Deadline: October 31, 2020
Interested in working at the UN? Applications for the 2020 Young Professionals Programme Exams (YPP) are now open and work experience is not required.
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.
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.
Vacancies
- Management & Administration: job opening # 138630
- Global Communications: job opening # 138706
- Political Affairs & Human Rights: job opening # 138708
Eligibility
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.
- 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.
Countries
Each year, countries that are un- or under-represented in the United Nations, are invited to take part in the Young Professionals Programme.
Afghanistan, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahrain, Belize, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Central African Republic, China, Comoros, Congo, Cuba, Cyprus, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Grenada, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Iraq, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kiribati, Kuwait, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Latvia, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), Monaco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Norway, Oman, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, South Sudan, Sudan, Suriname, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, United Arab Emirates, United States of America, Vanuatu, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)
Application
Note the following:
- 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.
- 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.
To apply:
- Step 1: Confirm your eligibility
- 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
- Step 4: Application evaluation
The job openings can be found on the UN Careers Portal and in Inspira.
For more information, visit UN Careers.
