UN NCRE | Reflections of an IT NCE candidate

Posted on By Lynnold M Wini

As I have always said, I do not think my experience in the UN NCRE exams will be what current candidates looking forward to their oral interview examination should also expect. But owing to the comments and questions asked, I thought it be fair to document some information. I will try to be as helpful as I possible can. I will also try and not repeat my self as I have blogged about this in at least 3 posts already including comments.

Anyway, here goes my tips for preparing for the interview

I think the format of the panel is generic. 1 will be from Human Resources while at least 3 will be from different sectors of your Occupational Group. Of the three IT people that sat on the panel, one came from within Finance. There were 2 men and 1 women.

The panel was kind enough to admit that they would start off “gently” and warm towards the harder questions as we proceeded.

Obviously, the best approach was to ask me to talk about myself, describing my current occupation and qualifications. I suggest be creative here, spend time to describe yourself in the context of what they would expect out of someone they would like to employ.

They will then warm towards some very difficult questions. However as I have stressed time and time again, it is a competency based exam so try and impress the panel with your understanding of the competencies required by the UN and how you as an individual reflect those competencies in your current work place. You would have been given a booklet “United Nations Competencies for the Future”. Study this booklet carefully then picture yourself in the broad range of competencies given.

I took the liberty of looking at the document again, and interestingly some of the questions that I was asked came back to me. The following are some competencies and my paraphrased version of the questions I was asked:

First Phase

  • 1. Value of teamwork – have you worked in a team? How do you ensure that each member of the team contributes effectively.
  • 2. Professionalism. Describe a situation when you were faced with difficulties and how you overcame it?
  • 3. Accountability. I was asked about what mistakes I had done and what I did to rectify that situation.
  • 4. Respect for Diversity. This is especially interesting because most people have the perception that the Solomon Islands is a nation with just one race. We are a make up of Polynesians, Melanesians and Micronesians, literally the Pacific in just one country. Working with this diverse groups of people has helped me to appreciate other peoples values and also respect for the differences that we have. So I had no issues answering concerns on respect for diversity.
  • 5. Planning & Organizing. How do you meet targets and what do you do when a lot of people want something all at the same time?
  • 6. Technological Awareness. How do you keep yourself informed of the developments in the IT world.
  • 7. Persistence. Have you ever persisted with a solution you believed was correct in spite of strong opposition?
  • 8. Client Orientation. How do you establish and maintain the confidence of clients when attempting to deliver a product or task assigned to you?

I honestly cannot remember more as it has now become a distant “blurry” occurrence in my past. But I suppose those examples should give candidates an idea of how this interviews are conducted based on the competencies provided by the UN.

General Questions on the UN
As I have said there are no strict guidelines on what to study or focus your attention on. In this section, I suggest you read as wide as possible. I was asked 5 questions because I passed on one. If I remember correctly: the first was a question on a UN Convention and the second on HIV and to comment on a particular global initiative to fight HIV. I passed on the first question and honestly did not know the answer to the second. Those that I answered was a question on UN budget, a question on what changes I would like to see in the UN and the final one was a question on the advantages and disadvantages of Online Learning.

You will then be given an opportunity to ask questions from the panel. I never prepare questions for this section – I generally do not ask questions after an interview although I did raise a concern I had about the exams which sparked of a small discussion after the interview. If you have a few hours to spare, enjoy the sights of whichever city you find yourself in and then prepare for the sometimes long wait for a job offer.

With these comments, I hope people who are preparing for their IT interviews will be able to gauge where they are and how they can prepare for the interview exams. Please be aware that 34 candidates were convoked for the interview and 26 were placed on the IT roster in 2008. So there is still a fair bit of work to do.

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Comments (32)

  1. Dear All, a HUGE congratulations to those of you who made it on to the roster… it gives hope to the rest of us who are waiting for our interviews! As such, I was wondering if you on would be able to provide information about the general UN questions they were asked (apart from Lynnold of course – and big thanks for the info you provided above)? I think the general questions is the part I am most concerned about. 2 weeks today and it will all be over… not that I’m counting!

    Thank you!

    Suzanne 🙂

  2. Congratulations Joy and Hernan! Very glad for you
    I am actually a 2008 Finance NCE, and we got the interview results in July. I passed… sorry if I did not clarify it.

    Now, good luck to all of us in getting our UN job.

  3. @Joy, @AP – congratulations, i am very happy you found information here helpful.
    I hope we will meet one day when we all start working for the UN.
    All the best for the remainder of the journey.

    Lynnold

  4. Hi,
    I made it too from IT.
    Thanks a lot to Lynnold and this blog.
    It helped a lot to prepare.
    Joy

  5. Congratulations Hernan. I am glad you find this blog helpful. I hope we will meet in person one day when we all finally get to work for the UN.
    I counted a bit over 30 (?) convoked for the interview and 22 made it on the roster? It would seem like it may have gotten more competitive these days.
    Again congratulations, I know its a great feeling to finally get over this hurdle – lets hope the wait for a job offer is not too long or frustrating. If you’d like, join the NCREFORUM yahoo group and read about others who have made it on the roster and onto bigger things.
    Kind regards, Lynnold

  6. Hello!

    I made it! my number is on the roster!

    Thank you very much Lynnold, this blog has been a great help to me. Guillermo, AP, TC, E, what about you?

  7. Thanks to both for the info.
    In fact, you got more time than me. I arrived at 9 pm on Thursday, interview at 11:00 am on Friday, plane leaving at 5 pm on Friday, so not much time. I was just five hours away from NY though.
    However, I should have asked about the possibility like Hernand did.
    But I am sure we will be able to enjoy NY (or Bangkok, Geneva, Santiago, Beirut, Vienna, etc) someday in a calmer way. Good luck to both.

  8. Hello!

    In my case, I wanted to stay in NY to enjoy my holidays there, so, I sent an email to OHRM-ORAL questioning about the possibility, and they answered that if there was no difference in the airfare it would be OK. I was asked to fill and sign a Personal Deviation Form provided by AMEX where stated that the extra-charges for my staying in NY were going to be on my own.

    My case was similar to Lynnold’s, because, there were no flights available to my home the same day after the interview, so UN was responsible for paying 2 days.

    Regards.

  9. Guillermo, I was also interested in that quotation but perhaps Hernandez will answer it himself. At least from my experience I think it depends on how the flight bookings were made. I arrived in New York at least 1 whole day prior to the interview (midnight Tuesday, early morning Wednesday). Then I was interviewed at 10AM on a Thursday. Spent Thursday afternoon and the whole day Friday in NY and flew out on Saturday. So I got to see quite a fair bit of NY. Got to Madison Square Garden (basketball fan), Times Square, got to Ground Zero and did a fair bit of shopping!….But coming from halfway around the world, it seemed like I was sleepwalking….cheers, hope the results turn out well for you too.

    Lynnold

  10. I have a question for Hernan.
    In your message, you said: ” I have just returned from NY where I expend a few days”

    That confused me, as I was instructed by the UN not to stay even one day more than required. So, how did you do it? Oh, well… I wish I could have stayed longer in New YOrk. I went to the Empire State 82nd floor at 1 am though… that was fun and cold.

    So, I guess maybe some future candidates would like to know how to stay in NY with UN permission.

    Lynold… I know, the wait is awful… I want to join the UN ASAP!! Good luck to you.

  12. Hi Lynnold,

    Thanks for the overview. Very useful! Just wondering if they asked you any questions in your second language or asked about language skills at all?

    Thanks
    E

  13. Hi Hernan,
    I believe that unless something goes drastically wrong, the interview is always the stage where the UN confirms its choices for the roster. So I am sure little things like your command of the English language should not count against any candidate. I am confident you will have great news to post here once the results are published. It would be fun to meet in person once we have gone past the hurdle of landing a job (which is sometimes a longer, sometimes frustrating wait). Looking forward to your results. All the best.
    Lynnold

  14. Hi Lynnold!

    I had my interview the last week, I have just returned from NY where I expend a few days, I have to admit that the questions were not as hard as I thought it would be, but, I am not 100% sure because my English needs a little of improvement.

    I was told by the human resources officer that the results for IT are going to be published someday in the next month.

    So, I’ll be waiting for the results, and maybe, Lynnold, as I told you months ago in my first comment to this blog, we’ll be working together in the near future.

    Best regards!

  16. Hi TC,
    Reimbursement for me took about 5 months to finally come through. I think two things are important during this process. Firstly, if you have a very nice contact at HQ who handled all your travel requirements, it would help very much. I guess luckily for me, I did and it helped a lot. So maintain contact and liaise with them about your reimbursement. Secondly, follow the instructions to the letter. You can experience delays if you did not follow instructions or overlooked a specific requirement. For me, the funds were wired directly into my account with a local bank.
    Cheers, LMW

  17. Thanks Lynnold,

    I have another question regarding reimbursement, how long did it take for them to reimburse accommodation costs and all? Did they do a wired transfer to your bank account in your country?

    Cheers,
    TC

  18. Congratulations Hernan & TC, to all other candidates in IT congratulations. I hope you find this post helpful and I wish you well in your interviews in Geneva.

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