Impactpool debunks 10 common myths about a UN career

In this article, we touch upon 10 common myths about working and applying for a job at the United Nations. We selected Parthenon as our cover photo, as we wanted to honour Greek mythology while writing about myths. You will find that many of these myths have parts that are true, but you will also learn that these myths are not telling the whole truth.

But let's end the introduction here and jump into the first myth:

1. Once you have been hired by the UN and are working for the UN, your contract will be extended for life

While it’s true that many professionals spend their entire careers within the UN family, it is very unusual that anyone starts their career on a staff contract. When talking to UN staff members you will learn that most of them struggled for several years on uncertain UN jobs, such as internships, short term assignments, temporary contracts and consultancies before they got a career contract.

But we believe it is true that if you are hired as a staff working for the UN, you have a much better chance to remain a staff member. And that may not be a unique truth for the UN; to prefer recruiting already trained personnel may be the preference for most employees around the world, irrespective of the sector (private or non-commercial). In fact, the recruitment rules within the UN is a favour for internal staff members, the UN talks about "Order of Retention" and that rule refers to the order in which the selection should happen. That rule explicitly states that if the capacity for performing a certain job is available internally in the organization, that job should not go to an external applicant.

2. If you ever leave a career contract at the UN, you have no chance to come back

This is also a myth that goes around. I believe the myth originates from young professionals that leave the UN after their first junior assignment and then shortly after try to return on another junior assignment. For these individuals the problem may not be that they left, the problem is that junior positions (P1, P2, NOA, NOB) are extremely competitive and if you leave the UN and lose the status of Internal applicant, you will be disadvantaged to applicants that still maintain the internal status (Order of Retention, see first myth). However, leaving at a junior level and then re-apply to a mid-career/senior position (P4/P5) after a few years with unique expertise in a certain area is quite common.

In addition to the above, it is also many Human Resources leaders from leading UN organizations that encourages their staff to work outside the UN for some time.

In some cases, the UN is utilizing exchange programmes with government and private sector companies, but honestly, this happens on very rare occasions. It is good to know that staff in the UN have quite different viewpoints when it comes to outside exchange programs. It is a common understanding that if you don't have a lien (lien is the UN term for having a position guaranteed when returning) on a specific post, it is more or less impossible to return after a period of trying another job.

3. The United Nations prefers hiring their own people

I think most companies and organizations prefer to recruit people that have experience from inside the organization/company. However in a UN context the word “prefer” may not be correct, in some cases, it should read “must”. In certain situations, the UN must recruit from inside and that is when the Order of Retention policy comes into play. Although that policy is in favour of internal applicants, as an external application it is interesting and encouraging to know that a majority of the career positions posted are also recruited externally. When you talk about non-career opportunities with the UN such as internships, short-term contracts, consultancies, volunteer assignments, all these are recruited externally. 

Common cases when UN organizations restrict positions for internal applicants is when a unit is going through a change management process including a job fair. Another case is the many talent pools that are built. UNFPA and UNDP are two organizations that utilize candidate pools for certain roles such as Country Director Positions and Deputy Country Director positions, to get into a pool you must be internal.

4. Mainly nationals of developed countries are recruited to the UN 

For members, we will soon post several articles on quota in the UN, but for now, one part of the quota calculation is to ensure equal opportunities and a balance between nationals of the “north” and the “south”. This is quite an old fashioned way of dividing the world; basically, it is how the world looked at 1946 and reflects developed and non-developed countries at that time. Today this definition is becoming more and more obsolete for every day that passes. And several countries in the “south” list is developed and even financial contributors (donors) to the UN and the development agenda. The North/South is neither a complete geographic definition, as the north includes countries in the south part of the world like Australia and New Zealand. 

This said, the UN is striving to ensure equal distribution between member states, and many organizations have a goal to have 50% of the staff origin from the north and 50% from the south. Also, several local professional positions are exclusively available for nationals of that country, so with the whole picture in view, it is not true that mainly nationals of developed countries are recruited. 

5. There are thematic areas where the UN receives so few qualified applicants that they have to lower the criterion and/or can’t apply the diversity quota?

This is actually true and the UN doesn't always have a clear idea of how to find these applicants. Here is actually where Impactpool is their best partner; we have one of the best networks in the world when it comes to development professionals. In general, terms, if you dream about a UN career it is most beneficial to be a woman from the south (developing country). The least beneficial is to be a male applicant from any North country (developed). Some organizations, like Unicef, has established a board that must approve any male selections from the north and in case there is any other qualified applicant for that job with a different diversity profile - the job will not go to the north male.

Probably the four best profiles that you can have today if you dream about a successful application for the UN are either:

• You are a well-educated female senior manager originating from a crisis country (Afghanistan, Pakistan etc) – The UN lacks female applicants from the south for senior management positions;
• You are a female security specialist open to serving in a crisis country as Security Officer. – The UN lacks female applicants from the south for security officer positions;
• You are a female ICT specialist with a master's degree in Computer science;
• you are a senior woman looking to work for Peace Keeping Operations, click here to see Lenni Montiel's (ASG at UN DESA) tweet asking for female applicants.

6) Nationals from donor countries are over-represented in the staff category

This myth is closely related to myth number 4. This may be true for some Funds and Programmes, however, for the UN secretariat and for the Specialized agencies (FAO, UNESCO, ILO etc) the diversity is extremely strictly managed and there is no evident over-representation of donors in terms of numbers. However that said, the secretariats quota calculation is focusing on member states financial contribution and on the size of the population. This way of calculating representation is of course in favour of rich and large countries, but the method is agreed to by all member states. In addition, the geographic quota calculation is focusing on the number of staff rather than the seniority of staff. So it may happen that an under-represented member-state with senior staff members have a greater influence in the organization than an over-represented member-state with junior or mid-career level staff members.

In general terms, we can see that nationalities having one UN language for free have a higher tendency to be recruited, two successful nationalities are France and Spain. We can also see that the UN are fairly often conducting joint outreach missions to under-represented countries, however, if we focus on the Programme and Funds these missions are almost always conducted to under-represented donor countries. 

7)  Donors are using their financial muscles as a negotiation argument when it comes to staff recruitment

What this myth is referring to is the ability of a donor country (rich country) to put pressure at the UN that if they don't receive a certain number of staff members or specific senior positions, they will decrease the financial contribution to the organization. This is a very sensitive area and this is also a myth that is circulating in-between donors. Often you hear that one country is very strategic and challenging in their negotiations with the UN. However, I have never seen any donor playing out this card alone as a single demand, however, it is not unrealistic to believe that the representation and the effort of a UN organization to ensure that a donor has a sufficient representation may be in the equation when the member state determines whether the funding over time should decrease, increase, or remain the same.

8) Member states approach senior officials (HR directors) of the UN to get support for their nationals when applying for strategic positions

This myth is related to myth number 7 and is also touching upon the ability of countries to put pressure at a UN organization to get staff positions of desire. 

To approach senior officers in the UN to promote nationals for certain positions is actually true for some countries. However, when this happens we are often talking about very senior positions (Directors positions, Country Directors positions, Resident Coordinators, Assistant Secretary Generals and Under Secretary Generals) and this is not only applicable to donor countries. Both member states from donor and development countries are represented amongst the countries that promote their own nationalities.

One question to raise is whether promotion has an effect on the outcome of the selection, and I think it may. It depends on what position and how the overall representation of that nationality looks like. 

9) Some positions are already dedicated for a north applicant and some others for a south applicant?

Earlier in this text, we touched upon north and south, we are not going to write more about that. But this myth is related to the rumour that some positions are dedicated to developed and others for non-developed countries.

I don’t know if this myth ever will be confessed by the UN organizations, but this is actually a true myth in many organizations. Often there is an unofficial split between the most senior executive positions of the organization. It is common that if a leader of an organization comes from the north, the deputy must come from the South. Also if the Leader is a male, it is most likely that the deputy is a female. Also often senior leadership positions are divided between regional leaders and managerial leaders. For example, in larger UN Programme and Funds the Regional Bureau Director for Africa will most likely originate from Africa, the same would apply for the Regional Bureau Director for Asia, s/he will most likely originate from Asia etc. In these larger organizations, you will also find that the Management Director is often from the North, also the External Relations, Communications, Policy and Legal Director are also most likely from the north. 

This is a set structure for most Senior Executive level positions and for these positions this myth is actually true. However, for all other positions within the UN, this myth has no truth. 

10) The United Nations has a strict quota system

This is true when it comes to the secretariat and some of the Specialized Agencies (UNESCO, FAO, ILO and WHO), however for most of the Funds and Programmes the quota is quite flexible. But still what is written in this article above applies to this myth too; in most cases, it is better to be a woman from the south than a male from the north. In the secretariat and in Specialized Agencies the rumour is true that these organizations have a specific number of spots for citizens from each country and once those slots for your country are filled you cannot be recruited.

If you want to debunk more myths, please sign up for our podcast. There you will hear successful managers from several organizations within and outside the UN talk about their careers.

 Photo: Parthenon, Greece, iStock