster memberships and details including the level,
• Filled from Roster means a rostered applicant was selected. status, membership start date and associated job titles, click My
• JO Cancelled means the job opening was cancelled. Roster Memberships at the top of the Inspira home page. Candidates
may withdraw from the roster or put their roster membership on hold
Application result: Selected on this page. Once candidates withdraw themselves from a roster, the
roster membership cannot be reinstated.
84. Applicants who are selected for job openings are notified
immediately. Selected applicants must confirm their continued interest 88. In My Roster Memberships page, applicants will also see
and availability via e-mail within five business days of the notification. currently available job openings to which they may apply as roster
If no confirmation is received within five business days, another candidates.
applicant may be selected.

Application result: Rostered

85. All applicants who are recommended for selection and roster
placement for job openings and generic job openings, including the

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