The United Nations workforce is made up of different categories of staff. Within each category there are different levels, which reflect increasing levels of responsibilities and requirements. The information in this section will help you decide for which staff category you see a good fit. This will be useful when you start searching and applying for jobs.

These are the different categories of staff at the United Nations:

• Professional and higher categories (P and D)
• General Service and related categories (G, TC, S, PIA, LT)
• National Professional Officers (NO)
• Field Service (FS)
• Senior Appointments (SG, DSG, USG and ASG)

At the United Nations you progress in your career through merit and qualifications. There are, however, restrictions on movement between the different categories. For each category of job there is an assessment process. Moving from one category to another is tied to specific requirements.

Within the professional and higher category, some jobs are filled through global competitive examination processes, including the Young Professionals Programme Examination and the Competitive Examination for Language Professionals.

More information about these examinations and other tests and assessments

Information about Pay and Benefits

Please keep reading for more information about each category.