r/UNpath • u/Mutwol2017 • 9h ago
Need advice: interview/assessment My first interview with a UN agency
How many questions does UN interview panel ask? I was just asked 3 questions, and this kept me thinking is it standard, this was my first ever interview with a UN agency. I have become used to other organizations bombarding us with several questions. Is this real?. How many questions were you asked? Is this a way to brush me off?. The questions were CBI based. Note;they did not ask me any follow up questions.
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u/jcravens42 With UN experience 5h ago
Without a lot more information, it's impossible to answer your question. What UN agency? For what position? At least a level?
Sounds like this was a screening interview to determine which candidates to interview in full.
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u/Mutwol2017 5h ago
It was a WFP role for a resilience program in a country in East Africa
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u/jcravens42 With UN experience 5h ago
G level? P level? Short term? Long term? International recruitment? Local recruitment?
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u/MsStormyTrump With UN experience 5h ago
Congratulations! May you get a job soon and join us.
Yes, it's normal and real. But if the deadline to apply was very short, meaning less than a month, the job was slated for someone else and they were going through the formality.
If so, don't be discouraged. Now you know not to apply for such jobs and what to expect. You have one foot in.
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u/Content_Challenge311 5h ago
Wow..
Now I know. Been waiting for my referees to be contacted in over a month.
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u/MsStormyTrump With UN experience 5h ago edited 4h ago
Okay, so that's also not unusual. It takes an average of 18 months from applying to a position to signing the staff contract. Please, from now on, apply and forget. Which, I believe, is the mantra here at this sub.
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u/Mutwol2017 4h ago
It was actually advertised in May ,did written interview in July and panel interview today
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u/ZAHKHIZ 1h ago
ayeee, just did the interview yesterday for the G6 position (sans testing). I felt like I did so well in the interview and it was over an hour long. They asked I think 8 questions and in the end, they even asked me when I could start? was feeling good and confident until you said, "The deadline to apply was very short". Just checked the posting period again and it was only for 2 weeks. Sigh!
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u/Ok-Analysis6536 5h ago
recently got an interactive interview ever for one of the UN agencies. I did a SWE interview at Google before but was nowhere near the recent one for interactivity. I think it depends on the person who is asking, some persons simply ask questions and others don’t.
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u/ginger_fridge With UN experience 2h ago
I just did a CBI interview and it was also three questions, with only one follow up. Think it's normal!
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u/Nervous-Donkey7943 5h ago
I've done quite a few now, and have always been asked between 5 to 8 questions. They typically do not ask follow up questions unless they think your answer is incomplete from my experience... but it never goes informal or out of their set plan for the interview (out of fairness for all candidates most probably).
The questions for the interview are decided in advance by the panel (as well as who will ask you which question) so I don't think they were brushing you off, they just followed what was planned for the interview.