2010 Competitive Examinations for Language Positions at the United Nations

by NITA Administrator ~ December 14, 2009

The Secretariat of the Examinations and Tests Section of the United Nations offers competitive examinations for language positions (e.g. translators, editors, verbatim reporters, interpreters, and proofreaders) on a regular basis. Participation in these examinations is required for full-time career positions only.

The Secretariat is planning for the year 2010 to hold the following competitive language examinations:

• Competitive Examination for Russian-language translators (in April)
• Competitive Examination for French-language translators (in April)
• Competitive Examination for French-language interpreters (in April)
• Competitive Examination for Chinese-language translators (in May)
• Competitive Examination for Chinese-language editors (in May)
• Competitive Examination for English-language interpreters (in June)

Additional information concerning application procedures will appear on the the Examinations and Tests Section’s website about three to four months before the expected administration date. The months and language specialties shown here are purely indicative only, as they may be subject to change without further notice!

For more information, please consult the Examinations and Tests Section website and to click there, on the left-hand side, on the “2010 Examinations” link for the pertinent information. You are also strongly encouraged to check out the “Frequently Asked Questions” link as it contains additional helpful information.

For the curious: the UN distinguishes between working languages and official languages. This distinction is fundamentally based on a pragmatic approach of the truly enormous task of providing information in pertinent languages essential to the organization, its members and the public at large, all the while remaining in line with the always limited resources available. There are two working languages, namely English and French; however, the official languages of the UN are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.

The United Nations in late 2007 officially declared the year 2008 as the International Year of Languages. In that framework, and to more broadly introduce the scope and nature of the work of the approximately 1,200 staff language professionals engaged at the UN headquarters in New York (globally, they employ over 2,000 linguists) they commissioned an interesting video production of about five and a half minutes in length, produced by José María Perazzo and Rosario Fernández, with music by Marcelo Gobbo, which we reproduce below, albeit in a slightly compressed format.

It gives a very good impression of the working environment of language professionals plying their trade at the service of the United Nations. The video starts after about 10 seconds of blank image without sound, so press the “Play” button below and just sit tight for the show to begin!

» Powered by XHTML Video Embed

If you’re interested in seeing the myriad of videos that cover the sessions of the Languages matter! seminars, organized by UNESCO in the framework of the International Year of Languages, please visit the Languages Matter video channel on YouTube.

Note: this entry is based on information provided on the UN Examinations and Tests Section website, as compiled on the date of publication, i.e. on 12/14/2009. Please consult the Examinations and Tests Section website for current information.