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.
Hi, I,m still awaiting the results for Admn. I hope my code number will appear on the UN site tomorrow (end of September).
Where do the interviews take place?
Is it different for candidates from different countries?
best wishes for all!
Hi Tommy, congratulations. sorry to hear that the interviews have been canceled. Again you said. That is interesting. I am sure it must have something to do with either, as others have said, the UN unable to get the personnel it needs for the interviews at the venue at the time specified or it could simply be that getting the candidates to the venue may have hit a snag. You would probably have the chance to ask when you get there.
The interviews are quite friendly, it was not too stressful in my experience. It is competency based so be prepared with real life examples. All the best for when you finally get to the venue for the interview.
thanks, i was convoked for the interview in finance and interview was slated for october 23, but it has been cancelled again. is anybody around to guide on the general atmosphere of the interview and plausible gemnastic expected during the interview.
Hi Nilla
Congratulation to you…..Are you from Bangladesh? I am a candidate from Bangladesh my specialization is IT. My interview is scheduled to be in Oct.
Yes your interview is likely to be in November.
Best of luck for your interview
AP
Hi Nilla, congratulations to you too. There are circumstances that often delay the process but if everything works out, there is a high probability that the interviews will happen as scheduled. I suggest you start preparing for the November deadline.
Finally, I would just like to quote Peter Kenilorea Jnr, Solomon Islands very first NCE candidate who was told “congratulations, you did well…we are not an educational institute…we did not set the exams to pass people…rather we used it to screen …and pick from the cream”.
I hope I will find the time to write Peter’s story which has a lot of insight into the UN and the NCE.
Best of wishes again for your upcoming interviews.
Lynnold
Hi Lynnold, Hi everybody,
First of all, many thanks Lynnold for your website, it’s not only useful, but I would say “enlightening” as u mentioned before. I’ve just known about my convocation for an interview in the field of social affairs, and I’m not only shocked, but panicked as well. In particular, can anybody tell me if the expected date for the oral, indicated in the very first letter emailed by the HR office, is likely to be the actual period in which candidates should be interviewed? Cause, as written in the letter I’ve just received, the examination is “tentatively planned to start in November 2009”, do u think that is probable? I really hope the Un will be late, as usual, cause November is fast to come.
Comments and advices from people who just survived the oral examination are the most welcomed!!
And best wishes for those who are still on the waiting list, like me!
Thanks again,
Nilla
Congratulations Tanja,
Best of wishes for the interview. I am glad to know that this blog and the comments by NCE candidates has helped to enlighten a lot of us on the process.
Kind regards,
Lynnold
Hi Lynnold,
Thank you very much for this great site. I have been convoked for an interview in the Social Affairs Stream and your comments are really helpful! Thanks again!
Talking of Security Lynnold… did anyone else out there do the interviews last Thursday (13th)… ?
It would be great to compare notes on how (badly in my case!) the interview went…
Jim R
Thanks GR – Came across the facebook group months ago and it totally slipped my mind that the SAP number you needed to join the group was what David was referring to. Thanks for clarifying.
Candidates should still remember that perhaps the most trying part of the journey is competing with everyone else on the roster for a position in the UN. Being placed on the roster actually just refines the choices available to the UN, getting a job is another hurdle to overcome. All the best to all candidates from 08 now that all rosters have been finalized. Best of wishes to those ITE09 who have been convoked and invited to the interview, not forgetting Security and Statistics.
Lotus Notes is a e-mail system provided by IBM, just as Microsoft Outlook. I assume it’s the one they use at the UN.
Therefore, you need to have joined the UN (and have an actual email) to join the Facebook group. If you pass the interview, you can join the Yahoo! group.
Thanks Lynnold, I’m sorry, I confused Lotus Notes with SAP, visiting facebook I found a link to the yahoo group, to join the group you are asked to “send an email with your duty station and name as it appears in Lotus Notes to be approved for membership”. I think it is just another group.
Regards
Hi David,
The final results are available at least 2-4 weeks after the interview. This is because the interview panel will make their recommendations to HR who then finalizes the roster. When this is done, the results are published on the NCRE website first. A few days later the NCE team will contact all successful candidates to submit their CV, work summary and update their PHP on Galaxy.
I was not provided any documents when placed on the roster but I would like to know what a SAP number is.
I have been contacted for a job interview recently (a month ago) and did a phone interview but it was a job in HR (not IT) and it was obvious during the interview, it was not the right fit for me. However, joining the NCREFORUM, the yahoo group I mentioned does help as there have been at least 4 IT jobs circulated among members, none of which I had an opportunity to seriously pursue (for a variety of reasons).
Hope that helps and all the best for the interview.
Regards,
Lynnold
Hello Lynnold!
My interview is scheduled on the second week of October, and I have a some questions to you, the final result is given to you at the end of the interview? or you have to wait another X quantity of days to know if you made it to the roster?
In case of being approved to the roster, like in your case, do they provide any kind of document? I have heard about a SAP number.
And, sorry for this too personal question, but, have you been contacted by UN to a job interview recently?
Thank you very much!
Thanx Lynnold
Thanks Dom;
Thanks Lynnold;
And best wishes for all The NCRE candidates!
Hi Bonang,
The NCRE website says Economics results should be expected in August. It is often very likely that the results will be published then. Bear in mind, sometimes other work or circumstances arise and the UN has to defer so there is no set time on when a result should be expected.
Regards,
Lynnold
Hi Lynnold
I have sat for ncre 2009 in Economics, and i’m still in the situation of bearing the pain of waiting for convocation. I will like you to tell me for how long have you waited between exam and convocation.
Regards,
Bonang
Hi Lynnold
Thanks a lot……
AP
Hi AP – I made an earlier comment that I could not recall all the exact questions so I cannot list them. To answer your question, they did not ask any IT questions like in the exam. However, as I have stressed – the interview portion of the exams is competency based. You would have received a document outlining competencies the UN would like to see reflected in their work force. Study this carefully and prepare answers and real life examples of where you may have applied the competencies. I think this is probably my best answer for you as you prepare although I am not guaranteeing that your interview will be the same as mine. Hope that helps. All the best of luck.