UN EMPLOYMENT: NATIONAL COMPETITIVE RECRUITMENT

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000551 SIPDIS SIPDIS C O R R E C T E D C O P Y - PARA 2 TOTAL CHANGED E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: AORC SUBJECT: UN EMPLOYMENT: NATIONAL COMPETITIVE RECRUITMENT EXAMINATIONS FOR 2006 ¶1. SUMMARY. On February 28, 2006, the UN held its annual National Competitive Recruitment Examination (NCRE) for entry level junior professional positions for the following occupational groups: architecture, demography, library science, security, science and technology, statistics and web design. Approximately 1176 individuals, including 196 U.S. citizens, were invited to sit for the examination, which was held in 33 locations worldwide. New York and Los Angeles were the two U.S. locations. The Los Angeles test was marred by inadequate facilities. END SUMMARY. ¶2. On February 28, 2006, the UN held its annual NCRE in 33 worldwide locations. This year the following occupational groups were tested: U.S. Occupational Group Total Citizens Group Convoked Convoked -------------- -------------- -------------- Architecture 250 21 Demography 112 23 Library Science 92 30 Security 25 11 Science and Technology 371 55 Statistics 273 36 Web Design 53 20 Total 1176 196 ¶3. U.S. Citizen participation: U.S. citizens were convoked to the following test centers: Examination Total U.S. Citizens Centers Convoked Present -------------- -------------- -------------- Barbados 3 TBD Bangkok 3 TBD Geneva 4 TBD Los Angeles 23 15 London 5 TBD Oslo 1 TBD New York 153 94 Vienna 1 TBD TBD: Awaiting tabulation. Gender percentage for those convoked: approximately (38% male and 62% female). LOS ANGELES TEST SITE ISSUES ¶4. As it did for the 2005 exam, the Department this year provided $4000 for UNA-USA to make logistical arrangements for test sites outside of New York. After first selecting Dallas and Los Angeles, it was later determined that only one site, Los Angeles, was needed. The site selected by UNA-USA in December 2005 was a classroom at Los Angeles Harbor College, located in Wilmington, California. Although concerns about construction noise surfaced early, the UN's test director thought these would be addressed without help from the U.S. Mission. On February 27, 2006, test proctors from the UN and the U.S. Mission arrived at the site and found substandard conditions, including inadequate seating, foul smells in the adjacent hallway, poor ventilation, and excessive noise from outside construction and traffic. Although the proctors made last minute efforts to make the space more suitable, the UN's representative still believed that the site was inappropriate. Several test takers complained about the site to the UN and U.S. Mission representatives. ¶5. The College's representative who volunteered the classroom admitted that it was inadequate but said that an earlier choice was even worse. Efforts to find a room in the Long Beach school system fell through the cracks. NEXT EXAM ¶6. The UN Examinations office has informally advised the U.S. Mission that it will be making a formal invitation to the U.S.G. to participate in the 2007 NCRE, which will test the following occupational groups: Economics, Legal Affairs, Library, Radio Producers (Arabic and Spanish) Security and Statistics. This office emphasizes that unless the US Mission requests otherwise, the only scheduled USA examination center will be in New York. ¶7. Comments: Taking into account our 2005 and 2006 UN NCRE experiences and the occupational groups forecasted for the 2007 examination, USUN projects that no more than 55 total examines (maybe 30 U.S.C.s) might actually sit for an examination outside of New York City, somewhere on the West Coast. BOLTON