the UN is a place to build empires. People focus too much on the politics. I also realized that General Service also like working for overtime! Its not a place to work for people who want to add value to this world. I remember talking to a P3 back in 2009 when I joined that place. He was from Sri Lanka or something. He had been incharge of HP data centres somewhere in asia and when he came alikuwa analaza damu tu! there was regret in his voice.

its insulting to actually take up a GS position jobo. your title will always be "XYZ Assistant" haijalishi kama uko na PHD mbili! the term "officer" is for P2 and above! P.S going by requirements you really don't need a degree to be a GS (unless it has changed these days).

secondly, While a P2 requires a first degree and 2 years experience - you will never get it if just have those two. People go over the moon when it works out for them.

UN Professionals bwana! the guys who drive red plate vehicles.

maybe those are from other 'international NGOs'

Allow me to share the little I know of UN jobs:

1. As a Kenyan, you stand very little chance of ever being hired as P for Nairobi office unless you hold another passport. This means you will be hired as an International staff member and not locally recruited staff. However, if you have many years of experience with proper professional qualifications, luck and network- you stand a chance to be recruited at NOA/B/C level. The average salary for NOB/C is about 400k depending on entry step. Very few N category vacancies do exist. The other category which nobody seems to like is the famous General services. While it’s not as appealing as most people would like it to be, it has been a stepping stone to most Kenyans working out there as International Civil servants. It calls for patience and career/life ambitions. My understanding is that most guys who are stuck in G category for decades lack ambition, do not have proper qualifications, are poor at fitting in a global diverse team with different cultures or are just poor at networking. As a Kenyan working in Kenya- you are not entitled many allowances such as fees at ISK, Global medical cover, post adjustments etc. You are also not entitled to the red plates you see on the road (I know many guys who got the red plates while on mission to Somalia/Sudan but have declined to surrender the plates on completion of their tours of duty)

2. UN International staff members are hired as either P (Professional) or FS (Field Service). Ideally staffs that are posted to main UN offices such Nairobi, Addis, New York, Vienna, and Geneva are of P category. A decade ago, FS was meant for field services- read UN missions in places such as Congo, Abyei, Sudan, South Sudan, Iraq, Afghan etc. They are the troops for the missions; they literally run the administrative aspects of the missions and most are technical people hired as Logisticians, IT technicians, Generator Technicians etc. However, this is not the trend anymore as P level staffs have been hired for most missions in Middle to senior Management positions. I would estimate the ratio of P to FS as 30-70! For those working in the field missions, the salary difference between FS and P is very minimal. In addition, the salary scale is the same globally; the only difference being allowances which depend on your duty station. The messier it is (read Iraq, Somalia, Afghan, some parts of Sudan) the better the allowances. The entry qualification for FS is Diploma while for P is either Bachelors’ degree and Masters depending on entry grade (P2, 3,4,5 etc).