UN YPP OVERVIEW
Understanding the United Nations Young Professionals Programme in detail is the first step to succeeding in the selection process. This highly competitive recruitment initiative is carried out once a year and comprises several stages: an online application form, a writing test, and a competency-based interview.
Candidates who wish to apply must meet some basic eligibility criteria which include special requirements concerning educational background, nationality, age, and language skills. Every year, a different list of participating Member States is released by the United Nations; therefore, only certain nationalities are convoked to take part in the test. In addition, a timeline is released so that applicants can keep track of the selection process’ important dates and deadlines.
In this article, we’ll show you an overview of the main characteristics and different stages of the UN YPP selection process!
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Overview of the UN YPP
The United Nations Young Professionals Programme—UN YPP—is an annual initiative focused on the selection and recruitment of distinguished and highly qualified young professionals from different parts of the world. Every year, the UN receives approximately 50,000 applications for the YPP, which selects around 100 highly qualified and motivated young people from around the world who wish to start an international career, hone their skills, and assist the organization in fulfilling its mission.
Successful applicants will be placed on a reserve list of qualified candidates who can be selected for available positions within the organization. When selected for a position, these young professionals are assigned to the main offices and departments of the UN Secretariat. They are offered a two-year, fixed-term contract, orientation, mobility training, and career support, which will help them adapt and accelerate their learning period as international civil servants.
The UN YPP represents a great entrance opportunity for not-so-experienced professionals who are looking to kick-start their career with the United Nations. The P-1 and P-2 positions offered for candidates who succeed in this selection process are entry-level professional posts and therefore do not require any extensive work experience. These positions will be further explained later in this chapter.
This selection process is highly targeted by many young professionals, and thus very competitive, due to the aforementioned incentives, in addition to a competitive remuneration package, career mobility, and the support that successful candidates receive once they are assigned to a position with the organization.
When applying to the UN YPP, it is very important to keep in mind that the applications are, as previously mentioned, for job posts with the UN Secretariat and the departments that it comprises. Recruitment for the UN’s Specialized Agencies or Funds and Programmes (such as UNICEF, FAO, IFAD, and many others) usually have their own independent staff selection process, and succeeding in the UN YPP selection process does not put a candidate in any exceptionally favorable position when applying for them.
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UN YPP Minimum Requirements Overview
As previously mentioned, the UN YPP examination is an annual event and candidates must meet the basic eligibility criteria of the current year, in order to apply. The basic requirements are:
UN YPP Age Limit
You must be 32 years old or younger in the year of the examination. The minimum age, in order to be eligible to apply, is 18 years old.
Please bear in mind, there are no exceptions to the UN YPP age requirement. If you do not meet this basic criterion, you could still look for more senior positions within the UN system that have different age prerequisites.
UN YPP Language Requirements
Fluency in all four areas (speaking, writing, reading and understanding) of English OR French is required. If you indicate anything less than “Fluent” in any of these areas during the application process, you will be automatically considered unqualified. All the examination process tests will be available in both languages. Knowledge of another UN official language (Arabic, Chinese, Russian and/or Spanish) is an advantage.
UN YPP Nationality Requirements
One of the constantly changing criteria and that should be analyzed as a priority, is with regards to the “participating countries” – which defines, based on a quota system (aiming to ensure diversity within the UN Secretariat workforce), which countries are invited to participate in the selection that year. The list changes on an annual basis and, in order to apply, candidates must hold the nationality of a minimum of one of the pre-selected member states.
Want to know this year’s UN YPP participating countries? Check out our article:
Discover all UN YPP Participating Countries here!
UN YPP Education Requirements Overview
As a minimum, you must hold a first-level university degree (Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent degree of a minimum three years) relevant for the exam area you are applying for.
This means that a candidate’s academic qualifications should be in areas co-related/covered by the UN YPP exam areas for that year and which they intend to apply for.
For 2019, for example, in order to be eligible, education-wise for the exam in the “Economic Affairs” area, candidates were required to have an undergraduate degree in one of the following areas, as a minimum:
Sociology, Economics, Statistics, Mathematics, Demography, Public Administration, Governance, Political Science, Business Administration, Law, Public Finance, and other social sciences or related fields.
The exam areas for the 2024-25 UN YPP are:
- Political Affairs, Human Rights, Humanitarian Affairs
- Human Resources, Administration, Management & Analysis
- Finance & Budget
PAY ATTENTION: When you prepare your application in Inspira, if you don’t see your exact degree listed, choose the Field of Study that is closest to your degree, from the “Field of Study” and “Main Course of Study” dropdown menus; then type the exact title in the original language as well as its translation in English or French in the additional comment boxes. Do NOT select “other” for Main Course of Study or Field of Study, or you will be automatically disqualified. These details matter, that’s why we recommend that you have your UN YPP application documents reviewed!
UN YPP Work Experience Requirements
Previous professional experience is not required. However, relevant work experience will be used to rank candidates, especially if there are more than 60 from the same country applying for the UN Young Professionals Programme. The UN advises applicants to be precise and succinct about their work experience, using short bullet points to describe the main duties of each role performed.
As you can see, apart from the annual changes on the list of participating countries, the basic requirements remain the same:
UN YPP - Basic Requirements • You must hold the nationality of a participating member state
• You cannot be older than 32 at the end of the examination year
• As a minimum, you must hold a first-level university degree (Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent degree of a minimum three years) relevant for the exam area you are applying for
• You must be fluent in either English or French.
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