To receive Job alerts and perform Advanced Search you first have to register as user/login. For the purpose of this lesson on Job Openings on Inspira I choose the basic search. So I search again for an HR Position, I found 4 active, and I choose the first one.
Every job opening on Inspira contains the following information:
First - In the Heading the job title, the department/office, the duty station, the posting period, the job opening number, and UN core values. Read this carefully. The job title already gives you an idea about type of duties and expected qualifications even if you are not very familiar with UN terminology. You can be a project officer or an admin in different departments, offices or agencies. But most of the positions are specific to substantive sections.
A civil affairs officer will be in the civil affairs section. Some duty stations are more difficult than others, some are Francophone some Anglophone. 2/3 of UN Missions are in Francophone countries, so this will give you information about the expectations in terms of language proficiency.
I don’t personally remember a situation when I needed the job application number, other than for an interview or assessment for a position on what I applied some months before the “you are shortlisted” interview. Pretty useful for preparation to go back to the job opening and see all the details. Try to give meaningful names if you file this, for ease of reference.
Second you will have the Job Opening Description, which includes the Organizational Setting and Reporting, Responsibilities, Competencies, Education, Work Experience, Languages, and Standard Assessment Methods.
Since UN is so big a short description of the institutional framework in which is located the advertised position. The responsibilities are highly detailed most of the times and first define the context of the job and then the main substantive functions for the positions, for whom it works and with whom it interacts.
This will help you prepare for assessment and interview but mainly to tailor your Cover Letter and your CV. Use this information to have a successful application. Use keywords, use phrasing use structure.
Standard competencies are established for United Nations Secretariat Jobs. At least three most important are listed and described. And 1 - 2 more if the job includes managerial responsibilities. This makes CBI predictable and gives you the possibility to prepare in advance. You will be asked for examples and probed based on these examples for each competency markers, which are transparently presented.
So, try again to use that for your application and later for assessment and interview. Keywords, phrasing, structure. Adapt your experience to your job application and be prepared. During a 45’ to 3 hours assessment or interview you might forget things, you might choose a bad phrasing. Don’t let this happen.
The educational requirements clearly establish a minimum level for the specific job. Sometime you will also have the needed or desirable qualifications and certifications. The minimum work experience is following two parameters: - the required minimum number of years of experience and - the area of relevant experience.
In the Applicant's manual you will find the exact requirements for specific positions and the situations when these requirements can be reduced or will be evaluated in combination with education requirements.
You need to specify the languages you know and the level. Here some of us are tempted to over-estimate. Don’t. At an interview you will need to prove you are functional in a language required. For the desirable you might have some abilities and might be enough. But, if it’s required you need to be functional speaker.
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