A young professionals programme is a competitive entry route that brings early-career graduates into an international organisation at a junior professional level. The UN’s young professionals programme (YPP) is a yearly exam for nationals of the countries taking part that year, aged 32 or under, and leads to posts at P-1 or P-2. The World Bank Group’s programme has no age limit, and asks for a graduate degree and two to six years of experience instead.
Some programmes are exams with an age limit and a list of eligible countries, and others are recruitments that count years of experience and ignore age. This post sets out the rules of each programme whose pages we could read, so you can see which ones you qualify for before you spend weeks on one.
How do the young professionals programmes compare?
| Programme | Who may apply | Age | Degree and experience | Length and what follows |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UN YPP | Nationals of a Member State taking part in that year’s exam | Not more than 32 on 31 December of the exam year | A first-level university degree of at least three years, accepted for the job family | Placement at P-1 or P-2, a two-year fixed-term appointment, then a continuing appointment subject to performance |
| World Bank Group YPP | Nationals of a member country, per the group’s careers FAQ | No age requirement | A graduate degree and two to six years of professional experience | A two-year programme at GF level, then a role for a further five years based on performance |
| EIB Graduate Programme | Nationals of EU Member States, the bank’s general rule | Not stated | A university degree and less than two years of work since your most recent graduation | Usually one to two years, extendable up to four |
| EBRD International Professionals Programme | Nationals of a shareholder country | Not stated | A recent degree and six to twelve months of working, travelling or volunteering | 24 months, with rotations that include a resident office |
| AIIB Graduate Program | People inside and outside its member countries | Not stated | A master’s with one to two years of relevant work, or a bachelor’s with two to three | Two years, rotational, as full-time staff in Beijing |
How does the UN YPP exam work?
The UN Secretariat runs the YPP under an administrative instruction, ST/AI/2012/2/Rev.1, which the UN Policy Portal lists as current. It says the examinations for recruitment at P-1 and P-2 are held every year in particular job families, according to the Organization’s needs, and are announced in advance on the UN Careers portal.
To sit the exam as an external applicant, you must:
- Be a national of one of the Member States taking part in the exam that year.
- Be not more than 32 years old on 31 December of the year of the exam.
- Be proficient in English or French.
- Hold a first-level university degree of at least three years, recognised by the UN and accepted for your job family. An associate degree does not count.
The parent, child or sibling of a Secretariat staff member cannot take part.
You may apply in one job family only. Applying in more than one disqualifies you in all of them. If more applicants of one nationality are eligible in a job family than the exam can take, the Office of Human Resources considers those whose qualifications exceed the minimum, and its decision is final. Late or incomplete applications are not considered under any circumstances.
What are the two parts of the exam?
The exam has two parts:
- A written exam, taken on the same day at exam centres around the world. A general paper tests drafting and other competencies such as general knowledge of international affairs, and a specialised paper tests the substance of your job family. Only those who pass the first paper marked have the second one marked. The general paper is taken in English or French, and the specialised paper in any of the six UN official languages.
- An oral exam, an interview in English or French, with questions on the UN’s core values and the competencies the job family needs.
Candidates are marked by number, not by name, and sample papers are on the Careers portal.
What happens after you pass the UN YPP?
Your name goes on a list valid for three years. Placement is run centrally four times a year, at P-1 or P-2 depending on your qualifications and the posts available. You state an order of preference, but you agree to accept any position offered for your first assignment, at any Secretariat duty station worldwide, and you report for duty within 90 days of accepting the offer.
An external candidate receives a two-year fixed-term appointment, followed by a continuing appointment subject to satisfactory performance. Those placed at P-1 move to P-2 after at least two years of satisfactory work.
How does the World Bank Group YPP work?
The World Bank Group calls its programme its flagship leadership development initiative. Candidates apply in one of two tracks, operations or specialised functions, and choose one primary stream with up to two alternatives. The programme lasts two years, with three mandatory rotations of eight months each, at least one of them in a country office, and all young professionals start at headquarters in Washington, DC.
The conditions:
- A graduate degree or higher in a relevant field, completed before the September start.
- At least two and no more than six years of full-time professional experience on 1 September of the application year, counted from your earliest full-time job after your first degree. Full-time doctoral research in a relevant field may count.
- Excellent spoken and written English.
- You cannot be a current employee of the group, or hold an active contract with it as an independent contractor.
You may submit only one application, and a second one disqualifies you. The application includes two written statements of up to 400 words each. The stages are an eligibility and application review, an asynchronous video interview, a stream-specific assessment with a virtual job try-out, then a panel interview and assessment centre, and a final decision. The programme’s page says the top 10% of the reviewed applicants go on to the next stage.
For the 2026 round, the portal opened on 1 September 2026 with a deadline of 30 September 2026 at 11:59 p.m. UTC, with interviews and assessments in December and January, and the cohort starting in Washington in September 2027. The group does not defer a start date, and says salary and benefits are set by its own criteria and not negotiated individually.
A worked example of age and experience rules
The two big programmes count different things, so check both against your own dates.
The UN YPP counts age on 31 December. A candidate born on 1 June 1994 is 32 on 31 December 2026 and can sit a 2026 exam. A candidate born on 1 June 1993 is 33 on that date and cannot, even if they apply while still 32.
The World Bank Group counts experience on 1 September. A candidate who finished a bachelor’s degree in June 2020 and started full-time work in September 2020 has six years on 1 September 2026, the upper limit, and qualifies. A candidate who started full-time work in July 2020 has more than six years on that date and does not, however strong the profile.
Which other entry programmes exist?
The other banks whose pages we read run smaller programmes:
- The European Investment Bank places graduates in a junior role in one business area, and pays them the minimum of the salary band for grade 3. For 2026 that minimum is EUR 56,125.17/year gross.
- The EBRD runs a 24-month programme for graduates, with an online application and CV, online assessments, a video interview and an assessment centre. Its page asks for an eagerness to work in any of its countries of operation. When we read it, it listed no open positions.
- The AIIB takes applications for its graduate programme from December to February, with a start on 1 September. Its official pages give different counts of the programme’s streams, so read the current call.
The Inter-American Development Bank’s site describes paid internships for students, and we found no current young professionals programme page there. The Asian Development Bank’s and the African Development Bank’s sites turned our requests away, so their programmes are not described. For the banks’ general hiring rules, see development bank jobs. If you are still a student, UN internships are the earlier route.
Questions people ask
Is there an age limit for young professionals programmes?
The UN YPP has one: not more than 32 on 31 December of the exam year. The World Bank Group says its programme has no age requirement, and the EIB, EBRD and AIIB pages we read state none.
Can I sit the UN YPP if my country is not on the list?
Not that year. The instruction requires you to be a national of a Member State taking part in that year’s exam, and the arrangements are announced on the UN Careers portal. Check the list again in later years.
Can I apply in more than one field?
At the UN, no: you apply in one job family, and applying in more disqualifies you in all of them. The World Bank Group takes one application, with one primary stream and up to two alternatives.
How long does the UN YPP list last?
Three years from the start of the first quarterly placement after the exam cycle ends. To try again after that, you apply as a new candidate.
What we know and what we do not
The rules above come from the UN’s administrative instruction and the banks’ own pages, read when this post was written. The UN Careers pages for the YPP need JavaScript, so this year’s list of participating countries was not read. Each programme’s current call has the final word.
Zorlya does not run these programmes or apply for you. When a role is in your feed, Zorlya scores it against your resume, names its source and links to the original posting. How to read a job posting helps with any call’s eligibility section, and one resume for many countries with the CV the banks ask for.