United Nations Development Programme
Handbook of Sample Interview Questions and Tests Draft
UNDP Bratislava Regional Centre, HR Unit
Bratislava Regional Centre • Grösslingova 35, 811 09 Bratislava, Slovak Republic Telephone: (421-2) 59337-111 • Fax: (421-2) 59337-450 • E-mail:
[email protected] • http://www.undp.sk
The Handbook of Sample Interview Questions and Tests
Contents:
Introduction..........................................................................................................................................3 Sample Interview Questions.................................................................................................................4 Personal............................................................................................................................................5 Self-Assessment...........................................................................................................................5 Personality and Relevance to the Job Advertised.........................................................................5 Creativity .....................................................................................................................................6 Decisiveness.................................................................................................................................6 Flexibility and Innovation............................................................................................................6 Education..........................................................................................................................................7 Work Experience..............................................................................................................................7 General.........................................................................................................................................7 Achievements...............................................................................................................................8 Job Performance and Working Environment...............................................................................8 Leadership and Supervisory Skills...............................................................................................9 Conflict/Stress Management......................................................................................................10 Other Achieved Experience/Skills.............................................................................................10 Career Goals...................................................................................................................................10 General.......................................................................................................................................10 Motivation..................................................................................................................................11 Knowledge/Skills – Related Questions..........................................................................................12 Professional................................................................................................................................12 Academic ...................................................................................................................................13 Oral and Written Skills...............................................................................................................13 Support/Admin. Position Skills.................................................................................................13 Commitment to Continuous Learning............................................................................................14 Other...............................................................................................................................................14 Sample Tests – Support Staff Member Positions...............................................................................15 Travel & Admin Assistant Test......................................................................................................16 Programme Assistant/Associate.....................................................................................................23 Assistant/Secretary.........................................................................................................................25
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The Handbook of Sample Interview Questions and Tests
Introduction The objective of this handbook is to assist managers with proper assessment of candidates’ competencies, which are necessary for successful performance of the job advertised. As each position requires certain competencies the questions to be asked at the interview should be chosen based on the advertised Terms of Reference. Therefore the handbook serves just as a guidance tool for an interview and should be used in the most flexible way. The handbook also contains the questions/tests, which were developed in other UNDP offices: Afghanistan, Albania, Armenia, India, Kyrgyzstan, Romania and Turkey. We would like to thank to those offices for sharing their knowledge and expertise with us.
Miroslava Stricova, HR Unit, Bratislava, Slovak Republic
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The Handbook of Sample Interview Questions and Tests
Sample Interview Questions
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The Handbook of Sample Interview Questions and Tests
Personal Self-Assessment
Tell us about yourself. How would you describe yourself?
What can you offer us? What do you consider to be your greatest strengths? Can you name some your weaknesses? What would you say are areas, needing improvement?
Why should we hire you rather than another candidate? What kind of things do you feel most/least confident in doing? What excites you most about this position? What interest you about our organization and its activities? What can we offer that your previous company cannot offer?
Do you consider yourself a self-starter? If so, explain why.
How could you improve yourself?
How do you handle criticism?
What traits or qualities do you feel could be strengthened or improved? Personality and Relevance to the Job Advertised
What can you contribute? Why should we employ you?
What qualities do you think will be required for this job?
You have not done this sort of job before. How will you cope/succeed? How much does your last job resemble the one you are applying for? What are the differences? How long do you think it would be before you were making a significant contribution to the team/company? Why are you interested in this position and what do you bring with you that would make you the most suitable candidate? Your education? Experience? Personal qualities? If you were hiring someone for this position, what qualities do you think would be important? How does your college education or work experience relate to this job?
What is your current position and which aspects of your present work do you like?
What do you like and dislike about the job we are discussing?
What would you like to avoid in your next job? Page 5 of 26
The Handbook of Sample Interview Questions and Tests In your position, how would you define doing a good job? On what basis was your definition determined? Creativity Would you give us an example that would describe your ability to be proactive?
What do you think of the last company you worked for?
In your work experience, what have you done that you consider truly creative? Can you think of a problem you have encountered when the old solutions didn’t work and when you came up with new solutions? Of your creative accomplishments big or small, at work or home, what gave you the most satisfaction? Decisiveness Do you consider yourself to be thoughtful, analytical or do you usually make up your mind fast? Give an example (Watch time taken to respond)
What was your most difficult decision in the last six months? What made it difficult?
The last time you did not know what decision to make, what did you do?
How do you go about making an important decision affecting your career? What was the last major problem that you were confronted with? What action did you take on it? Describe a time when you were under pressure to make a decision. Did you react immediately or take time in deciding what to do? How do you react when you see co-workers disagreeing? Do you become involved or hold back? Flexibility and Innovation What was the most important idea or suggestion you received recently from your employees? What happened as a result? What do you think about the continuous changes in company operating policies and procedures? How effective has your company been in adapting its policies to fit a changing environment? What was the most significant change made in your company in the last six months which directly affected you and how successfully do you think you implemented this change? Do you prefer to have a job in which you have well laid-out tasks and responsibilities, or one in which your work changes on a frequent basis? Page 6 of 26
The Handbook of Sample Interview Questions and Tests Are you a person who likes to “try new things” or “stay with regular routines”? Given an example. Give us an example of a time when you needed to adjust quickly. What did you do and how did it turn out?
How would you rate your ability to adapt to new working styles?
Can you act on your own initiative?
Education Could you tell us about your educational background and why did you choose your major? Why did you choose to attend your college or university?
What were you looking for in college?
Do you think you received a good education? In what ways?
In which campus activities did you participate? And what else did you do at colleague? Select a professor that you liked best. What type of an individual was he? How about one you didn’t care for?
What did you find to be unique about yourself when you were at school/university?
Which classes in your major did you like best? Least? Why?
Which elective classes did you like best? Least? Why?
What did you do in the summer?
If you were to start over, what would you change about your education?
Do your grades accurately reflect your ability? Why or why not?
Were you financial responsible for any portion of your colleague education?
What special aspects of your education or training have prepared you for this job?
What courses in school have been of most help in doing your job?
Work Experience General
Could you tell us about your work history? The first company you worked for, how did you select it and was the company like? Did it live up to your expectations? Why are you leaving now? What were your responsibilities in your previous jobs? What did you do on a day-to- day basis? Page 7 of 26
The Handbook of Sample Interview Questions and Tests Explain the organization structure in your last company and how you fitted into it? Did you mobilize resources in your last job? If yes how and from whom?
What job-related skills have you developed?
What special aspects of your work experience have prepared you for this job? Did you work while going to school? In what positions? What did you learn from these work experiences?
What did you enjoy most about your last employment? Least?
Have you ever quit a job? Why?
Achievements Define success and what do you think are the most important characteristics and abilities a person must possess to become successful? How do you rate yourself in these areas?
And what do you consider to be your greatest achievement to date? Why? Define failure. How did you handle a difficult obstacle? How do you feel this experience affected your personality or ability?
Have you ever had any failures? What did you learn from them?
Of which three accomplishments are you most proud? Job Performance and Working Environment How do you think a former supervisor would describe your work? What were some of the good points and bad points of that rating? When you have been told, or discovered for yourself, a problem in your job performance, what have you typically done? Can you give us an example?
What type of person do you like to work for most/least? Do you mind working for someone older than yourself? Younger than you? Of the opposite sex?
How much supervision have you typically received in your previous job? How do you feel about the way you and others in the department were managed by your supervisor?
Do you prefer working alone or in groups? What are advantages and disadvantages of working for a small as compared to a large organization? Do you prefer to work in a small, medium or large company?
In what kind of work environment are you most comfortable? Page 8 of 26
The Handbook of Sample Interview Questions and Tests What are your previous experiences with the UN System and/or regional and international agencies with multi-cultural and multi-lingual environment? Leadership and Supervisory Skills
What type of individuals do you like to have working for you? Have you ever had any subordinates who did not function to the level that you expected? If they did not live up to your expectations, what was your approach? What do you feel contributed to your effectiveness as a supervisor? And what do you feel may have interfered with your effectiveness as a supervisor? In what respects do you feel you have improved most as a supervisor during the past few years?
What do you feel are some of the greatest motivating forces for subordinates?
What would you do if your staff comes to work late regularly? When judging the performance of your subordinate, what factors or characteristics are most important to you?
How frequently do you meet with your immediate subordinates as a group?
How many hours do you feel a person should spend in their job?
What is your experience in managing teams?
What sort of manager are you? What makes a good manager? Are you a leader? And if so what sort of leader do your people fee you are? Are you satisfied? How would you describe your basic leadership style? Give specific examples of how you practice this?
What specifically do you do to set an example for your employees?
What do you think determines a person’s progress in a good company? In your present job what approach do you take to get your people together to establish a common approach to a problem? What approach do you take in getting your people to accept your ideas or department goals? How do you get people who do not want to work together or establish a common approach to a problem? If you do not have much time and they hold seriously differing views, what would be your approach? Have you ever led a task force of committee or any group who doesn’t report to you, but from whom you have to get work? How did you do it? What were the satisfactions and disappointments? How would you handle the job differently? Page 9 of 26
The Handbook of Sample Interview Questions and Tests Conflict/Stress Management Have you had difficulty getting along with a former professor/supervisor/co-worker and how did you handle it?
Give an example of a time in which you worked under deadline pressure.
How do you deal with stress?
In your previous job what kind of pressures did you encounter?
Please describe how you handled a conflict situation with your team. In your work experience, how have you dealt with conflict situations? What has been your role in moderating and resolving that crisis? Other Achieved Experience/Skills In your current position what types of decisions do you make without consulting your immediate supervisor? What are some examples of important types of decisions you have been called upon to make?
Have you ever done any volunteer work? What kind?
How do you run a meeting?
What do you consider to be some of your most disappointing work experiences? Talk about a situation where you had to work on a project that involved more than one issue. Give an example of a situation where your actions helped to solve a work-related problem. What steps would you take when given a new assignment in order to perform more efficiently and reduce interruptions?
Career Goals General
Describe your ideal job.
What is your long-term employment or career objective?
Do you prefer to work under supervision or on your own? What kind of job do you see yourself holding five years from now? What do you feel you need to develop in terms of skill and knowledge in order to be ready for that opportunity?
Why might you be successful in such a job?
How does this job fit in with your overall career goals? Who or what in your life would you say influenced you most with your career objectives? Page 10 of 26
The Handbook of Sample Interview Questions and Tests
What would you most like to accomplish if you had this job?
What kind of boss do you prefer?
Would you be successful working with a team? Please provide examples.
What are your guiding principles while working in a team?
Are you accepted into a team quickly?
Do you prefer large or small organizations? Why?
What other types of positions are you considering?
How do you feel about working in a structured environment? What is important to you in a company? What things do you look for in an organization?
Are you able to work on several assignments at once?
How do you feel about working overtime?
How do you feel about travel?
How do you feel about the possibility of relocating? Are you willing to work flextime?
What would your boss say about your analytical abilities?
How ambitious are you? Would you compete for my job?
Why did you choose a career in..?
Why are you changing careers?
Are you competitive?
Are you aggressive?
Do you feel you are ready to take on greater responsibilities?
What are your career goals?
What type of rewards are you seeking regarding this position?
What might make you leave this job? Motivation
What is your professional goal?
Can you give us examples of experience on the job that you felt were satisfying?
Do you have a long and short-term plan for your department? Is it realistic? Did you achieve it last year?
Describe how you determine what constitutes top priorities in the performance of your job.
What motivates you most in a job? Page 11 of 26
The Handbook of Sample Interview Questions and Tests
What motivates you to put forth your greatest effort?
What are two or three most important things to you in your job?
Do you need other people around to stimulate you or are you self-motivated?
What management style gets the best results out of you?
Knowledge/Skills – Related Questions Professional
What are the most important (democratic/environmental etc.) challenges in the Central and Southeastern Europe and CIS region? What are the appropriate responses, by both the International Community and by UNDP? Why?
Which countries in Eastern Europe and the CIS do you see the best candidates for regional (supra-national, trans-border) activities? Why?
What do you see as UNDP’s strengths in the area of… in this region?
What are the most effective tools UNDP can use to significantly contribute to improvement of the framework of….. in this region?
What does resource mobilization mean to you? Which area(s) of …… do you consider the most/least appropriate for resource mobilization activities? Could you please outline approaches that you would use based on your answers to the above.
As ……Advisor you have two main tasks: support the COs and manage regional and sub-regional programmes. Howe would you perform both responsibilities without spending more time and energy in one at the expense of the other?
What are the recent trends in …. in the CEE/CIS region?
What do you think should be the role of UNDP in the context of growing presence of other multilateral partners such as the Global Fund (or something to that effect)?
What in your view should be the priorities for Governments of the region in confronting….? Describe some of the strategies that you would recommend for addressing the area of..
Imagine the situation: you are responsible for organizing a 3-day subregional training course focused on…. For about 21 local government decision makers. What do you do as far as: a) professional agenda b) logistics
What do you think is the biggest challenge or difficulty in working with “interdisciplinary” projects, which cover several different areas?
Have you worked on a project that involved both government and NGOs? Talk a little about your experience?
What is your understanding of the phrase “capacity development/human development/sustainable development”? Page 12 of 26
The Handbook of Sample Interview Questions and Tests
Describe your experience with administrative and financial issues.
What are your contacts with ministries, NGOs, local authorities?
Do you have any experience with Results-Based Management systems?
Please describe your programme management and programme monitoring experiences.
Please explain to us what is your understanding of the difference (in UN terms) between a plan of action, business plan and a monitoring mechanism.
What would be your strategy in working with the countries in this region in order to ensure the best outcome of the ……..strategies.
Academic
Describe your research. Tell us about your research programme. What are you working on currently? What do you plan to look at next?
What audiences are your addressing, what are the other hot books or scholars in your field, and how does your work compare with theirs?
Can you explain the value of your work/research to an educated layperson?
What is your basic teaching philosophy and how would you teach….?
Oral and Written Skills
Have you ever done any public or group speaking? Recently? Why? How did it go?
Have you made any individual presentations recently? How did you prepare?
Would you rather write a report or give a verbal report? Why?
What kind of writing have you done? For a group? For an individual?
What is the extent of your participation in major reports that have to be written?
How would you rate your communication skills and what have you done to improve them?
What does the term two-way communication mean to you? When have you successfully used two-way communication?
Support/Admin. Position Skills
Please describe any experience you have in the following areas: a) arranging business travel b) coordinating meeting arrangements, including scheduling, agenda preparation and distribution, attendee invitations Page 13 of 26
The Handbook of Sample Interview Questions and Tests c) taking and distributing minutes of meetings d) preparing (writing) correspondence e) creating/preparing report f) creating and maintaining databases and spreadsheet files
Please describe your strategy for project administration
Please explain how you would manage project filing system and documentation
How would you plan to communicate to get quick results/responses?
Commitment to Continuous Learning
What has been the most important person or event in your own selfdevelopment?
What kind of books and other publications do you read?
What are some of the things you are either doing now or have thought about doing that are self-development activities?
Have you taken a management development course?
How are you helping your subordinates develop themselves?
Do you plan to return to school for further education?
Other
In case you are a winner: what are your salary expectations and when could you assume your new position?
Do you have any questions for us?
How often are you off sick?
What professional groups are you a member of, and how active have you been in those groups?
What do you do on your days off? What are your hobbies? What interest do you have outside work?
If you had 10 million dollars what would you do?
Who are you your models? Why
What do you know about our organization? What is appealing to you about it?
Are you considering any other positions at the moment?
Have you ever been fired?
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The Handbook of Sample Interview Questions and Tests
Sample Tests – Support Staff Member Positions
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The Handbook of Sample Interview Questions and Tests
Travel & Admin Assistant Test Part I: Multiple Choice You have 30 minutes for this test. Please return this question sheet together with the answer sheet; otherwise your answers will not be counted. Please mark your answers clearly on the answer sheet. Notes on the question sheet will not be counted. Reading Comprehension The position requires skill in analyzing, understanding, and interpreting written material of varying levels of difficulty. The reading comprehension questions on our tests are designed to measure applicants' abilities to understand and interpret written material. These questions require an employee to read and understand a paragraph, and then, to choose an answer based on their understanding of the main concept put forth in the written passage. The correct answer will usually restate this main concept, using different wording. In some cases, the correct answer will be a conclusion that is drawn from the content of the paragraph. After reading the passage, choose as your answer the statement that is best supported by the contents of the passage. 1. A viable affirmative action program must contain specific procedures designed to achieve equal employment opportunities for specified groups. Appropriate procedures, without necessary determination to carry them out, are useless. Determination, without well defined procedures, will achieve only partial success. The paragraph best supports the statement that: A. Well defined procedures will assure the success of an affirmative action program. B. A high degree of determination is necessary and sufficient for a highly successful affirmative action program. C. It is impossible for an agency to develop a viable affirmative action program. D. An agency may guarantee success of its affirmative action program by developing and implementing well defined procedures. E. Two important ingredients of a successful affirmative action program are well-defined procedures and a sincere resolve to implement those procedures. 2. Claimants who have become unemployed by voluntarily leaving the job, by refusing to accept suitable work, or due to misconduct should be temporarily disqualified from receiving benefits. However, the disqualification period should never be longer than the average period required for a worker to find employment. Unemployment insurance is designed to alleviate hardship due to unemployment. Benefits should definitely be paid if unemployment continues beyond a certain point and the claimant can show that he has made an honest effort to find employment. The paragraph best supports the statement that: A If a claimant cannot find work after a certain period of time, he/she should no longer receive benefits. B. In cases of willful misconduct, disqualification should continue indefinitely. C. The reasons for unemployment change as the period of unemployment gets longer. D. If a claimant cannot find employment after a certain period of time, he/she should be allowed to receive unemployment insurance benefits. Page 16 of 26
The Handbook of Sample Interview Questions and Tests E. If a claimant chooses voluntary unemployment, he/she should receive unemployment insurance benefits immediately. 3. Education in the United States is a state responsibility, a local function and a federal concern. Unlike other social service programs, this arrangement also places state governments between the federal government and local governing bodies. The paragraph best supports the statement that: A. Enforcement of federal education policies is left to state discretion. B. The federal government plays an advisory role only in matters concerning education. C. Federal educational policies are generally implemented by local governments under the direction of the state. D. No federal funds are used to support local educational programs. E. Federal aid is often used to induce local school systems to implement federal policies. 4. Technological and psychological conditions are changing so rapidly that most agencies and organizations must continually adapt to new situations in order to remain viable. The paragraph best supports the statement that: A. Changes in general conditions determine the effectiveness of an organization. B. The effectiveness of an organization depends more on technological advances than on psychological changes. C. Organizations must be able to adapt to technological and psychological changes in order to maintain effectiveness. D. The effectiveness of an organization is equally dependent upon technological advances and psychological changes. E. The effectiveness of an organization is dependent upon its technological and psychological advances.
Reasoning & Problem Solving The ability to identify and resolve problems, and also to apply the principles of logic to given situations, is needed to perform many the job. These types of questions are designed to measure the applicant's ability in these areas. 5. If New York time is three hours ahead of San Francisco time, what time would it be in New York if a San Francisco clock one hour behind the time shows 4 o'clock? A. 1 o'clock B. 6 o'clock C. 7 o'clock D. 8 o'clock 6. Most of the Gaspard family lives in South Louisiana. Many of the people in South Louisiana celebrate Mardi Gras. Frank is a member of the Gaspard family. Based on these facts, we can conclude that: A. Frank lives in South Louisiana. B. Frank does not celebrate Mardi Gras. Page 17 of 26
The Handbook of Sample Interview Questions and Tests C. All of the Gaspards celebrate Mardi Gras. D. None of the above can be concluded. 7. Bill must use Highway 19 to get to work. Bill has a meeting today at 9:00 AM. If Bill misses the meeting, he probably will lose a major account. Highway 19 is closed all day due to repairs. Based on the above, we can conclude that: A. Bill will not be able to get to work. B. Bill will probably not be able to reschedule the meeting. C. Bill will lose a major account. D. None of the above can be concluded. 8. Mrs. Sellers reports that she was in the elevator late yesterday evening after leaving her office on the 15th floor of a large office building. A man got on at the 12th floor, pulled her off the elevator, and assaulted her, stealing her purse. She believes that she has seen the man in elevators and hallways of the building before. She thinks that he works in the building. Study the following parts of Mrs. Sellers' description of the man. Which one would most useful in finding him, assuming that he is a regular occupant of the building? A. He had very bad breath. B. He was wearing a striped tie. C. He had a scar on his left cheek. D. He was carrying a blue backpack.
Inferences This part tests your ability to decide if a conclusion is true, based on a set of facts. First read the facts (or premises) that are given, and then look at the conclusion. Assume the facts are true, and decide if the conclusion is: A. Necessarily true. B. Probably, but not necessarily true. C. Indeterminable, cannot be determined. D. Probably, but not necessarily false. E. Necessarily false. These five answer choices (above) are the same for each inference question. 9. FACTS: If the Commission approves the new proposal, the agency will move to a new location immediately. If the agency moves, five new supervisors will be appointed immediately. The Commission approved the new proposal. CONCLUSION: No new supervisors were appointed. A. Necessarily true. B. Probably, but not necessarily true. C. Indeterminable, cannot be determined. D. Probably, but not necessarily false. Page 18 of 26
The Handbook of Sample Interview Questions and Tests E. Necessarily false. 10. FACTS: If the director retires, John Jackson, the associate director, will not be transferred to another agency. Jackson will be promoted to director if he is not transferred. The director retired. CONCLUSION: Jackson will be promoted to director. A. Necessarily true. B. Probably, but not necessarily true. C. Indeterminable, cannot be determined. D. Probably, but not necessarily false. E. Necessarily false. 11. FACTS: If the maximum allowable income for food stamp recipients is increased, the number of food stamp recipients will increase. If the number of food stamp recipients increases, more funds must be allocated to the food stamp program, which will require a tax increase. Taxes cannot be raised without the approval of congress. Congress probably will not approve a tax increase. CONCLUSION: The maximum allowable income for food stamp recipients will increase. A. Necessarily true. B. Probably, but not necessarily true. C. Indeterminable, cannot be determined. D. Probably, but not necessarily false. E. Necessarily false. 12. FACTS: If prices are raised and sales remain constant, profits will increase. Prices were raised and sales levels will probably be maintained. CONCLUSION: Profits will increase. A. Necessarily true. B. Probably, but not necessarily true. C. Indeterminable, cannot be determined. D. Probably, but not necessarily false. E. Necessarily false. 13. FACTS: Some employees in the personnel department are technicians. Most of the technicians working in the personnel department are test development specialists. Lisa Jones works in the personnel department. CONCLUSION: Lisa Jones is a technician. A. Necessarily true. B. Probably, but not necessarily true. C. Indeterminable, cannot be determined. D. Probably, but not necessarily false. Page 19 of 26
The Handbook of Sample Interview Questions and Tests E. Necessarily false.
Math This section tests your skills in solving math problems. The math questions we use on our tests are designed to measure these abilities. Read each question carefully before attempting to solve the problem. 14. Angela Wilson processed 300 applications for food stamps during the month of June. During the month of July, she processed 10% fewer applications. How many applications did she process in July? A. 220 B. 240 C. 270 D. 280 E. None of the above. 15. A personnel officer drove from Lake Charles to a conference in Baton Rouge. The total distance for the round trip was 240 miles. The time required to travel one way to Baton Rouge was two hours. Due to heavy traffic during the return trip to Lake Charles, an extra hour was required. How much slower was the personnel officer traveling on the return trip? A. 10 mph slower B. 15 mph slower C. 20 mph slower D. 25 mph slower E. None of the above. 16. A state park is budgeted at an amount 9 times the amount budgeted for a nearby city park. If the combined yearly budget of both parks is $1,000,000, what is the average monthly budget of the city park? A. $8,111.00 B. $8,222.22 C. $8,333.33 D. $8,444.44 17. The estimated completion time for a particular 100 item test is 3 1/3 hours. Ten applicants actually took the test and completed it in 3 hours. What is the difference between the actual and estimated rate of completion per item? A. 10 seconds per item B. 12 second per item C. 14 seconds per item D. 16 seconds per item E. None of the above.
Table Page 20 of 26
The Handbook of Sample Interview Questions and Tests This section is focused on your ability to understand, interpret and use information contained in tables and charts. This ability is tested in questions that require the applicant to determine missing values in a table by analyzing the information in the rest of the table. TABLE I: NEW HOUSING UNITS STARTED (Hypothetical) YEAR
TOTAL IN THOUSANDS
PERCENT CHANGE*
PRIVATELY OWNED (in thousands)
TOTAL 1-UNIT STRUCTURE 1 1,398 -20.4 1,250 990 2 II 4.9 1,370 1,120 3 1,524 4.0 III 1,236 4 1,420 -6.8 1,325 1,164 5 1,380 -2.8 1,260 IV 6 1,690 V 1,520 1,415 * Change from previous year. (-) Minus sign denotes decrease.
PUBLICLY OWNED IN THOUSANDS
I 96 104 95 120 170
18. What is the value of I.? A. 148 B. 150 C. 146 D. 248 E. None of the above, or cannot be calculated from the data provided. 19. What is the value of II.? A. 1,216 B. 2,495 C. 1,466 D. 1,464 E. None of the above, or cannot be calculated from the data provided. 20. What is the value of III.? A. 288 B. 1,420 C. 1,132 D. 1,430 E. None of the above, or cannot be calculated from the data provided. 21. What is the value of IV.? A. 1,140 B. 1,380 Page 21 of 26
The Handbook of Sample Interview Questions and Tests C. 1,102 D. 1,094 E. None of the above, or cannot be calculated from the data provided. 22. What is the value of V.? (Rounded to nearest tenth of a percent) A. 18.3 B. 81.7 C. 21.5 D. 22.5 E. None of the above, or cannot be calculated from the data provided.
Spelling The spelling test is designed to resemble a proofreading task. You are presented with a passage. Each line of the passage is considered one test question. You are to read the passage and indicate how many spelling errors are contained in each line. In some cases, a spelling error will consist of the use of the wrong form of a word that has several correct spellings. The different correct spellings of such words have different meanings, for example "to", "two", and "too". Be sure that you look for these kinds of errors. Directions: This section consists of a passage of written material. The lines are numbered in the left margin. You are to read the passage and indicate how many spelling errors are contained in each line by using the following key: Key A = The line contains no spelling errors B = There is one (1) spelling error in the line. C = There are two (2) spelling errors in the line. D = There are three (3) or more spelling errors in the line. 23. The main reasons for in-service training are to inprove the work being done by 24. employees in there present jobs and to meet the system and program goals of the 25. agency. It is the responsability of managers to suport and encourage teh use of 26. skills learned in training classes. In-service training will be done during normal work 27. hours and will be paied for by the employer.
PART II: IN-TRAY EXERCISE You have 20 minutes for this test. Please return this sheet; otherwise your answers will not be taken into account. You are the Travel/Admin. Assistant. Sometimes you have to be very creative and suggest innovative and feasible solutions in order to accommodate the Page 22 of 26
The Handbook of Sample Interview Questions and Tests travel needs of our staff. Today you received the following e-mail from Ms. Y, who is a policy specialist. It seems that Ms. Y has written this message in a hurry while she is trying to get ready for her vacation. Dear Travel Assistant, UNDP Kyrgyzstan has invited me to provide a training session to senior Government officials in Bishkek from 5 – 7 March. This training will be financed by the Government of the United Kingdom. Also, I just received a call from UNDP Tajikistan asking me if I could come to their office on a policy advisory mission. They propose 24 – 28 February, i.e. immediately after I come back from my vacation in Egypt. The mission will be financed by the requesting office. Please don’t forget about the international conference in Bucharest in which I have to participate from 3 – 4 March. I think the conference organizers will cover the costs for accommodation during this time. Please make all(!) necessary arrangements for me to undertake these missions in the most suitable way. I am not sure how this can be worked out but trust your usual creativity. Sorry for the short notice. I will be in the office until tomorrow. Thank you very much and best regards, Y. Please read this message very carefully and 1. prepare a response to Ms. Y. requesting all necessary information and 2. prepare a detailed checklist of all tasks you have to do.
Programme Assistant/Associate1 The aim of this test is to assess your development knowledge and your skills in translating knowledge into documents that are clear, concise, to-the-point and easy to understand. You have two hours to complete the test. 1. If recruited your job will also entail the financial management of projects. a. Please explain briefly your experience in financial management. b. Please tabulate the budget information provided below in Excel, with sub-totals and totals. Personnel (budget line 10) Administrative Support (budget line 13): Administrative and Financial Assistant, for 12 months in 2003 and 6 months in 2004, at $1,000/month. 1
The test was developed in UNDP Turkey
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The Handbook of Sample Interview Questions and Tests Monitoring and Evaluation (budget line 15): Duty travel at $6000 for 2003 + 2004. National Consultants (budget line 17): Project Manager for 18 months at $2000/month. Contracts (budget line 20) Car rental (budget line 22): $8000 for 2003+2004. $5000 for 2004. Youth activities (budget line 25): $45,000 for 2003 and 2004, with 70% of project activities in 2003. Equipment (budget line 40) Non-Expendable equipment (budget line 45): $20,000 divided equally between the two years. Miscellaneous (budget line 50) Sundries (budget line 53): $16,000 in total, with at least $7000 in 2003. 2. This question is based on the question above where information is provided on budget lines. Imagine that you are doing the job of the Programme Assistant. During your first day, you receive an invoice from a Government partner for making a payment from a project budget. The invoice is from TEPE Mobilya and is for office furniture. Which one of the above budget lines would you charge the invoice against? 3. Imagine that you are doing the job the Programme Assistant. During your first day, you receive a Request for Direct Payment (a formal request for the UNDP to make a payment from a project budget) from the appropriate government agecy. In order to carry out your task of issuing the payment, what steps do you think you would take? 4. Describe to the best of your knowledge the concept of “sustainable human development” as promoted by the UN system. If you do not have any knowledge, describe what you think it could be. 5.
Please describe the main components of “project monitoring and evaluation”.
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The Handbook of Sample Interview Questions and Tests
Assistant/Secretary2 The aim of this test is to assess your knowledge and your skills in UN basic principles, translating, and correspondance skills. You have one hour to complete the test. UN-RELATED QUESTIONS 1. What UN Agencies are accredited in ......? Please describe in short the main functions of the UN Agencies present in ....? 2. When the UN was established? Who is the Secretary-General of the United Nations? 3. What places of Interest would you recommend to an International Expert visiting ..... for the first time and why? 4. Indicate the names of the persons that are currently holding the following positions or the posts that the indicated persons are holding at present: a) b) c) 5.
UN Secretary-General: Javier Solana: Colin Powell:
Spell out these abbreviations and translate them into ……: OSCE NATO EU EBRD UNESCO ECLAC TRANSLATIONS A) Translate the following text into …... Valuing results and working in close cooperation with the Government, Civil society, United Nations Agencies and the Business Community, we foster programs of technical assistance and capacity building which act as catalysts for the creation of sustainable livelihood, the reduction in poverty, the promotion of good governance and the protection of the environment. We ensure that the design and implementation of these targeted programs are of high quality and have a long-term impact on the development of our country. B) Translate the following passage into English. Pamiatku obetí teroristických útokov na New York a Washington z pred dvoch rokov si dnes pripomenuli pred budovou amerického veľvyslanectva v 2
The test was developed in UNDP Armenia – translation part was adapted to our needs Page 25 of 26
The Handbook of Sample Interview Questions and Tests Bratislave premiér Mikuláš Dzurinda s rodinou a americký veľvyslanec Ronald Weiser. Útoky teroristov v Bali, Rusku či ich nedávny bombový útok proti pracovníkom Organizácie spojených národov v Bagdade nás opätovne presvedčili, že globálnej hrozbe terorizmu sme vystavení všetci a že jej s vedomím spoločnej zodpovednosti musíme čeliť. DRAFTING Write a letter in English to the Minister of Finance and Economy of Armenia, informing about the start of execution of the UNDP Project “Sustainable Economic Development Policy”. For this purpose, take into account that the total budget of the Project is US$ 500,000, the estimated duration is 2 years and that it will be executed by the Ministry of Trade and Economic Development of RoA. Please, reiterate in the letter with brief but significant ideas, the importance of the Project from the point of view of development of the country on the whole. The letter is to be written on behalf of the Resident Representative of UNDP.
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