I recently tried to monitor the hits on this blog. Not surprisingly, there are those, like me who have sat the United Nations NCRE exams out there who scour the web looking for any clues, any information they can find on that may enlighten them on the latest happening.
I have come to learn that patience is the name of the game. People say its bureaucracy, others may mistakenly believe that the United Nations may have forgotten all about them. But lets face it; they may be slow in responding but they are well aware of everything. As the 2009 NCRE exams have concluded, I thought I might share more of my tips for those candidates still waiting on word from the United Nations.
After your exams, wait patiently
After your exams go get a nice cup of coffee, relax and refocus all your energy on whatever it is that you are currently doing. Be sure to regularly check the examination page on http://www.un.org/Depts/OHRM/examin/ncrepage.htm to monitor the progress of the exams. The UN will almost always try to meet the deadlines it posts on this site and if it is not able to meet it, it will post an updated date. I do not know what factors force them to change dates, but changes are expected and your patience is important.
When convoked, be prepared
The successful candidates after the written exams are listed on the NCRE website and contacted at least a week later by email. In this email, the UN will send information you would need such as the date, time and venue of your interview. Included will be a file on UN Competencies, a very important document.
When convoked, do not attempt to will the UN into action by trying to contact them. It is always often met with silence. They will contact you and if you are like me, you will be assigned a very helpful contact who will assist you all the way until you arrive for your interview either in New York, Geneva or any location that they will interview you in. Sometimes, the interview may be conducted via video conference or phone; I am of the opinion that this option is often available to candidates with close proximity to a UN office and where the technology is available. I was initially convoked to Geneva but visa delays forced me to New York instead. Because my assigned contact was based in New York, I was glad to meet her in person, thank her for her hard work and she took me to the interview room.
The wait between when you are advised and when you leave can be long. I was advised of my convocation early in November of 2008 and was interviewed in January of 2009. Liaise closely with your UN contact on all issues regarding your travel. My authorization for travel and e-tickets were provided 3 days before I left for New York.
During the interview
As I have mentioned, be prepared to talk a lot about yourself. For me it was a bit of an unnerving experience because I personally find it very difficult to talk about myself. But study the UN competencies really well and try to think of real examples of where you may have applied some or all of the competencies. Stay positive, avoid flattery and be honest. Practical examples are important. At the end of my interview, we spent 15 minutes on questions about the United Nations. 4 open ended questions will be asked you may pass on only one without being penalized. I missed 2 of those 4 questions. I passed on the first, did not know the answer to the second but answered the last two questions really well.
Join the NCREFORUM
This is a yahoo group on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ncreforum, was formed in 2005 by candidates who were on the roster. The stories you read here will surely give hope; most of us are not alone. Aside from that those on this forum are quick to let others know when opportunities arise or take time to explain in great detail issues that affect candidates who have made it on the roster and are waiting for placement from the United Nations. I surely found some very inspiring stories on this forum. It’s membership is, however, only open to those who are currently on the roster. You will gain valuable insight interacting with its members who have been in this situation before.
But basically my message is, the wait can be long; quite long at times. So patience is the name of the game.
Thank you for sharing this information.Where are the written exams held.I live in Iran and the only UN agency didn’t offer any information.It seems they only work with Afghan Refugees.
Hi All, Is there anyone out there who was convoked to the oral exam in Legal Affairs? Does anyone have a sense of whether the interviews are tailored to the particular occupational group? And can anyone provide an example of a ‘current event’ question about UN issues? Thanks so much.
Congrats to all those who passed, and good luck in the next steps of the process.
Thanks a lot man! ^_^ It’s great that somebody shares his experience on this year 😉
I’m taking the interview next week on NY, with the rest of the people from Web Dev., so we’re just on the final steps to get there! So much… anticipation ?!? xD I just want to get it done once and for all and take all this “pressure” from me. It’ll be great to enjoy the city for a few days: I’ve asked to stay longer since I’m flying all the way from Paris, so it’ll be a great reward to just enjoy myself there a few days 😉
3 questions for each competency ?!? O_O Are you counting there the follow-up questions or is it 3 completely different questions + their follow-up questions? Because 15 competencies x 3 is quite a lot of talking… I’ll be needing more than an hour and a half xD
Thanks for the tip on the UN book 😉 I’ll be sure to read it. I hope you get onto the roster and meet you there. At least it seems you won’t have to wait too long to know the answer… Best of lucks!
Hey Autibet,
In case you haven’t passed the interview yet, I can give you some preparation tips. I was lucky to pass the written exam in Demography and just had the oral exam two weeks ago. To answer your questions (based on my experience):
– About 80% of the interview is based on questions on the competencies. You always have to provide specific examples on each of them. I had 5 interviewers and each asked about 3 questions on each competency. The also asked about specific research experience on demography and which demographic data-analysis software I knew, but that is as technical as they got.
– About the 4 open-ended questions, in my case they were quite general and more about UN issues which you had to provide examples for with current events (not specified how recent). If you read about UN stuff, or get for free the book The UN Today, you should be more than well prepared for it.
Good luck!
I am now awaiting to see whether I passed the oral or not…indeed, patience is the name of the game.
The legal affairs results are out. I can’t believe that only 26 people were chosen and wonder what the passage rate was for that exam. Congratulations to those who were selected but these numbers do not look promising for those of us awaiting the results of the human rights exam. I’m applying to human rights jobs and most if not all of them require 2+ years experience and it’s really beginning to feel like it’s impossible to begin a career in this field. If anyone has any advice or tips they can share, I’d greatly appreciate it. 🙂
Autibet, have you joined the Yahoo Group?
I am in contact with to fellow web developers who also have been convoked. Where are you from?
Thank you autibet.
Is it just me or has the expected completion date on the website changed? I think it used to say the grading would be completed between March and April. Now, it says April and June.
Thanks for the info!
If you are interested in figures for this year, a couple friends that also took the Web Design exam told me that, on the letter they received rejecting them, they were informed that we had been 167 to take the written exam and 16 made it to the interviews, which puts our success rate around 10%. Hope survives! Be strong! 😉
So far, it’s been 2 weeks since we received “the letter” and still no news about when the interviews will take place… Patience is still the name of the game…
Noumenon,
Thank you, Yes I am trying to find another way in. UN letter mentioned the number of people who sat for exam _ administration _ and those who made it.
Autibet-
I haven’t gone through the interview myself, but from what I’ve been able to glean from what few sources exist (such as this blog), it is a substantive oral exam. And it appears that they will ask you about recent events, though the extent of this probably depends on your occupational group. I think you have to answer a certain number correctly, and you can only pass on one question.
In short, yes to both your questions.
Hey guys!
For all of you who’ve already done the interview, a couple of questions if I may:
– Do the go into technical stuff, or into whatever is your application field? For example, I’m going for Web Development, will they aks something like “why did you use this technology? why do you think Java is best than .NET? what would you use for… ?”. Or do they just ask questions about your competencies (teamwork, accountability, …) without getting into “your field”?
– The UN questions are based on relatively current events? I mean, did the ask you about events long past like wars in Rwanda or Bosnia, or were all of then let’s say “last 2 years” event ?!?
Thanks a lot! I’m giving my all to study and research as much as I can for the interview. It’s the momento NOT to mess things up 😉
Heiman, I’m sorry to hear that. There are other ways into the UN though, so perhaps you can pursue one of these other paths into the organization. I’m interested to know where you got the 7% figure. Was it in the letter you received?
Congrats Autibet! Sorry about the rejection letter Heiman, given that the passage rate is as low as you stated, the overwhelming majority of people know or will know how you feel. I think your results prove that we are all competing against each other internationally rather than nationally. It now appears that those of us awaiting the results for the Human Rights and Legal Affairs exams will have to wait a few more months since the main website now states that the results are expected sometime between June and August. Lynnold, any speculation regarding the delayed results? The suspense is killing me.
I got rejection e-mail for Administration, the succesful rate was about 7 percent and still no iranian convocted for oral exam _ Last year was the same story NO IRANIAN.
This year was my last chance, I wanted it so much but I think I am not good enough working for UN.
Good Luck for rest of you.
Congratulations autibet! That’s great news!
I’ve received the oral convocation for the Web Designer/Developper convocation. It was so unexpected… I really thought I didn’t stand a chance in a world wide recruitment, so imagine my excitement when I found out xD I sent back all the information they requested and right now I’m waiting for further details on the interview ^_^
Anybody else? Good luck to you all!
Y,
Incredible. I had almost the exact opposite situation. I didn’t know anything about human rights, but was able to attain some knowledge in maritime law.
I don’t know anyone personally who passed the exam, but there was one person posting in the comments section of one of Lynnold’s other posts asking if people had any suggestions for the economics oral exam–I assume he was convoked.
You’re indeed right, the passage rate is very low. Around 5% if you’re looking at all exam takers. This I pulled from an old UN report though. But, if I am not mistaken, you technically aren’t competing against everyone else, but only against other people who applied from your own country.
The rate is still low, but its likely to be higher than the 5% you get looking at everyone.
I may be completely off-base on that though.
I have been checking the NCRE yahoo and facebook messages and so far there is only one person who has passed the exam. I know the passage rate is extremely low but am very much beginning to lose faith in the process. Does anyone know any new candidates or G to P candidates who passed the exam? To answer the previous person’s post, I took the exam in human rights since because I feared having to answer a question on maritime law, which I know absolutely nothing about.
J, lowering the age limit was rejected by the GA. Age limit is still the same.
I should imagine you will all have received your e-mails by now, but the results are now out for the Security and Web Designer/Developer streams. http://www.un.org/Depts/OHRM/examin/10ncreprogress.htm
Good luck to those receiving results (and still to receive them).
As regards the YPP, it’s disappointing news to me as a lower age limit means this is my last chance to get through the competitive exam process. Still, there are more direct routes I suppose, if this doesn’t work out….