What is a UN talent pool, roster and cluster?

by Henrik Rydén
COO and Co-founder of Impactpool

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Roster/Pools/Clusters have definitely become a trendy recruitment buzzword in the Impact sector. All these terms have a shared objective, to proactively gather strong candidates to increase the quality, diversity as well as pace of their recruitment processes.

With recent IT developments, fortunately, non-searchable excel rosters start to disappear. And more and more organizations invest in modern software. There is a photo further in this article that shows some filter options in the Impactpool Pool management software, designed for the Impact sector.

In this article, I make an attempt to be your compass to effectively navigate through the jungle of international Roster/Pool/Cluster.

The terms ‘Roster/Pools/Clusters’ are widely used and refer to different things in different UN organizations. In this article, I want to explain some of the more common ways how the UN uses these terms in its daily recruitment efforts.

Usually, a roster is defined as a list of pre-assessed and endorsed candidates that can be hired for similar positions without a new competitive process.

For you as an applicant, this definition of rosters means that you must stay informed when an organization launches a Roster Recruitment.

Why you may ask?

Because it's likely that, it over time, will be fewer individual job vacancies in areas where needs can be forecasted and where rosters can be established.

If you are a representative from an international organization reading this and seek to build your own pools/roster, don't hesitate to contact me. Impactpools pool management software is quickly growing to be

I have worked with rosters and pools for many years, and I know the ins and out. I have also written several articles about rosters and pools, both successful ones, and why only a vanishing few of all pools/rosters are still active.

Different types of roster recruitment

In this article I also share some different methods the UN utilize to build rosters/pool, and touch upon how these different methods can impact you as an applicant differently.

The United Nations Volunteer (UNV) program is widely famous for its roster. Their roster is however completely different from the ones I am describing in this article, read here to learn about the UNV roster.

Further down in this article, I will also introduce you to concepts of Active and Passive rosters, Candidate pools, Cluster recruitments, and more. I will also describe why you may already be on a roster without knowing it.