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  • Hello there, my name is Richard McMunn from the interview training company PassMyInterview.com.

  • And in this tutorial, I will teach you how to prepare for and pass a United Nations interview.

  • It does not matter which job you are applying for within the United Nations, or for that

  • matter which country you are applying within, please do what this tutorial from beginning

  • to end, because it will make a big difference to your preparation! I am going to give you

  • a number of interview questions and also suggested answers. So, like I say, please do stick around

  • and watch it from beginning to end. Before I get into those questions, answers and the

  • tips, a very warm welcome to this United Nations interview training tutorial. My name is Richard

  • McMunn. That's me there in the center. I've been helping people for about 20 years now

  • to pass their interviews. I do that primarily by always giving you top-scoring answers.

  • Please do SUBSCRIBE so you don't miss out on any of the weekly training videos I'm uploading.

  • We have about 200,000 subscribers now within our interview training community. I don't

  • want you to miss out. Also, if you are enjoying this tutorial, or if you find it useful, please

  • do give it a thumbs up. By clicking the LIKE button below the video, that always motivates

  • me to create more content for you. Thank you very much! Now in this tutorial, I am going

  • to cover standard United Nations interview questions, and also competency-based interview

  • questions too. As you probably know, the United Nations do use competency-based interview

  • questions to assess your skills and qualities. Now, I want to quickly stress that all of

  • the proceeds from this video and the accompanying guide are going to be donated to UNICEF. We

  • don't make any money from this video or of the advertising costs and the guide that I

  • offer you. The sales from that do go to the brilliant charity, UNICEF. OK. Let's get into

  • my United Nations interview questions and answers. Here we go. The first question I

  • want you to prepare for is: Tell me about yourself and the qualities you can bring to

  • the United Nations? Here is my suggested answer. “I first became aware of the great work

  • carried out by the United Nations when I was younger and being someone who feels passionately

  • about the values and ethics you abide by, the passion, skills and experiences I possess

  • are a natural fit for this role. Prior to applying, I considered carefully the UN mission

  • and vision statements, and more importantly, the competencies needed to perform this role

  • to the right levels. My experiences to date include, always acting with professionalism

  • and integrity, being able to work effectively as a wider team, having a ‘can-doand

  • persistent approach to all tasks, being able to communicate strongly with clients and stakeholders

  • and also planning and organizing my work effectively. I strongly believe that, if I am successful

  • in my ambition to working for the United Nations in this role, I will be able to contribute

  • positively to the team and the organization to help you continually work towards achieving

  • your objectives.” That is very strong and positive answer. It is in-depth but it is

  • my belief that by creating in-depth answers you are effectively doing something different

  • than the majority of candidates, which is giving themevidenceof why you are

  • the right person for the role. The second interview question: Why do you want to work

  • for the United Nations? What are your reasons? In your preparation for this interview question,

  • I encourage you to write down FIVE REASONS why you want to work for the United Nations.

  • Here is my suggested answer. “I want to work for the United Nations simply because

  • you are an organization who shares the same passion and beliefs that I have held for many

  • years. Promoting international peace, strengthening action towards climate control, human rights,

  • the eradication of poverty and education are all objectives I want to be a part of. The

  • work you carry out is ongoing and requires determination, professionalism, integrity

  • and patience, and I would feel immensely proud to part of your organization. I understand

  • that to work for the United Nations there comes a huge amount of responsibility, and

  • I am ready for the challenge that this role will bring if you deem me to be a suitable

  • fit for your organization.” So that, in my view, is it provides a number of great

  • reasons WHY you would want to work for the United Nations. It shows that you've really

  • thought carefully about the reasons why. But as I say, I encourage you to write down your

  • own FIVE REASONS why you want to work for this incredible organization. Next interview

  • question: “Provide an example of when you experienced a setback at work?” This is

  • an example of a United Nations competency-based interview question, and we have to give them

  • a Specific Example; a specific scenario that you've been in when you experienced a setback

  • at work. Now, the important is that you had a setback, but what you did about it. You

  • have to be positive. You have to look at setbacks as a learning experience and, you know, use

  • determinationand a ‘positive attitudeto overcome the setback. Here is my answer

  • to this question. “When I first started work, I was part of a team whose responsibility

  • it was to complete and deliver an important project for a client. We all worked really

  • hard on the project for three months. However, when we came to deliver the project, the client

  • refused to pay the invoice because we had failed to deliver the exact specification

  • on one particular element of the project. The setback was entirely our fault. We immediately

  • took responsibility for the issue, put things right before resubmitting the project to the

  • client for reconsideration. They were then happy to pay the invoice. Whenever a setback

  • occurs, I always take ownership of the situation, put things right and, above all, learn lessons

  • from the situation so I can continually improve and develop and also prevent the same thing

  • from happening again.” Now, whatever response you use, that final part: “Whenever a setback

  • occurs, I always take ownership of a situation to put things right, learn lessons, then I

  • make sure I improve and develop so it doesn't happen again.” That is the important part.

  • In my opinion, it's a positive indicator of how you work! Okay, so that's the important

  • part. In my opinion, it is how you RESPOND to the setback. I have still got a large number

  • to run through, so please do stick around. But if you want to download my United Nations

  • Interview Questions and Answers guide, there is a link that has appeared in the top right

  • hand corner of that video. You don't have to click it yet, because I've got more questions

  • to run through, but don't forget: all proceeds of the sale from that guide go to UNICEF.

  • Next question. “Tell me how you would explain something complex or difficult to someone

  • who did not have the same level of knowledge as you?” I'll just quickly repeat that interview

  • question. “Tell me how you would explain something complex or difficult to someone

  • who did not have the same level of knowledge as you?” So, again, this is a competency

  • based interview question. Here is my answer for you. “I fully understand the importance

  • of communicating effectively and using a style that is conducive to your audience. On that

  • basis, in this type of situation, I would first of all ascertain exactly which aspect

  • of what it is I was trying to explain, was not being understood. I would when look to

  • explain it in a different manner. For example, I would cut out any jargon, simplify the text

  • or choice of words I was using, and also look to use relatable scenarios and situations

  • to clearly get the information across and understood. It would be my responsibility

  • to know my audience well and to bridge any knowledge gaps that were present.

  • As human beings, we are also better learning and absorbing from a visual perspective, so

  • if I could use relatable drawings or diagrams whilst communicating, I most certainly would

  • do. Finally, after encouraging open questions, I would make sure I confirmed and clarified

  • the person fully understood my message and explanations.” That's a great answer! It

  • shows that you are thinking outside the box and you are looking at different ways to getting

  • your message across and confirming by asking open questions that they do, in fact, understand

  • exactly what you are telling them. Next question. Describe a situation when you put the needs

  • of a client or a customer first? So, describe a situation when you put the needs of a client

  • or a customer first? Here is my suggested answer. “In my previous job I was speaking

  • to a customer on the telephone who needed help understanding one of our products. The

  • customer had limited technical ability, and so I decided to go the extra mile and help

  • her fully understand the product. Under normal circumstances, I was not permitted to spend

  • any longer than two minutes on each call. However, I saw this as an exceptional situation,

  • and I felt it was in the best interests of the customer that we put her needs first.

  • In all, it took me thirteen minutes to answer all of her questions and to make sure she

  • fully understood how the product worked. I understand the importance of looking after

  • customers and clients and to make sure I put their needs first when the situation requires

  • me to do so whilst working for the United Nations.” Next question of the United Nations

  • interview: “Explain to me how you organize and plan your workload?” Working in an organization

  • such as the United Nations you, in my opinion, need to be really good at organizing and planning

  • your workload. How do you actually do that? Here is my suggested answer. “I organize

  • and plan my work by following four specific steps. The first step (STEP 1) is to determine

  • the tasks that need my attention. During STEP 2, I will prioritize and sequence my work.

  • I decide which tasks are the most important, and then create a ‘to do listbased on

  • the order and priority of each task. During STEP 3, I always set a definitive timescale

  • for completion of each task. The timescale I choose will be very much dependent on when

  • the client or my manager needs the task completing by. I always ensure all tasks are completed

  • on time and will work extra hours if needed to fulfil my obligations. Finally, STEP 4

  • involves me looking to remove any obstacles or distractions that may hinder me from completing

  • priority tasks. For example, if I have a non-urgent call or task booked in, I may move these to

  • make way for the more important and priority work I need to complete.” That demonstrates

  • that you've got a number of steps that you follow to make sure all of your work is organized

  • and it is planned well in advance. That shows that you are an organized person. Next question

  • of your United Nations interview preparation: “Describe a situation you were in when you

  • encouraged a team to be more proactive or positive? This is quite a difficult question.

  • Describe a situation you were in when you encouraged the team to be more proactive or

  • positive? This is another example of a competency based interview question that focuses on the

  • competency of TEAMWORK. Here is my suggested answer. “I really enjoy working as part

  • of a team, and one particular situation comes to mind where I managed to motivate a team

  • to get back on track to achieve our objectives. One day, I was attending a meeting that involved

  • lots of different internal team members, external stakeholders and clients. The meeting did

  • not have a specific agenda, and there was also no chairperson to control or direct the

  • meeting. As the meeting progressed, I felt we were drifting away from the meeting objectives

  • and so I decided to take ownership of the situation by encouraging everyone to be more

  • focused on the meeting goals. I actually offered to chair the meeting, and with everyone’s

  • approval, I quickly drew up a list of items we needed to discuss. I then gave everybody

  • the option to contribute to the discussion before making notes of the action points and

  • then moving on to the next agenda item. Once the meeting as completed, everyone congratulated

  • me for encouraging everyone to gain focus and clarity and for facilitating a more proactive

  • approach to the meeting.” That shows that you can TAKE OWNERSHIP of situations and encourage

  • everybody and say… “Look, come on, we need to be more positive. We need to be more

  • proactive and fulfill our obligations as a team.” If you would like to download my

  • full set of United Nations interview questions and answers, there’s 17 in total, click

  • the link in the top-right hand corner. Don't forget all the proceeds go to UNICEF. We donate

  • them on a quarterly basis. All the profits from this video and that guide go direct to

  • UNICEF. So, it is a good cause. Don't forget to LIKE the video. Thank you very much! Please

  • SUBSCRIBE. And if you want to connect with me on LinkedIn.com, my linked inlink

  • is in the description below the video. I hope you have a brilliant day. Thank you very much

  • indeed for watching and tuning in and for subscribing to my CareerVidz channel! I wish

  • you the best for passing your United Nations interview! Thank you very much.

Hello there, my name is Richard McMunn from the interview training company PassMyInterview.com.

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