UNICEF Behavioural Interview: Competencies & How to Answer

What a UNICEF behavioural interview involves

A behavioural (or competency-based) interview asks you to describe what you actually did in past situations, on the assumption that past behaviour is the best guide to future performance. International organisations such as UN agencies commonly use this approach, usually with a panel and a standard set of questions so candidates can be compared fairly. UNICEF publishes a competency framework and job vacancies refer to it, so it is the best starting point for your preparation.

We cannot tell you the exact questions or scoring used for a particular role, and they change between roles, grades and country offices. What is well established is the shape: expect questions that begin 'Tell us about a time when…' or 'Give an example of…', plus follow-up probes. Some processes also include a written test or a technical section, and the format (in person, live video or, occasionally, recorded) will be stated in your invitation. Read it carefully.

The competencies and values to prepare for

UNICEF's published framework groups behaviours into core values and core competencies. Frameworks get updated, so check the current version and the vacancy notice. As a guide, these themes appear consistently in the published material and are the ones to prepare for:

• Core values: care, respect, integrity, trust, accountability and sustainability. Expect these to be tested through questions about ethical dilemmas, confidentiality and taking responsibility.
• Self-awareness and ethical awareness: how you reflect, handle feedback and act with integrity when it is difficult.
• Working collaboratively: how you contribute to teams, including across cultures, functions and time zones.
• Building and maintaining partnerships: how you build trust with governments, NGOs, communities or donors, often without formal authority.
• Innovation and openness to change: how you improve a process or adapt when plans shift.
• Thinking and acting strategically: how you connect your daily work to wider goals and make trade-offs.
• Drive for results and impact: how you deliver measurable outcomes, not just activity.
• Managing ambiguity and complexity: how you act when information is incomplete, priorities conflict or the context is unstable.

Answering with the STAR method

STAR keeps your answer structured and evidence-based: Situation (brief context), Task (your specific responsibility), Action (what you did, and why) and Result (the outcome, ideally with a number and a lesson). Spend roughly 15% on situation and task, 60% on action and 25% on result. Most weak answers spend too long on background and too little on what the candidate personally did.

Here is an illustrative answer to 'Tell us about a time you built a partnership with a stakeholder who was initially resistant.'

Situation and Task: 'In my previous role at a health charity, I had to get a district health office to share clinic data for a vaccination outreach project. They were wary because an earlier project had given them extra reporting work and little in return. I was responsible for securing agreement within six weeks.'

Action: 'I started by listening. I met two of their officers and asked what had gone wrong before. Then I redesigned our request so we used their existing monthly report instead of a new form, and offered to produce a one-page summary they could use in their own planning. I agreed a named contact on each side and a fortnightly 20-minute call, and I was open about what we could not offer.'

Result: 'They agreed in week five. Within three months we had data from all participating clinics, which let us shift outreach to the lowest-coverage areas. The district office later asked to keep the summary format. What I learned is that resistance usually has a reason, and that solving their problem first makes the partnership real.'

Notice what makes it work: one clear challenge, specific actions in the first person, a concrete outcome and a reflection that shows self-awareness. Adapt the content to your own experience; never borrow someone else's story.

Build an evidence bank before the interview

You cannot improvise eight strong examples under pressure. Prepare five or six flexible stories that can each be shaped to several competencies.

• Pick stories with real stakes: a conflict, a failure you recovered from, a difficult stakeholder, a change you led, a decision made with limited information.
• Write each as bullet points under S, T, A and R, with at least one number or concrete outcome in the result.
• Tag each story with the competencies it can evidence, such as partnership, results or ambiguity.
• Include at least one story where things did not go to plan. Reflection on mistakes supports the self-awareness and accountability themes.
• Use varied settings (work, volunteering, study) if your professional examples are limited, but choose those with genuine responsibility.

What to do and what to avoid

Mission-driven organisations attract candidates who are passionate, and panels hear a lot of general statements about caring. Evidence of behaviour is what separates candidates.

• Do say 'I' when describing your actions, and 'we' only for context. Panels score your contribution.
• Do show respect for people and context, including local knowledge, colleagues and communities, rather than presenting yourself as the single hero.
• Do quantify outcomes where you honestly can, and say so when you cannot measure them.
• Do not answer hypothetically ('I would usually…') when the question asks about a real time.
• Do not reuse the same story for every question. Panels notice.
• Do not exaggerate or invent detail. Follow-up probes are designed to test depth, and integrity is itself one of the values being assessed.
• Do not give confidential details of previous employers or beneficiaries; anonymise the example.

Practise under realistic conditions

Reading your stories silently is not the same as delivering them clearly in two to three minutes. Say them aloud, time yourself, and ask a friend to probe with 'What exactly did you do?' and 'What would you do differently?'. If your interview is by video, practise looking at the camera, not your own face.

A tool like ScreenReady lets you record timed answers to competency-style questions and review AI feedback on structure and clarity. It is a useful way to rehearse, though it cannot tell you what a specific UNICEF panel will ask. Finish by rereading the vacancy and your tagged stories so each essential requirement has matching evidence.