SG_2016

no, they didnt tell me. but i could see in the system if they completed it or not (because for those who submitted the reference, the system indicated it next to their name), so I could remind them about the deadline from time to time

It is indeed possible that last year they contacted our referees very quickly after the interview because the process had big delays and perhaps they needed to hurry up. Since none of you had their referees contacted by now, perhaps they did not reach that stage yet. But now you know how to check it out in the system. I suggest you do it regularly, since last year my referees had only one week to submit their references and some of them thought the message was a spam and didnt even open it before I contacted them. Regarding selection: last year for M&E they told me they received about 2000 applications, and at the end they selected 23 for the talent pool. I am not aware though if this is simmilar with other job families. I know this waiting game is very annoying and source of huge anxiety. But you should think that even if you make it to the talent pool, a job is not guaranteed. You can still wait for months - if not years - to get an actual offer in a location where your personal circumstances allow you to go. NETI is a great opportunity indeed, but you should also work on a backup plan.

I was also in the final interview last year and I was selected for the NETI talent pool (M&E group). They contacted my references the next day. I could see it in my electronic profile - you should have a tab there called "update references". Click on it to enter the reference page, and if you see a message saying "As reference checking has commenced, reference details can no longer be updated. Please contact us if changes need to be made.", it means they contacted your referees. At least this is how it worked last year. My referees got an email with instructions how to submit their recommendations in the system and with one week deadline. Last year there were for sure people who did not pass the interview, because they posted about it in this discussion forum. Last year the whole process was much longer (so I assume there were more candidates too) - the application deadline was at the beginning of August and I had the interview in January. I hope this helps. Good luck!

Seven months after I have been notified that I am on the NETI Talent Pool, I still did not get an offer for a placement. I was not even contacted for a job interview. When I got the placement notification back in Spring, it felt like it was a big victory, especially since I was told that only a bit over 1% of initiaI applicants have been selected. But now I start thinking that this whole NETI selection process has been a big waste of my time...

no news from my side either (on NETI 9th cohort) in the meantime, some of you might be interested in this: http://groundtruthsolutions.org/job-opportunities/

no news for me. I have not heard anything from unicef since placed on the talent pool.

great!:) and how are things going with your new job, Valery? do you like it?

BTSBTS, I think you can mention in your UNICEF online profile that you are available only after a certain date (Update profile/availability). since we have 3-year time span for getting a NETI position, you can easily complete one year at your new job.

Unfortunatelly this is the negative side of this kind of recruiting schemes. I suppose (and hope!) that being in a Talent Group gives us a considerable advantage in the UNICEF's staffing process, compared to external applicants who are not in any of the Talent Groups. It would be interesting to know what ratio of available positions in UNICEF are actually filled in by candidates from Talent Groups; at least this would give us an idea about the chances we have. The worst part is that after this very long, very competitive, and mentally exhausting selection process, we don't even have the certainty that within these 3 years we will get an offer. I was selected in a simmilar Talent Group for another international organization and have been considered for a position only once during the 2 year validity period (which by the way I couldn't accept because it was too short-term position to be worth losing my current job for it). I know people who had simmilar negative experiences with being selected on IGO Talent Groups through very long and competitive processes and getting nothing out of it afterall. Waiting can last: take Carrotflower's example who waited for a year to get an offer. So the only thing we can do is wait and hope for the best, and think that if we eventually get an offer, chances are that we will end up working within an interesting environment on very exciting assignments, and then we would know that all this waiting and stress was worth it.

I asked about it at the Q&A session. I was told that there is no cut off point; we can be recruited for a position any time within the 3 year span. All depends on our profiles' suitability to offices looking for new staff. So the exact time when we can be considered for an actual job is hard to predict since it depends on staffing needs of country/regional offices. If we don't get any news until May or June, we can still can get it any time aftern June. The only difference is that we would start working at the duty station long before the next induction session in NY. So our placements do not depend on these induction sessions. In other words, our "waiting and hoping" mode can last any amount of time, for up to three years.

I am in a simmilar situation. I got the notification about being accepted for the Talent Group, had the Q&A skype session, and got no further news since then. But I was told that in case we are recruited for a NETI position after the June induction session, we are going to participate in the next year session.

Congratulations, jeremyhardy! I got my acceptance for M&E as well:) I am very happy for it, although uncertainty still continues. I hope it will not take 3 years to be contacted by a hiring office. Those of you who have been notified about being successfully selected for the talent pool (but not proposed a specific job), have you received any info after you got the notification? should I expect a Q&A session with the HR?

Congratulations, Valery and Carrotflowers! You finally got to the end of the process:) As far as I am concerned, waiting game is still on. My appl status is still "under review".

only that in my case I dont know yet if I am accepted or not;) Thanks, Valery!

Congratulations, Tropicalguy! one more step succesfully passed;) I still dont have an answer and my online status is still 'under review'. But since they contacted my referees after the interview, I still have hopes... Valery, have they already proposed you a specific placement? it seems that you have been among the first notified about the talent pool placement in our job family and I was wondering how fast they are in finding matching jobs for the selected candidates.