The Young Professionals Programme (YPP) is the United Nations Secretariat’s recruitment initiative for talented, highly qualified people who want to begin a career as an international civil servant. It runs once a year as a competitive entrance examination in a set of subject areas chosen according to the Organisation’s staffing needs.
Candidates who pass are placed on a three-year roster and, on selection, are offered a two-year fixed-term appointment at the P-1 or P-2 (entry professional) level. The programme is open to young people without prior work experience, making it one of the main gateways into a long-term UN career.
Benefits & funding
- A two-year fixed-term contract at the P-1 or P-2 professional level with the UN Secretariat (a salaried international civil-service post).
- Placement on a three-year roster of successful candidates; after two years of satisfactory performance, eligibility for a continuing contract and for the Managed Reassignment Programme.
- Assignment to a UN duty station or field office — locations include New York, Geneva, Vienna, Nairobi, Addis Ababa, Bangkok, Beirut and Santiago, among others.
- Structured early-career professional development as an international civil servant.
Eligibility
- Be a national of a country participating in the examination for the relevant year (the participating-country list is set annually and published on the official YPP page; it varies from year to year).
- Hold at least a first-level (three-year) university degree relevant to the chosen exam subject area.
- Be 32 years old or younger in the year of the examination.
- Be fluent in English or French.
- No prior work experience is required; where more than 40 applications are received from a country for an exam area, further screening considers education level, UN language proficiency and relevant work experience.
Can you apply?
Here's who can apply
Decoded from the official rules. A free account checks them against your passport, degree and age in seconds.
Education required
Bachelor
Age requirement
≤ 32 yrs
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Application process
- 1Check the official YPP page for the current year’s participating countries and exam subject areas, and confirm you meet the nationality, degree, age and language criteria.
- 2Apply to the relevant exam area through Inspira, the UN staff selection system, during the open application window.
- 3Sit the written stage (conducted online, in one or two phases with a proctored assessment): a General Paper plus a subject-specific Specialized Paper.
- 4Shortlisted candidates take the oral stage — a competency-based video-conference interview with a Specialized Examination Board panel.
- 5Successful candidates are placed on the three-year roster and offered appointments as posts arise.
Program timeline
application window opens for that year’s exam areas
Annually (typically around October)
14 December 2025
application deadline for the most recent (2025–26) cycle
Following months
online written examination (General Paper + Specialized Paper)
After the written stage
oral video-conference interviews for shortlisted candidates
On success
placement on a three-year roster, then two-year fixed-term P-1/P-2 appointments