1. A competitive examination for the recruitment of Spanish Interpreters will be held on 9 and 10 January 2002 in New York, Geneva, Madrid, Santiago and other locations according to the number and location of qualified candidates invited to take the examination and the availability of necessary technical equipment.

2. The purpose of this examination is to establish a roster from which present and future vacancies for Spanish Interpreters will be filled. In view of the current special needs of the Organization, only candidates who have a perfect command of Spanish and an excellent knowledge of English and French will be considered.

3. Spanish Interpreters recruited under this examination will be required to interpret into Spanish from English and French. They will interpret speeches relating to the many aspects of United Nations activities. Debates normally cover political, economic, social, legal, scientific or technical matters. In order to service meetings of the Security Council or the General Assembly, interpreters are often called upon to work outside normal working hours, including weekends and holidays.

4. Candidates who are successful in this examination and are selected for inclusion in the roster will be appointed to fill vacancies for Spanish interpreter posts as they occur in New York, Geneva, Vienna and Nairobi. Assignments are subject to rotation and interpreters may thereafter be called upon to serve at other duty stations according to the needs of the Organization. Interpreters are expected to serve a MINIMUM OF FIVE YEARS in a language post.

5. The examination is open to staff members of the United Nations Secretariat 1/ who meet the eligibility and qualification requirements and to qualified external applicants. 2/

6. Applicants must have completed their military service or have been exempted therefrom or have otherwise fulfilled their legal obligations in the matter.

7. Applicants outside the Secretariat applying for the examination must:

(a) Have Spanish as their main language; 3/

(b) Have a perfect command of Spanish and an excellent knowledge of English and French. The Board of Examiners, appointed by the Assistant Secretary-General for Human Resources Management, requires that candidates be able to support their claims to knowledge of languages. For this purpose, candidates are required either to attach to their application photocopies of diplomas or certificates from language schools or to explain in paragraph 31 of the Personal History Form (P.11), how they acquired their knowledge of the languages claimed. Applicants are advised to submit photocopies of any documentation, not originals;

(c) Hold a degree or an equivalent qualification from a university or institution of equivalent status where Spanish is the language of instruction, and have 200 days of experience as conference interpreters or 200 days of work experience in the field of translation, editing, verbatim reporting or related fields. Alternatively, candidates must hold a university degree from a recognized school of interpretation;

(d) Candidates claiming 200 days of experience as conference interpreters must provide proof of conference simultaneous interpretation (copies of contracts, etc.).

8. All applications will be reviewed by the Board of Examiners. All candidates will be notified in writing of the Board's decision. THE BOARD'S DECISIONS ARE FINAL.

9. The examination will consist of two parts:

I. Simultaneous interpretation into Spanish from recordings of three speeches delivered in English (approximately 5 to 10 minutes per recording);

II. Simultaneous interpretation into Spanish from recordings of three speeches delivered in French (approximately 5 to 10 minutes per recording).

10. On the basis of the results of this examination, the Board of Examiners will invite selected candidates for an interview that is projected to take place in the second half of February 2002. The Board will interview each selected candidate to assess general culture, professional experience, knowledge of the United Nations and current international issues, willingness to serve at any duty station, adaptability to the working conditions prevailing in the United Nations Secretariat, and, in particular, ability to work as a member of a team. Candidates are therefore encouraged to acquire some knowledge of the United Nations before the interview. Candidates are reminded that the interview is an integral part of the examination. Therefore, candidates who are invited for an interview should NOT assume that they will be offered an appointment.

11. Travel expenses to and from the place of the interview but NOT to and from the place of the examination will be reimbursed by the United Nations.

12. On the basis of the overall results of the examination, the Board will recommend to the Assistant Secretary-General for Human Resources Management the names of candidates who qualify for inclusion in the roster. All candidates admitted to the examination will be informed in writing of the Board's final recommendations in respect of their candidature. The Board's recommendations are NOT subject to appeal. The Board DOES NOT release individual scores/results.

13. Successful candidates selected from the roster to fill vacancies are normally offered an initial two-year fixed-term appointment at the P-2 level. This level comprises of 12 steps, each corresponding to an annual increment awarded if performance is satisfactory. Upon satisfactory completion of this trial period, their appointment will be extended and they may be promoted to the P-3 level, which comprises of 15 steps. The fixed-term appointments of interpreters whose performance proves unsatisfactory will not be extended. Fully qualified interpreters with several years of internationally recognized professional interpreting experience and demonstrated ability to perform high-quality simultaneous interpretation of moderately difficult speeches may be recruited at the journeyman level (P-3).

14. The base salary is subject to United Nations staff assessment, which operates like an income tax. The whole amount of the assessment is withheld at the source and salaries received are therefore net figures. In the event that a staff member's salary is subject to national income taxation as well as to staff assessment, the United Nations will, within certain limits, refund the amount of such income tax payable in respect of the United Nations salary. Staff members also receive a non-pensionable post adjustment varying with the cost of living at the duty station. A staff member with no dependants at the P-2 level, step 1, in New York, at present receives $US 15,941.93 net per year as post adjustment. The table below shows the annual salaries, exclusive of post adjustment, for the P-2 and P-3 levels:

(In United States dollars)

	Annual		P- 2						P-3
	salary		From		To				From		To
	Net D		41,253		53,143				49,756		66,675
	Net S		38,694		49,561				46,445		61,985

D = Applicable to staff members with a dependent spouse or child.

S = Applicable to staff members with no dependent spouse or child.

15. In addition, staff members are entitled to the following benefits:

(a) Dependency benefits: at present $US 1,936.00 per year for each eligible child;

(b) Participation in the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund;

(c) Rental subsidy, if applicable;

16. Staff members who are assigned to a duty station which is not in their home country are entitled to:

(a) Education grant up to $US 17,584.00 per scholastic year for each eligible dependent child;

(b) Home leave to their country of nationality every two years, with the travel expenses of the staff member and his or her spouse and eligible dependent children paid by the United Nations, the first home leave being granted only if the staff member's service is expected to continue at least six months beyond the second anniversary of the initial appointment;

(c) Assignment grant at the time of recruitment and repatriation grant upon separation, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Staff Rules and Regulations;

(d) Removal of household effects, depending on the duty station.

17. Candidates who are not living in Europe should obtain the application form for admission to the examination (personal history form, P.11) from the following address

Specialist Services Division

2002 Competitive Examination for Spanish Interpreters

Office of Human Resources Management
Room S-2575 E
United Nations Secretariat
New York, N.Y. 10017
Fax: (1-212) 963-3683

Copies of this notice and application form (P.11) are also available electronically from the following website:

http://www.un.org/Depts/OHRM/examin/exam.htm

18. Candidates not living in Europe should submit their application forms no later than 16 November 2001 to the following address:

c/o Receiving Unit, 3-B-20

(2002 Competitive Examination for Spanish Interpreters)

Examinations and Tests Section
Specialist Services Division
Office of Human Resources Management
Room S-2575-E
United Nations Secretariat
New York, NY 10017
Fax: (1-212) 963 3683

e-mail:

19. Candidates living in Europe should obtain the application form for admission to the examination (personal history form, P.11) from the following address and return the completed form to the same address no later than 16 November 2001.

2002 Competitive Examination for Spanish Interpreters

Secretariat Recruitment Section
Training and Examinations Section
Villa le Bocage No. 4
United Nations Office at Geneva
CH-1211 Geneva 10
Switzerland
Fax: (41-22) 907-0006

20. Candidates who do not submit a fully completed and signed application form will not have their application reviewed and consequently will be eliminated from the examination process. Applications that are received after the above deadline will not be considered. All applications must be sent by mail, e-mail or faxed.

Notes

1/ Staff members from subsidiary organs of the United Nations as well as staff members whose service is limited to the United Nations Environment Programme, the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements or special missions are considered outside candidates for the purpose of this examination. Such candidates, if successful, will be offered a new appointment with the United nations subject to normal United Nations recruitment procedures and standards.

2/ According to the United Nations Staff Rules, candidates bearing a close relationship (father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister) to currently employed United Nations staff members shall not be offered an appointment with the United Nations Secretariat. Consequently, applications from such candidates for this examination will not be considered.

3/ Main language is to be understood as the language into which the candidate is best able to interpret.