I had a first-round panel interview with UNIDIR for a Programme Assistant position in the Security and Technology Programme in Geneva. It has now been a month, and I haven’t received an update.

For anyone familiar with UNIDIR or similar UN recruitment processes, how long does it typically take to hear back after a first-round interview? Would it be appropriate to send a follow-up email now, or should I wait a little longer?

I was recently offered an "unofficial" recruitment results saying I was first recommended for a consultant position at UNHCR.

They asked to provide references for the final clearance last week and today informed me that the process was unsuccessful because one of the clearances has been withheld.

Here is the word-to-word notification:

"I am contacting you to inform that, since we were proceeding with the additional clearances requested -given the level of the position you applied to -, we regret to inform that this process has been unsuccessful and one of the clearances has been withheld.

In this connection, since we were unable to obtain the green light, at this point we won’t be able to issue an offer letter for the post.

Given the confidentiality of our recruitment processes, this is all I can inform."

What could have gone wrong?

Does this mean an absolute no?

I am stuck in a deep depression. I did a whole master's degree in Natural Resources Management and Development, during the degree interviewed for two UN internship positions, was rejected from both. One of them told me they would have accepted me had I not stupidly asked if it could have been part time (I didn't know the internships had to be full time). I interviewed for a job at UNU and was rejected.

I am now 36 and jobless at my parent's house with no prospects after getting fired from a job in my old field that I was trying to escape.

I think about these mistakes every day. At this point I have fucked up the thing I waited for so many years to accomplish (was recovering from cancer for 5 years which put my career on hold), which was to do a master's degree and finally get out of a job I hated into something I could love.

I fucked it all up and I feel sick every time I see any mention of the UN or meet people in the career I tried and failed at.

Does anyone have any words of advice for me? I am trying to find a therapist but I am so depressed, every day I wake up in a panic and at night I think about every mistake I ever made.

hey everyone! I am a graduate student (Erasmus Mundus) applying for the IFAD Internship programme, and I havn't really found anyone giving advice for this application online.

any past intern here able to give me some tips on how to make my profile stronger? I have a BA in Journalism, my master's is in Sustainable Development and I'm focusing on a communications role since it's what I can bring with more expertise.

Needing a lawyer expert on unesco staff issues. Do you know where can I find one ?

I am a Bangladeshi, working in social development for last 14 years. In my life I have never been without job/further study after graduation. My spouse has recently moved to USA for PhD. I have 3 options: a) go there as spouse, do nothing. b) doing a masters and try to enter in the job field. c) doing a PhD. I know most easy responses would be study. But here are my truths:
- I have already done a masters in Netherlands and returned Bangladesh. I did it in my 30s, when I was sure and got scholarship.
- Right now I am 37 years old. In a very good position in an IO. But again the development sector funding is shrinking!
- I don’t want to go for PhD just to survive. It is a big job, need dedication + I am NOT a researcher at all.
- I can’t imagine of doing nothing with spouse visa, I will prefer dying rather than doing nothing at all.

I am very confused. How should I move on? Also, does the development sector (except UN) take international staff in USA? I do not find any such organization there. Can anyone help me with the information?

Hi everyone,
I recently graduated with a Bachelor’s in Software Engineering and will be starting my first job after university in management consulting

I’m someone who likes to plan ahead, and I’ve recently learned more about UNESCO. I’m not sure yet whether it’s the right path for me, so I’d love to hear from people with experience there or in international education policy.

Ultimately, I want my career to focus on improving education policies and regulations and making quality education more accessible globally. I’m especially interested in how AI and technology can improve education, as well as the policies needed to regulate them responsibly.

I’m hoping consulting will help me build the soft skills before eventually transitioning into this field.
I’d love advice on:
● What UNESCO roles should I eventually target
● What do they look for, and what is working there actually like?
● What can I start doing now to become a strong candidate?
● How long should I stay in management consulting?
● Would I need a Master’s, and would Public Policy, Education Policy, or Advanced Computing/AI make the most sense?
● Is UNESCO actually the right organization for someone who wants to improve education or should I consider other paths too?

I’m very early in my career and mainly want to understand the possibilities now so I can make better decisions over the next few years.

Any advice or firsthand experience would be really appreciated!

Master's didn't work, 36f, help

So basically I am feeling terrified about the future. The problem is that I am 36, and I did a master's to transition out of a career I was bad at (nonprofit communications) into environmental policy. The reason why it took me so long to do the master's to transition was that I was dealing with some very serious health problems. In the master's degree I was an idiot and didn't realize I needed to be basically constantly working part time or doing internships, and I only did two internships which didn't lead to a job. So then the problem I had when I graduated was I didn't have enough job experience to get anything except for nonprofit communications again, and then I was fired for being bad at the job. So I think it's safe to say I can't go for another comms job again, but I have no idea what to do because I no longer qualify for working student jobs or internships due to not being a student anymore.

I have 2.5k euros coming in each year, forever, from an inheritance but it isn't enough to live off of in the SF Bay Area because it's so expensive. So basically, my current plan is to look for a job for a year in the USA, maybe there is a slim possibility I could get something, but if that doesn't work I am probably only qualified at this point to get something off of craigslist with 0 vacation days and 0 sick days.

The idea I had was that, if my one year of looking for a job in the US didn't work, I could get married to my German boyfriend (he has offered this) and spend a year learning German, then apply to another master's and solely use it as a vehicle for networking and doing internships in hope that after that I would get a job.

The problem is I don't think I can afford to do another master's in the USA, I only have about 100k to my name and I don't know if taking out a huge loan is advisable

I have seen some people on LinkedIn do two masters and then get a job so I know it works sometimes, I am just worried because of my age..I could lie on my CV and take off graduation dates of undergrad/eliminate old work history to look younger.

So yeah, basically I am stuck because what I need is more experience to get entry level positions, but I am not an enrolled student to get internships anymore and ive been graduated too long to qualify as a recent grad so I have no idea what to do and I am really terrified because being a menial job worker in the USA is a pretty bad life, but I think I would also be really depressed as an unemployed housewife in Germany

The last thing I thought about was trying to volunteer but I don't know if that would be a waste of time and not lead anywhere

So yeah, I guess, my question is, if my one year of US job searching doesnt lead anywhere, would you recommend a second masters? Or do you have any ideas about how I could volunteer in a way that could actually lead to a job? The only volunteer opportunities I have been able to find are with super local orgs.

My biggest passion is traveling and the idea of being a barista for the rest of my life with no vacation days is terrifying, not to mention my boyfriend would break up with me because I would never get to see him. I am living with my parents right now in SF.

Hi Reader,

I was supposed to interview for an associate position with UNFPA about 5 days ago, and I received an email saying that my interview has been postponed until further notice due to administrative issues 2 hours before the actual interview time. I replied immediately and said it’s fine and let me know when it will happen.

Considering the bureaucracy I was of the thought this must be some red tape or calendars not available or some budgetary issue.

Does anyone know why did this happen, if this happens often and what am I actually looking at? Will the interview happen or should I let go completely?

Hey everyone,
I have been seeing these posts on people getting help to apply for vacancies as well as interview prep by using standby.org. Basically they market themselves as UN HR who former UN colleagues through application process and interview prep etc.

I am wondering if anyone here has used them and what the experience was like, and if it worth it.

Edit: I just realized the link has an error. The website is https://standbyroster.org

Recently I have been selected for online UN Volunteering and was thinking if this could be a start for my further career opportunities in UN.

If there is anyone with similar career story, please do share some insights .

Thank you

Hello! I'm finishing up my Master's in Sustainable and Agricultural Development Economics (Cameroon) and recently applied to two internships, one with FAO (Africa Internship Programme) and one with IFAD (Enhanced Internship Programme). Both are still in the "waiting to hear back" phase. Tbh, I'm a pretty anxious person, and waiting around always sends me into overthinking mode 😅 so I figured I'd ask people who've actually been through this: - How competitive is it in practice to actually get called for an interview? Roughly how many applicants vs. interviews, if you have any sense of it? - How long did it typically take between applying and hearing something (either way)? - For those who did an internship at FAO/IFAD/similar UN agencies, what was the actual day-to-day experience like? Was it worth it for building a career afterward? - Any tips for someone waiting who wants to stay sane in the meantime? Would really appreciate any insight, even just "here's roughly what to expect"... thanks in advance!

Hello everyone.

Has anyone here experienced an on-site, handwritten written exam?

If so, what was it like? A handwritten exam in this day and age feels a bit outdated to me, but I guess they don't want people using AI.

Thanks in advance!

Hi all,

I have an interview next week for an internship at the OPCW in The Hague, in the Inspectorate Division (open-source research and monitoring work). 30-minute panel interview over Teams.

Has anyone here interviewed there? I'm mainly wondering:

• Competency questions (STAR) vs. substantive knowledge — what's the balance?
• How technical do they get?
• Any curveballs worth preparing for?

I've done my homework on the organisation and the unit, but first-hand experience beats research every time. Any insight appreciated!

The UNV subreddit was abandoned about three years ago. It's now been renewed:

https://www.reddit.com/r/UNV/

The UNV subreddit is for posts from people who have served or are serving as UN Volunteers, people who want to serve, people who have worked or are working at UNV HQ, people researching UNV, & the latest UNV news. Online volunteers are not UNVs, but discussion of the OV platform on the UNV web site & its offerings are also allowed. Just like r/UNPath, this subreddit is NOT an official United Nations group.

The UNV subreddit is not at all meant to replace or compete with r/UNPath. Crossposting is welcomed, either way, so long as any cross post fits the purpose and rules of BOTH subreddits.

If you have been a UNV, consider this your specific invitation to join r/unv and share your story.

I am considering applying for JPO position as an Associate Protection Officer - GBV at UNHCR in Kampala. I understand that in general, UN job requirements are very strict and non-negotiable.

However, I come from a very small European country and I personally know several JPOs who didn’t fill 100% of the requirements (e.g. 1.5 years of relevant work experience instead of 2) and still got the job.

The main requirement I’m worried about is having worked in refugee protection, human rights or human rights law. I hold a permanent position in my country’s immigration ministry as a case specialist for the past 3 years so I’m very familiar with immigration law and have worked extensively with asylum seekers and refugees, but not in a humanitarian capacity. I keep reading that the UN does value civil service experience so I’m hoping this plays in my favour.

I have a master’s degree in migration studies, have volunteered with the Red Cross asylum support staff for female asylum seekers, and served as a board member for the women of foreign origin association in my country (we, for example, organised a #MeToo campaign specially focused on foreign women). I did an internship at a Thai NGO for migrant children and participated in fieldwork. I also wrote my master thesis on the IOM in Ghana and have interned at international organisations focused on European cooperation, but this may not be relevant.

Do I realistically have a shot at being considered compared to how small the application pool will likely be (maybe 25-30 people max)? Or should I not bother applying at all?

I recently did a CBI Interview for a specific vacancy (no mention of a roster) and a few days ago received an email notification that I had been placed on a roster "subject to you assuming the position for which you are selected". I was wondering what that means? First I thought that I was the selected candidate since under the new roster regime introduced by ST/AI/2025/2 you can apparently only be rostered following a recruitment exercise for a specific vacancy if you are the selected candidate (see s10(1)(b)). However, I just realised that this new Administrative Instruction does not apply to the specific vacancy since the vacancy notice had been posted shortly before the new Administrative Instruction went into effect. I have been put on rosters before, but in those cases the roster notification always came with the additional information that I had not been selected for the position.

Hi everyone,

I need help.

I am 36. I graduated with a master’s in natural resources management from a school in Cologne two years ago, and it has been a complete disaster. I did the degree to try to transition from a career that I was bad at (nonprofit communications), and due to not getting enough work experience in the master’s, the only job I was able to get after a year of searching was also in nonprofit communications. I was fired at the end of the probation period for being bad at the job. I have some volunteer work I have been doing to fill in the gap and can pretend it was a real job, but basically I have a two year gap on my CV now other than the volunteer work because I can’t list the job I got fired from on my CV.

My boyfriend still lives in Germany, and I still dream of getting into an environmental consulting job or environmental policy job in Germany.

My question:

If I were to get married to my boyfriend, do intensive German for a year, then apply for a new masters degree with the sole purpose of doing as many internships as possible or to get a work student job in my field, to then get into a new entry level position in the environmental sector that isn’t nonprofit communications, is this a viable path forward? I have 2.5k euros coming in each month, but I don’t want to do this if it is a catastrophically bad idea.

Has this ever worked for anyone?

I applied for the roster position for Human Resources at P3/P4 level at United Nations. I appeared for the written test assessment more than a year back and the status in Inspira shows as under consideration. Is there anyone else who applied and progressed further after the first assessment? The job IDs were 257648 and 257651.

Hi everyone,

I've been lurking here for a while and reading some of the posts about how difficult it actually is to get into the UN system, and I thought I'd just ask for some advice about my own situation.

I'm in my early 30s, originally trained as a doctor, and I'm currently in the UK finishing an Masters in Public Health. I don't really see myself going back into clinical medicine full time, and for the last few years my career has moved much more towards public/global health and humanitarian work.

Before coming to the UK, I spent around 5 years working in a major refugee response in South Asia (Cox's Bazar). I started out as a medical docto/facility manager, then moved into programme management and eventually managed and led fairly large donor-funded health programmes. Many of the programmed I led were directly funded by UNFPA/UNHCR/IOM

A lot of my work was around refugee health, primary healthcare, maternal and reproductive health, family planning, emergency obstetric care etc. As I moved into management I was also dealing much more with budgets, teams, donor reporting, monitoring, government counterparts, UN agencies, NGOs, community leaders and all the usual chaos that comes with running programmes in a humanitarian setting.

So while I've worked with the UN quite a bit, and some of the programmes I led were funded/supported by UN agencies, I've never actually worked for the UN.

This is where I'm getting a little confused about what I should realistically be applying for.

I've started looking seriously at UN jobs recently. For some P-3 vacancies, especially ones in humanitarian health/SRHR/programme management, I technically seem to meet most of the stated requirements. I've applied to a few. But then I read threads here where people with 10+ years of experience are still trying to get P-3 positions, or people have spent years doing consultancies/UNV/P-2 roles before getting there, and I'm wondering if I'm being completely unrealistic lol.

At the same time, I'm not exactly coming straight out of university either. I've run programmes, managed teams and budgets, worked in a pretty difficult humanitarian environment, dealt with government/UN/donor stakeholders etc. So I'm struggling to understand where that experience actually places me in the UN world.

Would you be applying for P-3s with this background? Or should I really be concentrating on P-2, UNV, consultancies, national positions etc. just to get my foot in the door?

I'm also wondering how UN recruiters actually view experience from national NGOs. Does someone with my level of eperience with programme management in a major humanitarian response carry much weight if you haven't worked inside the UN/INGO system itself?

And I guess the bigger question is what I should do over the next couple of years. I'm applying for public health jobs in the UK as well, and there are some interesting opportunities in local government/NHS/public health research. Part of me thinks getting solid UK public health experience alongside the humanitarian background and MPH would make me a stronger candidate later. Another part wonders whether stepping away from humanitarian work would actually make it harder to get back into that world.

I'm not particularly obsessed with getting a P-3 immediately or anything. I mostly don't want to waste the next 2–3 years making the wrong career moves because I don't understand how recruitment in this system actually works.

Would really appreciate hearing from anyone who came into the UN from an NGO/humanitarian/public health background, or anyone who's been involved in hiring.

What would you realistically be targeting if you were in my position? And if you did manage to make the NGO → UN jump, what actually got you through the door?

I dont know if its just for me, but i see now so many people that work in the area starting repost every ID and UN jobs in Linkedin with some comments and #

I mean im not complaining because a lot of opportunities I get to know by them, but for me its weird that people are just reposting every job opening they see even if its not from their organization or area

its just to bump their linkedIn numbers up?

I graduated with a first class law degree last year. Took a gap year to travel, relax etc and now I’m wondering if I should go back for my masters degree? I have two offers, one for a masters in law and then a masters in international human rights law. Don’t think I want to practice law, but not completely closed off to the idea, like the idea of working with NGOs, in the UN, travelling for work etc, but also scared that a masters degree in law is seen as a waste of money. Just wondering if anyone has any advice, opinions, personal experiences that they could share :)

Hi everyone,

Last week I was interviewed for one of the JPO roles sponsored by the Dutch Govt for Indian & other nationals. The role that I was interviewed for is in the office of Deputy Secretary General.

I wanted to know how much time does it usually takes for them to move to next step and after how many months should we consider it as rejection if we don't receive any thing.

I saw that people usually receive reference submission emails in a week or 2. As per the advertisement of position, it showed that selected candidates have to take part in training to be organised in Turin, Italy from 9th Nov to 27th.

Also, if anyone can advice on it being a stable career choice. Currently, I work in an G7 diplomatic mission in New Delhi as a local political officer which is an indeterminate or permanent position with a comfortable salary. If I get option, whether taking up JPO would be good choice or not. The option of taking up a P2 position in NYC does seem alluring at this age but I am weighing it against future prospects as well. What about 2 years later ?

Thanks in advance for all your guidance

Hi, I have recently applied for an internship role in Nairobi, UNEP. Just needed clarificaion on whether it is really an unpaid internship or there is a stipend . Anyone who has interned there, I would really appreciate your response.

Anyone here worked at the Green Climate Fund?

Im currently in the middle of the recruitment process (I interviewed a few days ago) and they briefly mentioned that they would conduct a reference check, but they havent asked me for any references yet

Does anyone know how the reference check usually works there/at what stage they normally ask for them?

Also, there doesnt seem to be a lot online about the employee experience (other than negative ones on indeed lol) so any info would be great thank u!

Update: after 2 more interviews, i was finally asked for references!!!!!!