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September 2010
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THIS MONTH'S TOPICS
1. TIP: Making the best use of the website language options
2. EXPERIENCE: Online volunteers develop recruitment tool for UNFPA
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1. TIP: Making the best use of the website language options
The Online Volunteering service website is available in English, French and Spanish. Here we provide some tips on how to make the best use of the different language options.
Selecting your preferred language in the user profile
In your user profile, you can select your preferred language. If you select French, the website will be displayed in French, and all the messages send through the website, such as the newsletter and notifications related to your volunteer opportunities, will be sent to you in French.
Searching for opportunities
Opportunities are posted in English, French or Spanish. On top of the opportunity search page you can select the languages of the opportunities that appear in your search results. By default, all possible languages are selected. If you want to see the opportunities that are written in English and French, but not in Spanish, untick the Spanish language before running the search.
Applying to an opportunity
Make sure that you write your application in a language that the organization to which you are applying will understand. For example, if you are sending an application to an organization in a francophone country, and the description of the opportunity is in French, write your application in French.
Printing the certificate
The certificate is displayed in the language that you have selected in your user profile. To see or print the certificate in a different language, you just need to change the language setting in the user profile.
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2. EXPERIENCE: Online volunteers develop recruitment tool for UNFPA
A team of five online volunteers in three different continents helped the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) develop an online assessment test tool that enhances the efficiency of their International Operations Manager (IOM) recruitment. Increasing UNFPA’s capacity to identify the most suitable candidates for their operational posts, the new Human Resources tool will positively impact the agency’s delivery on their programme of promoting the right of every woman, man and child to enjoy a life of health and equal opportunity.
The UNFPA Human Resources division was looking for a test that was neither culturally biased nor too business oriented or UN driven in order to give a fair chance to candidates from different backgrounds. Tapping on the expertise of volunteers from all over the world, diverse backgrounds and different areas of expertise was an ideal solution and resulted in a test that offers a maximum of objectivity in assessing the candidates’ skills. The online volunteers conceived the test questions, established the evaluation method, and developed an online tool that puts the questions randomly together so that each test looks different and also allows applicants to take the test from home, saving travel cost and time.
“Each of the four volunteers working on the test questions was responsible to design questions for their area of expertise,” says online volunteer Marvin who coordinated the team. “We managed to create a comprehensive battery of questions with an equivalent level of difficulty to assure comparability and reliability of test results. We mutually checked all questions and provided feedback to make sure that content and wording of questions was understandable and relevant to the job requirements of UNFPA IOM.” A final consultation round with UNFPA staff from different offices and functions validated the relevance of the questions.
Marvin is from Germany and holds a diploma in Psychology. He works as a management consultant for Accenture Management Consulting, but is currently on sabbatical, which he used to go abroad: “I lectured at the University of Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam and volunteered for several projects in Australia and Israel. In Tel Aviv I started working as a project manager for this project. I was keen to experience to what extent I might be able to leverage my expert knowledge when volunteering online. As a Human Resources specialist with comprehensive experience in recruiting and design of assessment tests, I was delighted that UNFPA offered me to manage this project. I enjoyed working and leading an international and virtual team. I really felt their strong motivation and intention to collaborate. In the course of action, UNFPA offered me a consultancy in the Learning and Career Management Branch in New York City where I will be working until the end of 2010.”
Crystal from the U.S.A. holds a Master’s in International Public Administration and is pursuing a Master’s of Science in Quantitative Finance while serving as a Contracting Officer for USAID. “I possess diverse experience in procurement as well as Human Resources and felt that this opportunity would be both challenging and rewarding in support of the mission of UNFPA. My task focused on developing the procurement portion of the examination. I was also tasked with reviewing and editing the Human Resources portion of the test after it was drafted. This helped me to gain a lot of insight into human resources as well as better ways to develop test questions to in effect gage an applicant’s knowledge on the subject matter”.
Ramya from India is based in Mumbai and works as a consultant with Hewitt Associates, a global talent consulting firm. “This opportunity particularly excited me because it gave me the opportunity to use the skills and expertise I have learnt as a student and consultant in the field of human resources to a larger cause. I would love to make my contribution to enable UNFPA hire the right talent which will eventually make it more effective in achieving its goals of eliminating poverty around the world,” Rampya said.
Darren is an IT professional from the Republic of Liberia, currently based in the U.S.A. “As a strong advocate of Information and Communications Technology for Development (ICT4D), I believe that I can volunteer my skills and use the knowledge garnered from college, work, and other areas to help bridge the digital divide. Working for UNFPA has given me the opportunity to work with a diverse group of people with diverse backgrounds; an experience I will always cherish,” he said.
Monalisa is a human resources professional from India. Working as State Programme Facilitator at the Government of Orissa, she is currently involved in the implementation of a Family Planning Programme supported by UNFPA. Monalisa appreciated the collaboration as an opportunity to gain exposure to the international development sector.
