How to get started with inspira - UN Careers

1. Register as an external applicant 

Please note that: 

How to get started with inspira 

4 August 2012 

� UN Secretariat staff members with a regular appointment, including field staff members, should not 

register: to find out your internal user account access codes, please refer to chapter 1.2.1 of the 

Instructional Manual for the Applicant. 

� UN Volunteers, temporary staff members, associate experts, consultants, individual contractors, 

military/police personnel and interns are invited to register as external applicants using the steps 

below. 

� If you have already registered but do not remember your User ID or your password, click on the 

“Forgot your password?” link located on the login page and follow the instructions on the screen. 

Make sure your spam filter allows emails sent from the un.org domain. If the email address 

provided during registration is incorrect, you will need to register again. 

� For Galaxy users, please note that you cannot use your Galaxy access codes to log into inspira. 

1.1. On the UN Careers website homepage (https://careers.un.org) click on “Login” or go directly to 

https://inspira.un.org 

1.2. Click on “Register now”. 

1.3. Fill out the registration form make sure your date of birth is correct and follows the format 

dd/mm/yyyy. 

Note: After clicking on “Register now”, you can get more details about the registration process 

by clicking on the icon in the upper right corner of the window. 

1.4. Click on “Register”. 

2. Update your profile 

To update your profile, please follow the steps below: 

2.1. Log into inspira (https://inspira.un.org). 

2.2. On the homepage, click on the “My Profile” link (next to the “Create Draft Application” button). 

2.3. Fill out the three sections namely, 

� Personal Details 

� Family Details 

� Nationality & Residence 

2.4. Click on “Save” � A warning message will appear if all required items have not been filled in. 

A warning “The applicant is already registered in the system” will also appear if the primary 

email address indicated in your profile is already assigned to another inspira account registered 

under the same name. When all required fields of your profile have been completed, the status 

of your profile becomes “100% Complete”. 

3. Create your first application 

To create your first application, please follow the steps below: 


3.2. On the homepage, click on the “Create Draft Application” button (in the “My Career Tools” box). 

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3.3. In the “Apply Now” section, after reading the guidelines, click on the “Confirm” radio button. 

3.4. Select the “Build New Application” option to start your application. 

3.5. Click on “Continue”. 

The online application is divided into 6 tabs (+ 1 preview tab): 

� Screening questions (populated only when you apply to a given job) 

� Preferences 

� Education & Work Experience 

� Skills 

� References 

� Cover Letter & Additional Information 

3.6. Click on each tab to enter all the relevant information. 

It is recommended that you read all the provided comments and click on “Save” regularly, 

including after completing all the mandatory fields (marked with *) within a section. Keep in 

mind that inspira times out every 60 minutes, which means you could lose any data you entered 

since the last time you clicked on “Save”. 

3.7. In order to save all your entries, click the “Save” button in the “Complete Application” page and 

make sure the text “You have successfully saved your job application” appears at the top of 

the page � if it does not, review the warning message since it may point to missing information 

(incomplete items) in your application or in your profile. 

Note: If the warning is related to an invalid value in a field followed by a lookup icon , clear 

this field and then click on the lookup icon to pick one of the available entries. Such fields are 

indeed based on predefined lists. You can also leave such a field blank if it is not marked as 

required. 

3.8. Click on the “Close” button to return to the “Careers Home” page: your new draft application is 

now listed under the “My Applications” group box. From this page you have access to: 

� The “Creation Date” which indicates the date the application was created; 

� The “Application Date” which indicates the date you submitted your application; 

� The “View/Print PHP*” button to access the PDF version of your application; 

*The PHP or Personal History Profile is the PDF file resulting from the combination of your 

“profile” and one of your “applications”. 

� The status of each application (e.g. Draft, Applied, Under Consideration, etc.) 

� Only Draft applications can be updated. 

Note: At this stage you have not applied to any job opening yet. However, by preparing your 

application early and regularly updating it, you will be able to apply in just minutes the day you find a 

suitable job opening. 

4. Search and apply for a job 

Note: The United Nations Secretariat is transitioning to a new online recruitment system (inspira). During the 

transition period, both Galaxy (job openings in field missions) and inspira (all other job openings) run in parallel. For 

a full list of current job openings, please check the UN Careers website. When clicking on a job opening posted 

on the UN Careers website, you are automatically directed to the appropriate system. 

To search and apply for a job in inspira, please follow the steps below: 


4.2. On the home page, in the “Basic Job Search” group box, click on the link “Advanced Search”. 

4.3. Enter your search criteria and then click on the “Search” button. 

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4.4. Click on the relevant search result, read its full description and click on “Apply Now” if you wish 

to apply. 

4.5. In the “Apply Now” section, after reading the guidelines, click on the “Confirm” radio button. 

4.6. Select one of the following 2 options to start your new application: 

a) “Choose Existing Application” option � use this option to inherit data from any of your 

existing application. By default the “Source Application Information” table will display the 

last application created but you can pick a different one by clicking on the lookup icon . 

b) “Build New Application” option � use this option to create your application from scratch 

(this is your only option if you have not created an application through inspira yet). 

4.7. Click on “Continue”. 

4.8. Check/update one by one all the tabs in your new application. Pay special attention to the 

“Screening questions” tab, the “Skills” tab and the “Cover Letter & Additional Information” tab. 

Keep in mind that inspira times out every 60 minutes, which means you could lose any data you 

entered since the last time you clicked on “Save”. 

4.9. In order to save all your entries, click regularly the “Save” button in the “Complete Application” 

page and make sure the text “You have successfully saved your job application” appears at 

the top of the page: if it does not, review the warning message since it may point at missing 

information (incomplete items) in your application or in your profile. 

Note: If the warning is related to an invalid value in a field followed by a lookup icon , clear 

this field and then click on the lookup icon to pick one of the available entries. Such fields are 

indeed based on predefined lists. You can also leave such a field blank if it is not marked as 

required. 

4.10. When you believe your application is ready to be submitted, click on the “Preview & Submit” tab 

and review all sections. Keep in mind that once your application has been submitted, you 

cannot update it anymore. 

4.11. Click on the “Submit” button only when your application does not need any additional update 

and after saving your last changes. Immediately after submitting your application, its status on 

the “Careers Home” page should be “Applied”. 

Important note: 

� You can submit only one application per job opening (and you cannot update it after 

submission). 

� Withdrawing your application will not allow you to submit a new application for the same job 

opening; therefore do not withdraw an application unless you are no longer interested in this 

job opening. 

� It is recommended to apply well in advance before the application deadline. 

� For more details and guidance on how to apply for a job in inspira, please refer to the Instructional 

Manual for the Applicant accessible from https://careers.un.org or by clicking on the “Manuals” link in 

inspira. 

5. Activate Job alerts [optional] 


5.2. On the home page, in the “Basic Job Search” group box, click on the link “Advanced Search” 

(alternative path � Main Menu > Careers > Job Search). 

5.3. Enter your search criteria. 

5.4. Click on the “Save Search” button. 

5.5. Name your search. 

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5.6. Tick the checkbox [x] Use as Job Alert 

5.7. Type an email address in the “Send Job Alerts notification to” field (it may be any email address 

you like). 

5.8. Click on the “Save Search” button. 

Please note that: 

� Saved searches stay valid for 365 days only; 

� Maximum number of active saved searches is 5; 

� Job alerts configured in inspira do not include job openings posted in Galaxy 

(http://jobs.un.org). 

6. FAQ 

6.1. I have just submitted my application but I have not received any email confirmation: 

how do I know if my application has been received? 

All you need to do is check the status of your application on the “Careers Home” page (or from the 

“My Latest Applications” group box on the inspira home page). 

All your applications along with the ID numbers of the job openings you applied to are listed under the 

“My Applications” group box on your “Careers Home” page. If the status of your application is 

“Applied” or “Under Consideration”, then your application has been received. 

You may also want to check that the email address listed in your profile is correct and that your spam 

filter is configured to allow emails sent from the un.org domain. 

6.2. Nothing happens when I click on the “View/Print PHP” link, what can I do? 

To use this feature, make sure you can tick all the items in the below check list: 

A PDF reader is installed 

Internet browser configured so that pop-up blocker is turned off when browsing the un.org domain 

For users of Internet Explorer, go to “Tools” > “Internet Options”. 

In the “Security” tab, click on “Custom Level”. Scroll down and select for the option 

“Downloads” > “Automatic prompting for file downloads”. 

Click on “OK” to confirm. 

6.3. The system logs me out immediately after I authenticate, am I doing something wrong? 

You need to configure your browser so that the un.org domain is always allowed to use cookies. 

For Internet Explorer users, 

� Go to “Tools” > “Internet Options” 

� In the “Privacy” tab, click on “Sites” 

� In the “Address of website” field, enter un.org and then click on “Allow” 

� Click on “OK” to confirm 

Note: The session times out automatically once per hour so make sure you click on “Save” regularly. 

It is also recommended that you prepare offline your cover letter, list of duties and list of achievements 

for each employment record so that you can copy-and-paste into your inspira application. 

6.4. I am unable to attach any file on the last page of my application, can you help? 

To be able to upload files, make sure you can tick all the items in the below check list: 

File size is less than 1 Mb (if your file is larger, please scan it in a lower resolution) 

File name is short and without any special characters (for instance, Initials_Bachelor-degree.pdf) 

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6.5. Can I withdraw an application in inspira? 

Yes, you can withdraw an application but please note that it does not allow you to submit a new 

application for the same job opening. 

6.6. Can I update an application already submitted? 

No, as indicated in the Terms and Agreements, no changes can be made after the application has 

been submitted. 

6.7. I cannot find the name of my university when adding my education details, what should I do? 

For post-secondary education, a database of degrees from 16,000 university-level institutions 

compiled by UNESCO and the International Association of Universities (IAU) is used to streamline the 

validation of degrees through inspira. 

If you cannot find your university or school when adding your education details to your application, 

we recommend that you perform the following steps: 

a) Click on the look-up icon at the end of the “Name of Institution” field. 

b) Click on the “Advanced Lookup” link. 

c) Select “contains” in the “Long Description” dropdown menu and then enter part of the name of 

your institution (for example Chicago if you are looking for University of Chicago). 

d) If no result is found, search for “Other Institution”. Note: If you select “Other Institution”, a new text 

field “Please enter name of institution” field is automatically added allowing you to be more 

specific. 

Note: The fact that your degree may not be part of the UNESCO's and IAU’s database will not 

prejudice your application. Indeed under such circumstances, HR practitioners will conduct further 

checks during the background verification stage. 

7. Need Help? 

For technical support in relation to inspira or the UN Careers website, simply click on the “Contact us” 

link available on the UN Careers website and inspira (https://inspira.un.org) to reach the Inspira 

Support Centre. Upon submission, your request will automatically be assigned a reference number for 

easy reference & tracking (your popup blocker should be turned off). 

To better assist you, make sure your request always includes: 

a) Your full name and User ID (do not disclose your password); 

b) The ID number of the job opening you are trying to apply to (please do not attach your CV); 

c) In the event that you are reporting a technical problem, the steps leading to this problem + 

one or more screenshots of the error/warning message and of the page on which it appeared. 

Note: The Inspira Support Centre provides technical support only. It does not process applications 

and therefore can neither consider CV nor provide updates on application status. Thank you for your 

understanding. 

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How to get started with inspira - UN Careers

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