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Preparing for Technical / Written Assessment for the OSCE — Transcript

by The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) · 8,201 words · 1,582 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:11so
0:12hello everyone and welcome to our new
0:14webinar
0:15today it's august 2020 and we are doing
0:19a webinar on preparing for
0:21a written assessment at the osc
0:24so if you're watching us live or
0:26watching the recording we very much
0:28thank you for your interest in the osce
0:30which is the world's largest regional
0:32security organization
0:34and osce stands for organization for
0:37security
0:37and cooperation in europe the goal of
0:40this program
0:41is to demystify the recruitment process
0:44and the use of selection tools and
0:47international organizations and
0:49particularly
0:50our international organization just to
0:53do a brief chat with all of you
0:55if you can hear me just enter your name
0:58in country where you are located right
1:00now if you've already done that don't
1:02need to do it again
1:03but if you just joined us and you can
1:05hear us just enter
1:07your name and the country where you are
1:09connecting from
1:10and i see folks from germany i see
1:13people from
1:14kazakhstan from ukraine from north
1:16macedonia
1:17from serbia from romania from france and
1:21many other
1:22participating states at the osce we very
1:24much appreciate your interest
1:26and we are going to get started very
1:28very soon we have to be starting right
1:30now
1:32uh since i started talking i'll go ahead
1:35and introduce myself my name is gustavo
1:37i'm the chief of talent acquisition here
1:40based in this secretariat
1:42and i'm accompanied by one of the
1:44superstars here
1:45at the recruitment function and also
1:48human resources function
1:50at usc and i'll let her introduce
1:52herself
1:56thank you gustavo and hello everyone
1:59welcome to today's webinar my name is
2:02yaroslava directional
2:04and i'm a human resources assistant at
2:06the oc project coordinating ukraine
2:09i have been with the oce for a year and
2:11a half
2:12and it's really nice to have you with us
2:15and walk you through
2:16our practices in preparing reading
2:18assessments
2:19wish you to gain as much knowledge as
2:22possible
2:23and hope you enjoy this webinar
2:27thank you very much araslava we
2:28appreciate your being here so that it's
2:30not just my voice and people from the
2:32secretary of talking
2:33and our goal is to get as many
2:35recruiters from across the usc
2:37region involved in talking to you
2:39potential applicants and potential
2:41candidates
2:42can you tell us a little bit about what
2:44we are covering today
2:46sure so today we are going to
2:49figure out what a written technical
2:52assessment
2:53is and how they are used at the oc
2:56we have to go through the cases when
2:59reading technical assessments are used
3:02we'll talk about what kinds of questions
3:05are asked
3:06what is the logic behind we'll cover the
3:09information
3:09about how we predict the types of
3:12questions
3:13that may be asked and we'll do an
3:15exercise here
3:16we'll go through the tips how to prepare
3:19for a written or technical assets
3:22and will find the whale on the best
3:25practices tips
3:35thank you and just uh jumping in quick
3:38we
3:38recommend you get pen and paper as well
3:41and why is that yours
3:42why should we get pen and paper yeah we
3:45would like to
3:46recommend to get pendant paper to take
3:49note of some
3:50tips and participate in the exercise
3:53with us
3:54it's important that you put your ideas
3:57on paper
3:58and think them over later on very good
4:01thank you for that
4:02so i'm going to get started here the
4:05idea is to figure out
4:07what is a written assessment pretty much
4:09we all know that the job application
4:11process nowadays
4:12is becoming extremely complex
4:15and international organizations do make
4:17a lot of effort to find candidates for
4:19positions
4:20so our goal is to find not only
4:22candidates who are technically
4:24qualified but candidates who can fit
4:26into the international civil service
4:28culture
4:29so that's why candidates today often
4:32have to take one
4:33or more types of assessments as part of
4:36the process
4:37written assessments may come in a lot of
4:39shapes and with different purposes
4:41including but not limited to leadership
4:43traits assessments
4:45or assessments for emotional
4:46intelligence aptitude
4:48skills or job-specific assessments or
4:51even
4:52technical assessments which are the
4:54types of assessments that we tend to use
4:56at the osce and we will be providing
5:00some ex information about that today
5:04why do we use those assessments as you
5:06can see on the slides here
5:07usc uses a lot of different types
5:10of methods to liaising collect
5:14information from the candidates at
5:17different
5:18steps of the periods of the recruitment
5:21process
5:22a lot of research has been conducted
5:23over the years to ascertain
5:25how well multiple assessment methods can
5:28predict performance on the job
5:30and fitness for the position so research
5:33has indicated that the use of ability
5:35tests
5:36such as written assessments or something
5:39similar to technical tests
5:41or job-specific knowledge tests when
5:43they are done well
5:45and as per the job description and as
5:47for the needs of their position
5:49they can certainly enhance the
5:50predictability of the selection process
5:54and we use this in tandem with other
5:56types of selection
5:57tools as you can see in the slides here
6:01skillful and structured interviews are
6:04what we do with competency based
6:06interviews and they represent point six
6:08percent
6:09in the predictive validity of selection
6:11methods as well as
6:13ability tests or numerical and verbal
6:15reasoning
6:16inability tests are very similar to some
6:18extent to work thinking
6:20when we actually ask you to write a
6:22sample report
6:24or we ask you to conduct an analysis of
6:27a topic
6:28related to the job you're applying for
6:30or we ask you to actually run
6:33some calculations on balancing a budget
6:36on a spreadsheet
6:37if you're applying for a finance based
6:40type of position
6:41so our goal is actually make sure that
6:43we collect multiple data points
6:46across the process so that we can
6:48justify the type of recommendation we
6:51make
6:51for the appointing authority at the osc
6:55which could be the secretary general the
6:57head of mission
6:58institution or ohio authority who would
7:01actually have the
7:02ability to appoint someone to the job
7:06we'll move on to the next slides here uh
7:09could you give us a little briefing on
7:11the selection tools that the usc uses uh
7:13yaroslava
7:14yes gustavo the oc selection process
7:18goes through many stages at the very
7:20beginning
7:21all applicants are reviewed by
7:23recruiters with all applications
7:25that meet the minimum criteria moving
7:28forward to the long list process
7:31if you are long listed it means that you
7:34have been
7:34identified as someone who has the basic
7:37requirements to fill the positions as
7:39per our needs
7:41however only a small percentage of
7:43individuals who meet the minimum
7:45criteria
7:46are selected by the hiring manager for
7:48the shortlist
7:50many times in order to decide which
7:52candidates
7:53should move on from the applicant review
7:55to the interview stage
7:57we use video pre-screening interviews
8:00the next step would be to conduct the
8:02anonymous written tests
8:04followed by the competency based
8:06interviews
8:08selected candidates who participate
8:11in a competency-based interview for
8:13senior management positions
8:15such as p5 and directors may also
8:19undergo psychometrics testing focusing
8:22on emotional
8:23intelligence and leadership college
8:26all these data points are used in
8:28conjunction so the both members
8:31can make the best recommendation to the
8:33appointing authority
8:35at the oce just like in other
8:37international organizations
8:39the role of hr is to facilitate the
8:41process
8:42the role of the interview board members
8:45is to make recommendations
8:46on which individuals may be suitable but
8:50is
8:50it is only up to the appointing
8:52authorities such as
8:54secretary general head of mission or
8:56director of institution
8:58to appoint someone thank you
9:01yaroslav this is a very important point
9:04regarding understanding the process
9:06international organizations if you want
9:09to learn more
9:10about the processes especially for those
9:12in international contracted
9:15such as p positions and director
9:17positions or
9:18international second positions you can
9:20go to
9:22jobs.osce.org and check our infographics
9:25that will explain to you from beginning
9:27to end
9:28how we start the process and how we end
9:31the process with the appointing
9:33of the person who had
9:36been recommended by the interview board
9:38members
9:39the next slide that i have is how does
9:42the
9:42osc conduct tests and this is a very
9:46important question the goal of the
9:48written test
9:50technical test is to ascertain that the
9:52candidate selected for
9:54pre-interviews or for interview
9:57possesses the expected level of
10:00technical knowledge to perform the tasks
10:03expected by the incumbent of the
10:05position
10:06for example an associate reporting
10:08officer should be expected to have great
10:10command of the written language
10:12ability to summarize information in a
10:15consistent and clear manner
10:16as well as ability to synthesize
10:19important information from
10:21essential and non-essential data another
10:24example
10:24a talent acquisition officer should be
10:27able to demonstrate
10:28understanding of modern talent
10:30acquisition methodologies
10:32and their applicability in international
10:34civil service environment
10:36we will give you some more information
10:37on how to dissect these tests
10:39expectations
10:40which can help you prepare each one of
10:43the exercises we have today
10:45now let's take a look at what do these
10:48tests
10:49look like at the osc yaroslava can you
10:51run it by us
10:55sure typically written tests take place
10:57on the very same day as
10:59interviews however some executive
11:02structures
11:03may choose to conduct a pre-test also
11:06before to support the ability to
11:08identify the best candidates
11:11to move forward in the process the tests
11:14have to take between
11:15one and two hours and taken via computer
11:19questions are related to the job
11:21description and we will cover the types
11:24of questions
11:24in the next slide
11:29the a minimum of three both members
11:32attacks with
11:33marking the test using predefined
11:35criterias created by the hiring manager
11:39and or a subject matter expert
11:42candidates are instructed to be specific
11:45but
11:45refrain from mentioning place of work
11:48nationality
11:49gender or any other identifying
11:52information
11:53this is done to decrease probability of
11:55potential
11:56bias against or towards any particular
11:59candidate when marking tests
12:02this are conducted online within a
12:04specific time window
12:07thank you i do need to uh refer again to
12:10something that's very important
12:12all of those tests need a marking guide
12:17and it is up to the hiring manager
12:20a subject matter expert in the third and
12:23a lot of the times a
12:24fourth interview board member who
12:28participates in the process
12:29who will be marking those tests
12:32questions are only related to the job
12:34description per se
12:36and they are anonymized meaning that
12:39we ask candidates not to add information
12:42that will let us know who they are
12:44at times is difficult given the type of
12:46answers that we receive
12:48not to try or think about who they are
12:51but we try and minimize the potential
12:53impact of bias
12:54either towards positive or negative
12:57towards potential candidates
12:59so that's why recruiters are always
13:01asked to anonymize tests
13:03uh in between after before they are
13:06marked
13:06and everything takes place online unless
13:09we are running interviews in person
13:12which especially given the coronavirus
13:14pandemic
13:15it hasn't been possible but we continued
13:18our recruitment processes
13:20uh without delay at this point
13:24why when do the tests take place
13:27yaroslava referred to that but i just
13:29want to repeat that
13:30at times in a few executive structures
13:33the tests can be used as an eliminatory
13:36tool
13:37to determine which applicants should
13:39move to interviews
13:41meaning that they can be done let's say
13:44before a short list
13:45is conducted so they are eliminatory
13:48meaning that if you pass the test
13:50you move on to interviews to the
13:53shortlist
13:54if you don't you are moved
13:57away from the process or out of the
13:59process
14:00however most often what happens is that
14:04the tests
14:05take place around interview day
14:08as a complementary tool we don't rely
14:11just on the test results to make
14:14recommendations
14:15to the appointing authority the board
14:18looks at the entirety of the candidate
14:20application
14:21including the forms including the
14:24results from the sort of pre-screening
14:26interview a video pre-screening
14:27interview if
14:28if they happen including potential
14:30pre-tests if they've happened
14:32and including the test that's typically
14:35done on the day of the interview
14:37as well as interview results so you can
14:40count a minimum
14:41of three to four sometimes five data
14:44points
14:44that we use across the process to
14:47actually ascertain that we select
14:49the person who should be the best fit
14:51for the position
14:52at the time
14:56i'm gonna move on to the next slide and
14:58how can i prepare for written tests
15:00what's important first that you
15:02understand yourself
15:03and what yourself what types of
15:05knowledge skills
15:07and abilities as well as competencies
15:10should be needed to perform well on the
15:12job
15:13particularly at the technical level
15:15because now
15:16we're not just talking about your
15:18ability to
15:19uh have competencies that would make you
15:21a nice colleague
15:23a conscientious person someone who
15:25communicates well
15:27at this stage of the written test one of
15:30the main focuses is actually the
15:32technical ability
15:35so there are three things that we can do
15:38to practice before written assessments
15:41and i'm gonna put
15:42uh yara's love on the spot a little bit
15:44yeah could you read for me
15:46the three steps starting at the left
15:51yes so the first step would be reviewing
15:55tasks
15:56and responsibilities the second step
15:59would be
16:00identifying potential competencies and
16:03skills needed to do the job
16:05and the third one is creating potential
16:08questions
16:09thank you yaroslava and this is some of
16:12this is
16:13what the same kind of method that we
16:15actually ask people to follow if they're
16:17preparing for
16:18interviews themselves it's not very
16:20different in preparing for a written
16:22assignment before we get into the
16:25practice
16:26yaroslava can you tell us what kind of
16:28questions may be asked
16:30yes gustavo as you can see on this slide
16:33we may ask questions related to data
16:36analysis
16:38it may be scenario analysis or report or
16:41project concept writing
16:44the candidates may also be asked to give
16:46financial data analysis
16:49solve some case studies or
16:52make a regional or political analysis
16:58exactly also
17:02that this is not exclusive and the
17:04executive structures may also choose
17:06some other types of questions
17:09perfect thank you for saying that
17:10yaroslava this is not supposed to be an
17:12exclusive
17:13uh presentation which we're talking
17:15about all we're talking about the most
17:18common aspects of the written
17:20assessments at the osce
17:22so one of the things that um
17:25we can consider is actually looking at
17:27data analysis
17:28so how can i predict the type of
17:31questions
17:32if you are applying for a job that
17:34relies on analysis of data
17:36and you look at that in the job
17:38description particularly
17:40in the tasks and responsibilities or
17:43responsibilities assigned to the
17:44incumbent
17:45some of the questions you need to ask
17:47yourself in advance of the following
17:49can you give me the four questions to
17:51the right
17:53sure so the first one would be does the
17:56position require data
17:58analysis as part of its daily activities
18:02also what types of data would be
18:05managing or manipulating the third one
18:08would be
18:08what types of reports would you need to
18:11write and understand
18:12and the last but not the least how would
18:15you go about assessing relevant data for
18:17the job
18:19perfect thank you for that for example
18:21you could be given if you are applying
18:23for roles such as
18:24a chief of fund administration or a
18:28analyst of multiple types of data not
18:30just financial
18:32they you may be asked something the
18:33lines of in connection with our
18:36budget cycle you have been asked to
18:38provide information which can be
18:40relevant for assessing budget
18:42performance of three different units
18:45under your supervision this type of
18:47information may include
18:48finance procurement and asset management
18:52here's the grid of what you need to
18:54consider as
18:56outcomes and outputs how would you
18:59assess the data
19:00what would you consider important and if
19:03you are someone who is prepared for the
19:05type of role
19:06you would know how to answer these
19:08questions that's why it's very important
19:10you put yourself in a situation
19:12in which you are surprised by the type
19:14of questions that will pop up
19:16we're going to go to another way another
19:18type of question
19:20scenario analysis if you look at the job
19:24description
19:25you can infer that there may be some
19:28situations
19:29that could be asked of you and i'll give
19:31you a good example of
19:33recruitment assistant or recruitment
19:35officer
19:36a lot of the times you have to actually
19:39most of the time
19:40process a lot of candidates very very
19:42quickly
19:43deal with a lot of internal stakeholders
19:45and external stakeholders
19:47balance urgent needs tell me about a
19:50scenario
19:51in which you have multiple vacancies
19:54that high level stakeholders
19:57uh who need you to take action very
20:00quickly
20:01how do you prioritize your tests who do
20:04you liaise with
20:06how do you ask for help do you ask for
20:09help
20:09so you need to consider multiple
20:11questions in multiple scenarios
20:14based on the type of jobs you're
20:15applying for jaroslava can you give us
20:17some of the questions to the right
20:22so the first question would be what
20:23types of scenarios are typical
20:26while engaging this type of position you
20:29might also want to think about
20:31what are the expectations in these
20:32scenarios and how do they change given
20:35different
20:36locations cultures data
20:39or stakeholders also what have you
20:42learned to consider as important factors
20:44when you experience these scenarios in
20:47the past
20:49thank you another important thing to
20:51mention as well as the following
20:53in a lot of those questions they may
20:55want to see
20:56if you are someone who is able to
20:58reflect upon your own experience
21:01so it's not only putting out knowledge
21:03that you've acquired
21:05via your education and background but
21:07also
21:08letting them know that the experiences
21:11you've had in the past
21:12make an impact in the type of decision
21:14that you made
21:15and letting the um
21:18interview board members and their
21:20writers know that you are a professional
21:22who
21:22is able to think back and
21:26uh think about you how the lessons
21:29learned may impact the decisions you
21:30make in the future
21:32another type of um question that may
21:35come up
21:36are project concept writing questions
21:39particularly
21:40if you are hired as let's say project
21:42officer or a program officer
21:44or a higher level someone who would be
21:46coordinating different types of projects
21:48as well
21:49so yaroslava can you give us some of the
21:51questions that you may want to ask
21:53yourself
21:54when preparing so we need to think about
21:58uh given the type of issues we would
22:01handle in this position
22:02what types of projects we are likely to
22:05support
22:06in addition what are the considerations
22:09for typical projects
22:10which stakeholders may be relevant and
22:13why
22:14also which areas are you
22:17most familiar with hr finance
22:20procurement logistics
22:22how would you address one of each of
22:24these areas accordingly
22:26as if needed for jd great points
22:30so for example if you're looking at a
22:32leadership position like as a management
22:34position
22:35and or you're dealing with a project
22:37that actually requires
22:38oversight of multiple areas like i said
22:41hr finance procurement logistics
22:44you can emphasize by looking at the job
22:46description what kind of
22:48issues or questions you may be asked
22:51about
22:52and you need to think in advance exactly
22:54giving your past experiences in your
22:56knowledge about research
22:58and your knowledge about management how
22:59would you answer these questions
23:02let's go to another potential case
23:04financial data analysis this is very
23:06common for example
23:08for roles in which you may be asked um
23:11for roles such as finance officer
23:13finance assistant procurement officer
23:16associate contracting officer
23:20any kind of road that may require you to
23:22balance budgets
23:24and have access to financial information
23:26uh could you give us the two questions
23:28here you know
23:31yes gustavo so the first one would be
23:33what is your understanding of the
23:35financial knowledge
23:36needed to do well in the position how
23:39about
23:39budgeting and monitoring and the second
23:42one would be
23:43how would you assess the data presented
23:45in a spreadsheet
23:47what would you consider giving your
23:48knowledge of the position
23:50or scenario uh also i would like to add
23:53gustavo
23:54if i may uh just do we were talking
23:57about
23:57is job description there was just a
24:00question
24:00in the notes
24:05i'll check the question right now i
24:07think i may have
24:08okay if you do not pass the job specific
24:11test you would
24:12when you get notified everyone will get
24:15notified obviously towards the end of
24:16the process
24:17but the job-specific test typically
24:20takes place
24:21towards the end of the process so if you
24:24do not pass it you will be notified of
24:26your status as a candidate
24:28and if for some reason you do not get
24:30this information you can certainly
24:32ask as well and thank you for bringing
24:34up the questions
24:35but we'll save more questions for a
24:36little later okay so we can move on to
24:39the next one the next one is
24:41case studies can you tell us a little
24:44more about
24:45case studies and the questions
24:46associated to them
24:49given your understanding of the case
24:51study how do you first see next tips in
24:54x y and z uh also
24:57how do you leverage your knowledge to
24:59assess the situation
25:00and make decisions you would need to
25:03think
25:03why do you take this decision and how do
25:06you approach
25:06the challenges presented
25:10exactly so a lot of the times they may
25:12give you a case
25:13detailing exactly an issue in a
25:16setup very similar to the mission or in
25:18a department
25:19or at a unit or in a specific office
25:22or even a specific country so it's
25:26important that you actually understand
25:27the job description
25:29holistically what types of situations
25:32what kind of cases what kind of events
25:35would you expect for you to take the
25:37position
25:37so you need to think in advance the
25:39types of
25:42expertise you would have to leverage
25:43when solving those
25:45issues and also important to understand
25:48how you would approach the challenges
25:50that could be presented to you
25:52if you were to get the job
25:56another important aspect particularly
25:58for those who are working within the
25:59political
26:00uh dimension as well is understanding
26:03the role of the organization the role of
26:05the mission
26:06as per its mandate approved by the host
26:08country
26:09in particular areas and regions so you
26:12may be able to
26:13uh you may be asked to actually give us
26:16an
26:16overall analysis of the original
26:18political and to some extent
26:20depending on the dimension even economic
26:23military
26:24dimension can you give us some of the
26:27questions that people need to think
26:28about in advance
26:30so there would be the following the
26:32first one given your understanding of
26:35the current
26:35regional buildups and host country
26:38situation
26:39how do you foresee next steps in xyz
26:43also that will might be what would be
26:46the challenges
26:47associated to do this type of work in
26:49this particular locations
26:51and how would you approach your best
26:53challenges
26:54in addition what's the value added of
26:57the roc
26:58in these areas and how would you add
27:00value in your position
27:02this is absolutely a very important
27:04question particularly for higher level
27:06types of positions
27:08what is the value add of the osc in
27:10these areas particularly when it comes
27:12to the mandate
27:14in comparisons to other potential
27:16players in the region
27:17namely other international organizations
27:20nonprofit organizations
27:22government stakeholders civil society
27:26so it's really important as well that
27:27you are aware should you be applying for
27:30positions that require you to use
27:32analysis of regional political military
27:35economic dimensions as well um
27:39let's move on now for me to explain to
27:41you very briefly why do you use those
27:44written tests
27:45or those technical tests just like we do
27:48for
27:48interviews the goal of the written tests
27:51is to give the interview board members
27:54and iterators
27:54an idea about your level of expertise in
27:57the technical knowledge
27:58and this is used most likely
28:01complementarily
28:02to the all of the other types of
28:04information collected throughout the
28:06process
28:07as i mentioned before most of the time
28:09the written tests take place
28:11on the same day of the interview if they
28:13are to be complementary
28:14data okay so there's a rating scale
28:18and individuals receive points per
28:22uh each question answer one thing that
28:25we can do now is actually start a brief
28:27practice
28:28to ensure that you understand how to
28:30prepare for those tests
28:31in the future what i want to do is
28:35look at the associate project officer
28:38okay what i want you to think about is
28:40i'll do the following
28:41i will ask garroslava to read the first
28:46bullet bullet number one yes lava can
28:48read to us
28:50so book number one a system in the
28:53family implementation
28:54reporting and evaluation of project
28:58very good i'd like for you guys who are
29:00participating we have about 255 people
29:03logging in right now
29:04can you tell me some competencies or
29:07some skills
29:09that you think are important for someone
29:12assisting in the timely implementation
29:15reporting and evaluation of project
29:18activities
29:18can you enter in the chat box okay
29:21miguel
29:22luis you said time management anybody
29:25else can tell me accuracy
29:27key performance indicators wonderful
29:29planning planning skills
29:31accountability organizations is
29:33fantastic
29:34it's independent work you are really
29:38kicking it thank you very much for that
29:40type of participation it's wonderful
29:42so what you need to think is when you're
29:44thinking about assisting in timely
29:47implementation
29:48reporting and evaluation of project
29:50activities you need to think about
29:53as per the job description a new
29:55understanding of the job description
29:57which of these competencies would be
30:00most
30:00likely to be targeted by the hiring
30:03manager
30:04put yourself in the shoes of the hiring
30:06manager and think
30:07if i were hiring manager wanting to ask
30:09people
30:10about that what kind of questions would
30:12i ask okay
30:14uh let's take a look at question a
30:17bullet number
30:18let's see here um bullet number six
30:23yes can you be bullet number six for us
30:26bullet number six supporting the project
30:29team
30:29in establishing and maintaining contacts
30:32with key stakeholders
30:33in oc participating states international
30:37intergovernmental and non-governmental
30:40organizations
30:42very good for those of you so what kind
30:44of skills
30:45competencies abilities what what do you
30:48think it would be important in
30:50bullet six a lot of people put in
30:53communication
30:54stakeholder engagement coordination
30:56cultural sensitivity
30:59relationship building fantastic you're
31:01all in the very
31:02right track so your job is to think
31:06as a hiring manager how would i actually
31:09ask questions
31:11that are the technical level that would
31:14give me information that this individual
31:16can conduct this activity
31:18again what i'm trying to do right now is
31:20to highlight to you that a lot of
31:21individuals apply
31:23for international organizations thinking
31:25that just because
31:27they meet the minimum requirements they
31:30should be interviewed
31:31and that's not the case when you see the
31:33requirements or minimum requirements
31:36they're just that the minimum
31:38requirements
31:39what you need to do is to focus on the
31:43tasks and responsibilities assuming that
31:46you've already
31:47met the minimum requirements and think
31:49to yourself
31:50how do i show the hiring manager that i
31:53can do these things
31:55one because i have the right background
31:57to do them
31:58two because i may have done them in the
32:00past and if i have not done them in the
32:02past
32:03that i've done similar activities in the
32:06past
32:06or that i have the potential to do that
32:08well okay
32:10so let's move on to further the exercise
32:13but before we do that i want yaroslava
32:14to remind you again
32:16how you would practice before written
32:18assessments
32:19can you read the three steps again
32:20yaroslava
32:22so let's remind the three steps the
32:25first one would be
32:26reviewing tasks and responsibilities
32:29then we move on to identifying potential
32:31competencies
32:33and and the end is creating potential
32:35questions
32:36exactly and as i mentioned before this
32:38is not different from
32:40preparing yourself for interview however
32:43for the written technical exam
32:45it's important that instead of just
32:47focusing on behaviors
32:49you also focus on the approach the
32:51technical knowledge needed
32:53the types of research you typically
32:55engage and that you are very specific
32:58on naming that so that the raters can
33:01understand
33:03how you would approach the situation so
33:05let's move on now
33:07to what activity that we typically
33:09recommend people to do
33:11we call this the t exercise why is that
33:14because you can just create a table
33:16in which you put the tasks and
33:17responsibilities on one side
33:19and you think about the potential
33:21question again
33:23right now we are thinking about
33:26technical types of questions if this
33:28were
33:29a prepay for a competency-based
33:32interview we would be focusing on
33:34preparing a competency-based interview
33:36question but now what we're talking
33:38about is
33:39we're talking about technical questions
33:42okay
33:42so let's move on with this exercise here
33:46could you please read the very first
33:48bullet
33:50so the first one would be assisting in
33:53timeline implementation
33:55reporting and evaluation of project
33:57activities
33:58okay so i would like for you guys to
34:01help me
34:02thinking about a technical question
34:05okay what kind of question could you ask
34:08someone
34:10to gather information from him or her
34:14whether they are able to do the job well
34:17can you give me a sample there and it's
34:19okay if you make mistakes
34:20uh it's good for you to get uh practice
34:23practice in in
34:24in exercise these skills today okay what
34:28kpis would you implement as part of the
34:30project plan
34:31how do you track the implementation of a
34:33project fantastic
34:36when was the time you missed the
34:37deadline okay this sounds more of a
34:39competency based
34:41interview question so we're because this
34:43is a technical question
34:45we are focusing on the technical aspects
34:47what software do you use for project
34:49planning
34:50how do you create a monthly plan for
34:52recording a project
34:54very good so let me run over a few
34:56questions here
34:58uh let's go to the number two to get you
35:01in the mood of really getting
35:03give me an example of a project that you
35:04implemented and how you prepare to meet
35:06the task at hand
35:08fantastic so now let's take a look at
35:10task and responsibility number two
35:12yaroslava could you read it for us sure
35:16so it would be contributing to the
35:18organization of needs assessment
35:20visits in preparation for capacity
35:23building activities
35:25very good can you ask me now a technical
35:28question
35:28again this is not necessarily just based
35:31on the past
35:32but it could be related but we want to
35:34get a sample
35:36of your technical ability to do the job
35:39so what kind of question could you ask
35:44could anybody put in something in there
35:46and it's okay if we make mistakes
35:49we are just learning today how do you
35:51organize a needs assessment yes
35:54prepare a questionnaire to assess the
35:56needs in this particular project
35:58fantastic uh what cross-stakeholder
36:02involvement do you think the project
36:03needs
36:04really good these are technical related
36:07so people who have the
36:09technical profile and knowledge and
36:12experience
36:13would know how to answer these questions
36:15which are the main needs assessment
36:16tools used by international
36:18organizations
36:19very good so you although are in the
36:21very right track
36:22so look at that i actually created two
36:25types of questions
36:27uh they are very similar to the ones
36:28that you created yourselves
36:30so the first one for task and
36:32responsibility
36:33assisting in timeline implementation
36:36reporting
36:37and evaluation of project and activities
36:40could you read the potential questions
36:41to the right
36:43what types of factors do you take into
36:45consideration
36:46when implementing a project given a
36:49specific scenario
36:50exactly sometimes you may be given a
36:52scenario sometimes they may be
36:54giving you just based on your
36:56understanding of the job description
36:58but it needs to be reality based
37:02it's not hypothetical now yourself can
37:05you read the test and responsibility
37:07number two again
37:08contributing it's contributing to the
37:10organization of the needs assessment
37:12visits
37:12in preparation for capacity building
37:15activities
37:16and the questions could go like what
37:18steps would you take to develop capacity
37:21building activities
37:22which stakeholders would you liaise with
37:24and what types of information would you
37:26consider important
37:28be mindful we typically don't like
37:30asking hypothetical questions like with
37:32what or put
37:33but this is based on a specific scenario
37:37of your understanding of the job
37:40description
37:41or the project at hand and this is done
37:43to get you thinking
37:45and try and extricate information from
37:47you on how
37:49you have approached this in the past
37:52let's take a look at another task and
37:54responsibility
37:55here um could you read that again
37:58testing responsibility errors it's the
38:00same but it's a different question
38:03it's a system in timeline implementation
38:06reporting and evaluation of project
38:09activities
38:10thank you again to the right we have a
38:13very
38:13typical competency-based interview
38:17that is typically used in a
38:20oral interview could you find this in a
38:23written test
38:24probably but this is more likely to show
38:27up in a
38:28oral interview describe your most
38:31relevant experience
38:33in assisting on a project what were your
38:36responsibilities
38:37how did you add value to the team
38:39whereas in a written technical test
38:42we could ask something in the lines
38:44giving the project a hand
38:46please prefer prepare specific um
38:50please let us know the steps that you
38:51would take to accomplish
38:53x y and z please let us know
38:56why you take into consideration giving
38:58your past experience
39:00and why do you understand the difference
39:02that i'm talking about
39:04if you understand the difference just
39:05enter a y or an
39:07n in the chat box and i can try and
39:10gauge
39:10whether or not i'm being clear and i can
39:12repeat as many times as necessary
39:14it's perfectly okay if you don't
39:16understand it fully so someone said no
39:18what i'm trying to say is for example
39:20you need to differentiate
39:22questions in which you're just
39:23leveraging from your own experience
39:26first question you need to have to
39:28provide beyond the experience
39:30also your clear
39:33knowledge and by knowledge i mean
39:35technical knowledge
39:36of the subject matter the way that
39:38questions can be asked
39:40in interviews versus written technical
39:42tests
39:43can be very similar but when they are
39:45different it's because we are giving you
39:48different types
39:49of scenarios and data for you to
39:52manipulate
39:53doing a test i hope this is a little
39:55more clear now
39:56let's give you another example could you
40:00give me could you read for me the test
40:01can be some responsibility
40:03to the left so based on a realistic
40:07scenario typical of this position
40:09task and responsibility could be
40:12organizing project events
40:14preparing agendas and events materials
40:17electing participants from state
40:19authorities
40:20civil society and international
40:22organizations basing with participants
40:25and partner organizations assuring the
40:28input and ensuring the smooth writing of
40:31the events
40:32good so i'm going to give you guys 15
40:34seconds to look at it again because
40:35sometimes when people read it out to you
40:38we don't really get it we have to hear
40:39it and then we need to read it
40:41i'll give you 15 seconds for you to read
40:43again the task and responsibility
40:58okay listen if i wanted to ask a
41:01question
41:01in an interview about this i would want
41:05to refer
41:06about past experiences i would do the
41:09following
41:11given your past experiences can you
41:13please
41:14let me know of a successful event that
41:17you've organized
41:18what did you do what was your role
41:22and who did you lie is with so in the
41:25interview
41:25i would expect you to give me some
41:28examples of preparing agendas
41:30or the events materials or selecting
41:33participating authorities
41:34or partner organizations on a written
41:37test
41:38i could ask something like this but it's
41:40more likely that i would ask
41:42something a little more particular about
41:45the technical aspect of the job
41:47therefore we could give you a
41:49scenario that would read like this
41:52yaroslava could you read the scenario
41:57the oc is organizing an event in country
42:00x
42:01involving stakeholders from civil
42:03society government
42:04and ngos please describe how you would
42:08approach
42:08organizing this event from beginning to
42:11end
42:12what types of factors would you consider
42:14and why
42:16now do you see the difference between
42:19asking you
42:20giving your experience or tell us about
42:23a time
42:24when you failed to organize a project
42:26successfully
42:28what did you learn how did you prepare
42:31who did you liaise with what would you
42:33do differently
42:34this is more of an interview question
42:37whereas
42:37a written test question would sound more
42:41like
42:41the scenario to the right if you feel
42:45like this is more clear to you now
42:47enter y if you feel it's still not clear
42:50enter a no and we can continue
42:53explaining and it's okay
42:54if you're not fully clear yet we'll have
42:57more examples for you
42:58okay i gotta i got um i gotta know
43:03so we're gonna give you one more example
43:06heroes level could you read the task and
43:09[Music]
43:10responsibility
43:12based on your previous experiences and
43:14understanding of the needs of the
43:16position
43:17uh the task and responsibility could be
43:20supervising and managing the performance
43:22of an administrative
43:24assistant support the project okay
43:27so supervising and managing so these are
43:31very easy questions which competencies
43:32are we talking about
43:35you can enter there just do
43:36entertainment please
43:39exactly thank you andre leadership
43:42people management
43:43supervision thank you i know that you
43:46are awake very good
43:47so supervising and management if you
43:49want to create a competency-based
43:51question
43:52that needs to be based on your past
43:54experience
43:55think about past experience how would
43:58you ask a question about that can you
44:00enter a question
44:01for me to see and convert that into a
44:03competency-based question
44:05for a oral interview
44:08and somebody gave me an example and if
44:10you make a mistake it's okay
44:12we're just getting thinking about the
44:13process here
44:15look at the task and responsibility and
44:18think about a question that you could
44:20ask
44:20not on a test but on an interview
44:27if you don't do it okay what full circle
44:29of reporting kpis did you
44:31implement as part of a recent project
44:34great
44:35okay or when was the last time you had a
44:38managerial position
44:39and what were your responsibilities
44:42fantastic you see
44:43you're going back to the past and as
44:45expenses
44:46when it comes to the oral interview
44:49great
44:50when it comes to the written test you
44:52can ask this question
44:54yeah but you may be more likely to find
44:57a question like the one to the right
45:00here's lava could you read that for us
45:03so there would be what are the main
45:05characteristics of good management
45:07how to ensure that your team is aligned
45:10in vision
45:10and in operations what strategies do you
45:14use to keep communication flowing
45:15and activities completed okay so the
45:19point is you can use
45:20references to the past however this is
45:23also to assess
45:24your knowledge of potential research in
45:27the area
45:28or your potential level of emotional
45:31intelligence in dealing with issues
45:34okay so hope this has become more clear
45:37let's look at one more uh uh point here
45:40heroes based on the job description and
45:43the specific
45:44project for which you'll be hired could
45:47you read this task and responsibility
45:49for us
45:50so the task and responsibility would be
45:52supporting the project team in the
45:54preparation
45:55and adaptation of relevant training
45:57materials
45:58drafting event reports including
46:01recommendations and follow-up
46:03overview and evaluation of training
46:05events
46:06okay now let's think about the interview
46:09let's not think about the written test
46:11yet
46:13read the description again i'll give you
46:1410 seconds for you to read the task and
46:16responsibility again
46:26so 10 seconds passed if we are thinking
46:29about the
46:29interview in which we you want to get
46:32information on people's past
46:34experience with that task and
46:36responsibility
46:38what kind of questions could you ask can
46:41you give me some examples there
46:46and also one where we have 244 people
46:49registered
46:50attending to the a6 under register what
46:52mechanism did you use for
46:54feedback with your project team
46:56fantastic
46:58how did you organize the event how did
47:00you evaluate it
47:01how did you prepare materials super you
47:03see you're always going back to the past
47:06for the oral interview for the technical
47:10test
47:11you could go back to the past and
47:13request examples
47:15or you could also ask a question like
47:19the one
47:20here based on the job description
47:23in this specific project described below
47:26could you read us the question so the
47:30potential questions could be
47:32what types of training materials do you
47:34foresee be needed
47:36what information would you seek to
47:37create a needs analysis
47:39also which stakeholders would you lazy
47:42with in order to accomplish this task
47:45and why again i just want to emphasize
47:48to you the differences
47:50that you may find when it comes to doing
47:53taking a written test
47:54for an international organization like
47:56the osce in which you are expected to
47:58show a little more
48:00of the technical knowledge as a way to
48:03actually
48:03balance out the impressions that the
48:06interview board members may have
48:07given your participation in the process
48:10so now we're actually thinking about
48:12something else
48:13we're thinking about a fourth step heros
48:16could you review all the four steps now
48:19again
48:21sure so let's remind it the first one
48:23would be reviewing tasks
48:24and responsibilities the second one
48:28identifying potential competencies the
48:30third one
48:32creating potential questions and the
48:34fourth one
48:35thinking of relevant and genuine
48:37examples given the complexity and level
48:40of the position
48:42very good one thing that a lot of
48:44candidates may actually
48:47make a mistake on when they're
48:48interviewing particularly as they're
48:50trying to move up the career ladder
48:52and getting more managerial roles or
48:54move up from let's say an independent
48:56contributor
48:58to a supervisor or move up in ee
49:02uh just for a little higher task is
49:04actually thinking about
49:06relevant examples that address the
49:09complexity and the level of deposition
49:12sometimes you may give a beautiful
49:14answer when it comes to
49:16the situation the task the action
49:19and the results in your oral competency
49:22based interviews
49:23but if you're applying for a p5 and you
49:25give us an example at the level of p2 or
49:28p3
49:29it may not necessarily convince the
49:31stakeholders that you have the correct
49:33experience at that particular time
49:35so on the written test case it's also
49:38very important that you address
49:40technical information at a level
49:43that's expected of someone
49:46who would be at that particular position
49:50so if you are applying for a managerial
49:53position
49:54or data analysis type of position and
49:57you're not able to
49:58operate certain data sets or operate
50:00certain types of information manage
50:02certain
50:03types of information and we cannot find
50:06evidence in your written tests
50:08this would not support our
50:10recommendation of you
50:11as a potential person to do the job well
50:14okay uh we are
50:17getting close to the end of the um
50:21webinar but i would like to see if we
50:24have questions that we could
50:26ask uh check from you in the
50:30um after the webinar i have a question
50:33here from andre
50:35um the question goes like
50:38let me see here i think i actually made
50:42sorry are we actually okay if i make for
50:45a written test you work mostly
50:46hypothetical situation
50:48whereas for interview use the past
50:50example
50:51well it's not necessarily the best
50:53summary for it
50:54it's not just a hypothetical for
50:57a written test i'm saying that in the
51:01written test
51:01we want to hear how you can show us that
51:04you have technical knowledge
51:06would the questions be the same they
51:08could be but we want to see
51:10pieces of evidence that go beyond just
51:12the interview
51:13on the interview we would certainly more
51:16likely rely
51:17on past experiences to get information
51:20from you
51:21i don't want to generalize it but it's
51:24in the right direction
51:26another question that we have is um
51:30examples from monitoring officer
51:32position well this
51:34these examples may come differently
51:36depending on the type of location that
51:38you may be
51:40uh but they could be related to the
51:41competencies as well if you really think
51:43about
51:44for example the types of competencies
51:46that you may have to exercise
51:49as a monitor how what kind of technical
51:51knowledge may you need
51:53or if not technical knowledge how can
51:55you actually
51:57uh break down the job
52:00description into let's say operational
52:03bits
52:04how do you operationalize it and how do
52:06you use your knowledge
52:08to actually conduct the operations per
52:11se
52:11so you need to be very attentive to
52:13what's expected of you
52:14and the type of knowledge that you need
52:16to know maybe the type of knowledge
52:18that may be needed will be some sort of
52:20understanding about the
52:21uh political economic and um
52:25situation of the region this could be a
52:28potential technical question that could
52:29come
52:30about your understanding of why the
52:32reasons that the monitoring officers are
52:34there
52:35okay let's see another question here
52:40um
52:41[Music]
52:43okay let me see here how are the answers
52:45to these questions evaluated
52:47is there a model to answer which the
52:49recruits compare them to a good question
52:51is always a key that's answered
52:54by the hiring manager or a subject
52:57matter expert in advance
53:00so all the interview board members who
53:02are raiders
53:03would actually use this key to base
53:06their
53:07grading on meaning that they're not just
53:10loosey-goosey they're not just guessing
53:13how
53:14what a uh uh let's say a
53:17answer would differ from a b answer and
53:21c answer and so so they have some
53:23guidelines to follow obviously it can be
53:25somewhat flexible based on the
53:27understanding of the individuals of the
53:29issues and the understanding of the
53:31individuals of the job description
53:33however there is always an agreement as
53:35to what's considered important in
53:36advance
53:39let's go to two more questions and then
53:41we'll finish
53:49okay uh you mostly tell about written
53:52tests for middle
53:53and senior positions what about entry
53:54entry-level positions there are written
53:56tests for all types of positions at the
53:58osce
53:59and they would be adjusted to the type
54:02of knowledge
54:03and technical expertise that you need
54:05for their position if you for example
54:07apply to be
54:08a associate or an assistant recruitment
54:11uh recruitment assistant uh tele
54:14acquisition assistant
54:15you would be asked about questions that
54:17are related to your knowledge
54:19about recruitment or talent acquisition
54:22or sourcing
54:23and we would expect you to provide the
54:24knowledge that will be related
54:26to the level of the position you're
54:28applying for
54:29okay and the last question is how
54:32important is english competency
54:34in computer literacy for the written
54:36tests that's very important however we
54:38are very familiar with the fact that
54:40most people work at the usc and all
54:42international organizations
54:44are not english native speakers and they
54:47shouldn't be
54:48so we do understand that people are able
54:50to make some types of mistakes
54:53that come from them not being natives
54:55but you also need to be mindful that
54:57it needs to meet a level of
54:59professionalism and a level of
55:01intelligibility and understanding that
55:03is expected
55:05of international civil servants and the
55:08computer literacy
55:09is important ending as well on the type
55:12of position that you are taking
55:14okay um we are going to be ending right
55:17now with
55:19telling us a little more about the
55:20activities that we have
55:22available on our page okay so first of
55:26all gustavo thank you for conducting
55:28this
55:28webinar and thanks everyone for staying
55:30till then with us
55:31if you did we encourage you to stay
55:35closer to the oce by visiting
55:38jobs.oce.org where you may find
55:42not only the open vacancy notices
55:45but also recordings of the webinar
55:47outreach program
55:48subscribe for the oc talent acquisition
55:51newsletter
55:52find useful information about our
55:55recruitment processes
55:56and visit our new women at the ooce page
56:01oc recruiters periodically share
56:04relevant
56:04articles news application tips
56:07and information on upcoming
56:09opportunities at the oc
56:14very good yeah thank you very much for
56:16attending this was the arrows of the
56:18first webinar
56:19so thank you very much for doing that
56:21and i'll certainly invite you for more
56:23but i'd like to we've already covered
56:25the questions today so i just want to
56:27end
56:27with saying we do have a telling
56:29acquisition newsletter every month
56:32and uh you can subscribe by going to
56:35jobs.osc.org
56:36and you can get information on how to
56:38prepare and the
56:39talent acquisition this month focuses on
56:42written assessments
56:43and it has two videos and a few articles
56:45that are relevant to that
56:47so for those of you who's been following
56:49us since the beginning we appreciate it
56:52and please visit jobs.osc.org
56:55for more and have a great rest of day
57:05bye

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