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What happened to my UN application? Was it even read?

Have you ever felt that applying to the UN is like sending an application into the dark? We know ways to bring it back to the light. Our career advice can take you all the way to success! With your access to Impactpool Fellowship, you get all our career resources that can help you to improve your application and make sure that you pitch your application optimally.
One major mistake is that many applicants don’t do their homework before applying. Many unsuccessful applicants don’t even read the job description carefully. We know for a fact that there is an over-representation of applicants that don’t meet the minimum three requirements (Years of experience, Language, and Education) for almost all UN vacancies that are published. It is obvious that many applicants apply without taking the time to understand what they are applying for. Here are a few tips for you. They might seem like common sense, but this is extremely important and you’ll be surprised how many that misses these basic points.

  1. Before you send your first application, take time to read about UN career and make sure to understand where you would fit in the organization given your experience, language, degree, and background. At Impactpool you can read all you need to know about development career, different contract types, and grades.
  2. Read the job description (vacancy announcement) carefully and make sure you meet all requirements (languages, degree and years of experience). If you submit an application without fulfilling all minimum requirements, you can be completely sure that no one will read through your application. Also, check the desired/mandatory skills. If you as an external applicant don’t have all the skills listed in the job description, chances are that someone else has them and your chance to be successful decreases.
  3. Understand what contract types you apply for: Some contract types are open for all applicant and some are limited to a certain group (nationals of a particular country). Make sure that you apply to a job that you are eligible for.
  4. Remember that you are the ONLY driver of your own career, no one can rely on others to drive their career. You must, therefore, you do all the homework, learn and prepare yourself for your dream job. You must be the one that builds your own skills (CV) to be competitive and you must almost every day search for jobs in the area of your interest to not miss out on any opportunity (and here is where www.impactpool.org can be of great help).

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