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NATO Internship


josiewebb923

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4 hours ago, Dunenkova said:

I love how you describe it:

"It was an interesting experience." 

I'm dying lol

My Skype interview is early next week so I'll update when I get there. What did they ask? Were they generic questions?

Haha yes, they were super generic, along the lines of Whats your background?, What makes you a good candidate?. Like I actually read up so much about my division and the work it does and although it was interesting and possibly also prepared me if I do make it to an in person interview, it was definitely not necessary for this round!

Good luck and let us know how it went!

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On 6/12/2020 at 6:05 PM, KH93 said:

Haha yes, they were super generic, along the lines of Whats your background?, What makes you a good candidate?. Like I actually read up so much about my division and the work it does and although it was interesting and possibly also prepared me if I do make it to an in person interview, it was definitely not necessary for this round!

Good luck and let us know how it went!

KH,

this is an update just for you to compare a bit. I don't know how it went lol. It was quite short, likely about 15-18 minutes but I think this is due to the fact somehow there were connectivity issues so the interview started later plus they did not have any more questions for me. I was asked first pretty generic questions, they said they'd ask three questions and they ended up asking me like 5 lol. I'm extremely sure  it all rose from the interview itself, but they were very specific in terms of NATO and its role in the world; sub-regions, etc, and also we switched into a foreign language that was not required but definitely necessary to my surprise. They said the internship office would be in contact with me. It was a panel-interview; no mercy. 

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6 hours ago, Dunenkova said:

KH,

this is an update just for you to compare a bit. I don't know how it went lol. It was quite short, likely about 15-18 minutes but I think this is due to the fact somehow there were connectivity issues so the interview started later plus they did not have any more questions for me. I was asked first pretty generic questions, they said they'd ask three questions and they ended up asking me like 5 lol. I'm extremely sure  it all rose from the interview itself, but they were very specific in terms of NATO and its role in the world; sub-regions, etc, and also we switched into a foreign language that was not required but definitely necessary to my surprise. They said the internship office would be in contact with me. It was a panel-interview; no mercy. 

Ok, that is way more intense than 8 minutes of talking to a camera :D But honestly it sounds like you did well, I hope you hear back from them soon! I just hope they take some decisions soon and don't make us wait until the end of September...

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12 hours ago, KH93 said:

Ok, that is way more intense than 8 minutes of talking to a camera :D But honestly it sounds like you did well, I hope you hear back from them soon! I just hope they take some decisions soon and don't make us wait until the end of September...

I feel the same exact way, tbh my default is I wasn't selected so I'm not constantly checking my email. I also have other job interviews as well. I really hope they let us know asap, I've done three hour interviews only to be denied two months later despite telling them I had a competing offer. It was a terrible experience and very off-putting; not to mention very inconsiderate of the time the candidate put in to the application.

Edited by Dunenkova
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On 6/17/2020 at 4:15 AM, Dunenkova said:

I feel the same exact way, tbh my default is I wasn't selected so I'm not constantly checking my email. I also have other job interviews as well. I really hope they let us know asap, I've done three hour interviews only to be denied two months later despite telling them I had a competing offer. It was a terrible experience and very off-putting; not to mention very inconsiderate of the time the candidate put in to the application.

That is a good attitude! If it works out, great, if not, you can still be proud to have at least been invited for an interview.

Personally, i haven't experienced anything like that yet, but I have heard stories from friends like I just ask myself, who runs HR in these places? But if they are so chaotic and incompetent as well as disrespectful of the applicant's time, maybe that's a good indicator for why they will not be a good place to work at either...

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 6/18/2020 at 8:28 PM, KH93 said:

That is a good attitude! If it works out, great, if not, you can still be proud to have at least been invited for an interview.

Personally, i haven't experienced anything like that yet, but I have heard stories from friends like I just ask myself, who runs HR in these places? But if they are so chaotic and incompetent as well as disrespectful of the applicant's time, maybe that's a good indicator for why they will not be a good place to work at either...

Looks like you might have been right on the money, we'll likely know in August/Sept. Regardless, oh well, here's to the best for all applicants ?

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Does anyone know if it's normal that I haven't heard back from 2 of the internships I applied to? It hasn't been updated since April 26, and no news (and we are the last day of June)... 

I received emails telling me my application wasn't successful for the other ones I applied to, but still in suspens for the last 2...

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  • 3 weeks later...
4 hours ago, Dunenkova said:

Anyone heard back on final status?

I still haven't heard from the division that I interviewed for a month ago, and also haven't received an official rejection for the other division that I applied to. I know a friend of mine received a rejection a few weeks after interviewing though. I think their process is often very lengthy and COVID-19 is probably not making it any better...

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56 minutes ago, KH93 said:

I still haven't heard from the division that I interviewed for a month ago, and also haven't received an official rejection for the other division that I applied to. I know a friend of mine received a rejection a few weeks after interviewing though. I think their process is often very lengthy and COVID-19 is probably not making it any better...

Which divisions were they? 

I tried emailing them because I haven't had a rejection letter from 2 divisions (or any news), and still haven't heard anything...

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2 hours ago, KH93 said:

I still haven't heard from the division that I interviewed for a month ago, and also haven't received an official rejection for the other division that I applied to. I know a friend of mine received a rejection a few weeks after interviewing though. I think their process is often very lengthy and COVID-19 is probably not making it any better...

it's also been a month for me and I expected a rejection by now. @Fl0000 I think if you haven't received a rejection by now, you likely made it to the last stage of the process for those positions because according to the calendar outlook, shortlisting period already passed. If anyone's successful, please let us know or maybe we will just have to see in Sept.

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20 hours ago, Dunenkova said:

it's also been a month for me and I expected a rejection by now. @Fl0000 I think if you haven't received a rejection by now, you likely made it to the last stage of the process for those positions because according to the calendar outlook, shortlisting period already passed. If anyone's successful, please let us know or maybe we will just have to see in Sept.

I love your optimism! 

I assume that if I haven't had any news yet, I don't have it (best case scenario, you're right!). But good luck to all who've had interviews and are waiting for an answer. 

(I'm curious about people's background... Are you undergrad or grad students? Do you have internships and relevant work experience?)

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So I just received 2 more rejection letters from NATO. They were the same generic ones as the others, so not sure if I got further in the process and they don't mention it, or if they are literally just weeks behind... Good luck to anyone waiting for an answer!

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5 hours ago, Fl0000 said:

So I just received 2 more rejection letters from NATO. They were the same generic ones as the others, so not sure if I got further in the process and they don't mention it, or if they are literally just weeks behind... Good luck to anyone waiting for an answer!

Sorry to hear that! I still haven't heard back but I would not be surprised if I was rejected - I think they are just really slow unfortunately.

About your question about people's backgrounds, I am a grad student, did two internships during my Bachelor's and have one year of somewhat relevant work experience from the job I did before starting my Master's degree. What about you?

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5 hours ago, KH93 said:

Sorry to hear that! I still haven't heard back but I would not be surprised if I was rejected - I think they are just really slow unfortunately.

About your question about people's backgrounds, I am a grad student, did two internships during my Bachelor's and have one year of somewhat relevant work experience from the job I did before starting my Master's degree. What about you?

Similar to you. I'm finishing my second Master's (first one in Global Health, second in Political Science, my research is on peacebuilding). I have done internships (including in India during my master's, the rest is not as relevant, as I studied nutrition during my undergrad), have work experience as a research and teacher assistant (all related to IR and conflict/post-conflict), and I am the president of my local chapter of WIIS (Women in International Security)... At this point, I'm not even sure what I could bring more to the table for those internships (pretty sure I could get hired for a good job with my experience)... Wasn't even called back for an interview with the GENAD (Gender Advisor) office, while I got a random email today about the creation of a WPS researchers network in my country. 

 

Even if they have a lot of candidates, I find it pretty disrespectful that they are not even respecting their deadlines, or changing them and keeping us updated. Anyway, good luck to you!

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10 hours ago, KH93 said:

Sorry to hear that! I still haven't heard back but I would not be surprised if I was rejected - I think they are just really slow unfortunately.

About your question about people's backgrounds, I am a grad student, did two internships during my Bachelor's and have one year of somewhat relevant work experience from the job I did before starting my Master's degree. What about you?

I'm in the same boat, still no response. I am also a graduate student, 2.5 years of regional experience in areas of interest for NATO, almost two years of internship experience related to National Security which are relevant to NATO, and language skills of interest. However, for every person like me there's an overqualified applicant with two MAs and internships at the UN or the OSCE. Rejection in general without feedback sucks, but what could also explain the delay is COVID-19 and the cohort of interns due to September, @Fl0000. Supposedly, I heard from someone I know that the internships for Sept 2020 are in danger of being cancelled.

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7 hours ago, Dunenkova said:

I'm in the same boat, still no response. I am also a graduate student, 2.5 years of regional experience in areas of interest for NATO, almost two years of internship experience related to National Security which are relevant to NATO, and language skills of interest. However, for every person like me there's an overqualified applicant with two MAs and internships at the UN or the OSCE. Rejection in general without feedback sucks, but what could also explain the delay is COVID-19 and the cohort of interns due to September, @Fl0000. Supposedly, I heard from someone I know that the internships for Sept 2020 are in danger of being cancelled.

Even then, I was looking at previous years, and someone with 2 Masters and internships at both UN and OSCE got rejection letters... Not sure how much more qualified we can get (or if it's the opposite, and they look more at cover letter than experience?). Sorry to hear that you also got a rejection letter. 

 

I do understand that COVID-19 might be responsible for the delays. But it was already lockdown in most major western cities when we applied in April, so I think they could have just updated their website to mention that pre-selection would go until the end of July. It does suck for the September 2020 internships, and I do hope for them that they can at least just postpone them a little instead of cancelling. Hopefully they are not pushing everything back by 6 months! 

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...
  • 8 months later...

Hello, everyone!

I have a HireVue interview for the NATO NCI Agency Internship (Non Technical). What kind of questions and how many should I expect? Do you have any advice for me?

Thank you!!

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Hi Yimbo!

That's very exciting, congrats on being preselected. I also received a message for a HireVue interview (NATO HQ). Don't really know what to expect but from what I read previously on this forum and what I've heard from people who've been there before, the questions are pretty basic and straightforward. I'd recommend to also prepare a few STAR-type answers for competency-based questions just in case. Please let me know how it was after you record yourself! I will also share my questions here after I do too :) 

Good luck! 

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