UN Young Professionals Program

The Young Professionals Program is an initiative to recruit talented and highly qualified professionals who will begin careers as international civil servants in the United Nations Secretariat. It consists of an entrance examination and includes professional development programs for all successful candidates entering a career with the Organization.

Who can apply ?

The Young Administrators program is organized once a year and is open to all nationals of countries participating in the annual recruitment procedures. The list of participating countries is published each year and varies from year to year .

Main eligibility criteria:

  • You must have the nationality of a participating country.
  • You must have at least an undergraduate university degree related to one of the exam subjects set out in the call for applications.
  • You must be under 32 years of age in the year the competition is held.
  • You must be fluent in English or French.

Participating countries

Each year , countries not or under-represented at the UN are invited to take part in the Young Professionals program .

Afghanistan, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Belize, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, China, Cyprus, Comoros, Congo, Cuba, Dominica, Arab Emirates United States, Russian Federation, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Grenada, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Marshall Islands, Solomon Islands, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Iraq, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kiribati , Kuwait, Lesotho, Latvia, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Micronesia (Federated States of), Monaco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Norway, Oman, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Qatar, Central African Republic, Republic of Korea, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, San Marino, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Sudan, South Sudan, Suriname , Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)

Participation of United Nations staff

This competition is also organized for staff members of the United Nations Secretariat in the General Service and related categories who aspire to a career as professional and senior staff. For more information on officials participating in the Young Administrators program ,  click here .

Exam topics

In function of staffing needs, competitions are organized for different exam topics. The description of the responsibilities, skills and training required differs from one exam subject to another.

Application procedure

First step: Check the admissibility of your application

Read carefully the main eligibility criteria on  the home page of the Young Administrators program .

Step two: read the vacancy notice carefully

Read the vacancy notice for the exam topic you want to sit for and make sure you meet the requirements. The list of vacancy notices is available on  the home page of the Young Administrators program .

Third step: Prepare your application

Apply for the vacancy notice that interests you via  inspira . Additional instructions on how to create your application project are available by clicking on the “Manuals” link in the upper right corner of the home page that appears when you log into the  https: // inspira website. un.org

What you need to know about inspira

Important practical information

  • Screening Questions:  Read the screening questions carefully. They will help you make sure that you are eligible . If you cannot answer all of the screening questions, then you may not be eligible for the Young Administrators program .
  • Nationality:  In the field entitled “Country of nationality”, enter the participating country from which you wish to depend for the competition. Please note that the fields “Nationality at birth” and “other nationalities” will not be taken into account when examining your application.
  • Training:  It may happen that your training does not correspond to any of the choices offered. If the training you have taken is not listed in the drop-down menu , please select the one that most closely matches it and explain any differences from your training in “Additional Comments”. Only choose the “Other” option in these two fields if you cannot find any equivalent to your training. The “Specialization” field will not be taken into account in the preselection process.
  • Professional experience:  When more than 40 candidates of the same nationality apply for the Young Administrators program , the candidates are evaluated and ranked according to the relevant professional experience of each candidate . We ask you to be precise and brief in presenting your professional experience. To view an example,  click here .
  • Language  skills : You must master all four language skills (oral and written expression, and reading and listening comprehension) in English or French. Anything other than “Mastery” for any of these skills will disqualify you.

Fourth step: Evaluation of your application

Your application will be the subject of a first examination to ensure that you are eligible for the competition in the chosen job family. If more than 40 applicants from the same country apply for the same job family, their application will be further examined by a human resources specialist, who will rank them based on the points they will be awarded for the other qualifications, namely highest level of education successfully completed, knowledge of the official languages ​​of the United Nations and relevant professional experience. Please note that many potential candidates do not go through the screening stage due to incorrect or incomplete application.

If your application is successful, you will be informed of your invitation to the competition. If it turns out that you do not meet the required conditions or that your application was not selected, you will still be informed.

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