Participating Countries
Each year, countries that are un- or under-represented in the United Nations, are invited to take part in the Young Professionals Programme.
What is the UN Young Professionals Programme?
The Young Professionals Programme (YPP) is a recruitment initiative for talented, highly qualified professionals to start a career as an international civil servant with the United Nations Secretariat. It consists of an entrance examination and professional development programmes once successful candidates start their career with the UN.
Who can apply?
The YPP examination is held once a year and is open to nationals of countries participating in the annual recruitment exercise. The list of participating countries is published annually and varies from year to year.
Basic application criteria:
- You must have the nationality of a participating country.
- You must hold at least a first-level university degree relevant for the exam subject you are applying for.
- You must be 32 or younger in the year of the examination.
- You must be fluent in either English or French.
What are the examination subject areas for 2022?
- Statistics and Data Science
Application Process
Step 1: Confirm your eligibility
Carefully review basic application criteria on the YPP Home page.
Step 2: Review the job opening
Read the job opening for the exam subject you are interested in and make sure you fulfil the requirements. The list of job openings can be found on the YPP Home page.
Step 3: Prepare an application
Apply to the selected job opening through Inspira. Additional guidelines on creating applications are available by clicking on the “Manuals and Help’’ link found in the upper right-hand corner of the webpage when you log in to https://inspira.un.org.
Important Practical Information
- Screening questions: Make sure you carefully read through the screening questions. They are intended to verify the eligibility of applicants. If you cannot answer all screening questions affirmatively you might not be eligible to take part in the YPP.
- Nationality: In the field marked "Country of Nationality", enter the participating country under which you wish to be considered for the examination. Please note that the fields “Nationality at Birth” and “Other Nationalities” will not be considered in the eligibility screening.
- Education: It might happen that your obtained education does not correspond to any of the given choices. If your exact education is not listed in the drop-down menu, please select the closest relevant option and explain discrepancies under “Additional Comments.” Only if you find no match at all, you may chose “Other” in these two fields. The “Specialization” field will not be considered in the screening process.
- Work experience: Where more than 40 candidates of the same nationality apply for the YPP, relevant work experience will be used to rank candidates. Please be precise and succinct about your work experience. To view an example, click here.
- Languages: You must be fluent in all four areas (speak, read, write, understand) in English or French. Indicating anything less than "Fluent" in any of the four areas will render you unqualified.
Step 4: Application evaluation
Your application will be screened to determine if you are eligible for the examination in the exam subject you applied for. If more than 40 applicants from the same country apply for the same exam area, those applicants will be further screened and ranked by a Human Resources Officer according to points given for the following additional qualifications: highest level of education completed, knowledge of official UN languages, and relevant work experience. Please be aware that many potential applicants do not pass the screening stage due to incomplete or inaccurate applications.
If your application was successful, you will be informed that you are convoked to the examination. If determined that you are not eligible to apply or if your application was unsuccessful, you will be informed that you have not been convoked to the examination.
Guide and sample tests to prepare you for the YPP and other written UN exams.
Recruitment process
Placement on the roster
Those who are successful in the YPP examination process will be placed on a roster used to fill appropriate vacancies. Candidates may be selected from the roster as relevant vacancies become available across the UN Secretariat. The roster is valid, and used to fill positions, for a period of three years. It is important to understand that placement on the roster does not guarantee an offer of employment.
Type of contract offered
Candidates who are selected from the roster will be offered a two-year fixed term contract at the start of their Professional career with the Secretariat. After two years and subject to satisfactory performance, they may be granted a continuing contract.
Level and location of first placement
YPP placements are at a P-1 or P-2 level. Successful candidates holding a bachelor’s degree and no work experience will be offered placement at the P-1 level. Successful candidates holding a bachelor’s degree and two years of work experience, or a master’s degree and no work experience, will be offered placement at the P-2 level. YPP-placed staff are expected to serve for a minimum of two years in that position before being considered for appointment to another position.
Positions may become available at various UN Secretariat offices, including, but not limited to: Addis Ababa, Bangkok, Beirut, Geneva, Nairobi, New York, Santiago, Vienna. Successful candidates must be willing to be placed in a position at any UN duty station or field operation.
Managed Reassignment Programme
Once a year, junior professionals with a minimum of 2 years in their first function will be invited to participate in a Managed Reassignment Program (MRP). They are invited to select other positions of interest to them so they can be reassigned to another position, normally in a different department and duty station. The objective of this programme is to provide staff with new opportunities to diversify and develop their career, to acquire new skills and to consolidate a solid foundation for their career advancement. It should be noted that staff are responsible for selecting as many positions as possible in order to maximise their chances of reassignment. Those who are not successful may be required to participate in the following MRP.
How to write the application for the YPP?
To write a strong YPP application we suggest you use CARL/CARI, IPAR or STAR. These four ways to structure applications are widely common within the UN recruitment system.
If you are seriously applying to a job category, you should tailor your CV with any of these structures in mind. Do not use a one-CV-fits-all approach. For most recruiters, re-using a generic CV template is an indication that an applicant
- is not convincing in her/his interest in the position and/or might not understand what the position entails
- is not dedicated to the role or willing to invest in it
- is applying for several different jobs at the same time.
Tips – DURING the interview
- Notice how the panel is treating the interview (e.g how formal vs. interactive) and respond accordingly. Help the panel manage the flow of conversation.
- Listen carefully; feel free to ask for clarification before answering a question. Don’t be apologetic if you don’t hear a statement, just ask the person to repeat.
- Take a moment to formulate your answers before you speak.
- Project energy and enthusiasm in a way that is authentic to you.
- Connect with each person (e.g., by making eye contact).
- Be honest, while focusing on communicating your professional achievements.
- Don’t use the same example for every question.
- Be polite to EVERYONE you meet at the interview.
- Be aware of the panel’s body language and non-verbal cues.
- THANK the panel for their time.
Competencies and skills are key in every YPP application.
“What is the difference between a skill and competency?”
Skills and competencies are two terms frequently used by HR practitioners, and they create the foundation for best practice and effective HR management (recruitment, learning, performance). To illustrate the difference between these two terms briefly and clearly, we have selected an IT- related example: to write a computer programme requires both skills and competencies; one needs logical, analytical, and interpretive abilities, as well as the ability to use a programming language. Knowledge of a specific programming language (e.g., Java, C++) is the skill. However to effectively execute the task one needs logical, analytical and interpretive abilities, and these are considered competencies.
“How do I use skills and competencies in my YPP application to catch the recruiter’s eye?”
When reading the job vacancy, you should seek out the specified skills and competencies. Some skills may be required, e.g., language skills or a specific qualification, and the most critical competencies will also be listed. In your application, you must clearly present, in a structured, brief and positive way, how you are able to utilize these competencies.
Showing the recruiter that you have the skills required will make them commit to continue reading. Given that the recruiter most likely has a large volume of applications to read (even after automatic filtering), the quicker she/he can make a decision on your application, the better your chances are of being moved to the long list of selected candidates, and ultimately obtaining an invitation to the next steps.
You can find more tips in Impactpool’s Interview Questions Database to practice some more.
Become a Fellow
We have prepared a comprehensive e-book part of the Fellowship to help you better understand the programme such as:
- Deciding To Apply
- Application Process
- Exam Preparation
- Interview Preparation
- Strengthen Your Skills and Mock Questions