The World Bank Young Professionals Program (YPP) 2019

The World Bank Group (WBG) welcomes all qualified individuals with diverse professional, academic, and cultural backgrounds. Specifically, women and persons with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply.

The YPP is a unique opportunity for young professionals who have both a passion for international development and the leadership potential to grow in fascinating top technical and managerial roles in the WBG. The program is designed for highly qualified and motivated individuals skilled in areas relevant to WBG technical/operations such as economics, finance, education, public health, social sciences, engineering, urban planning, agriculture, natural resources to name a few.

To be competitive, candidates need to demonstrate a commitment to development, proven academic success, professional achievement, and leadership capability.

Over the years, the YPP has hired over 1,800 people for positions ranging from entry-level to vice presidents and managing directors.

Every year, around 45 to 50 applicants are accepted into the program. Young Professionals are offered a five-year renewable term contract, spend 24 months in a structured development program, and enjoy a variety of benefits and opportunities.

Eligibility

Minimum Requirements

The following are the minimum requirements to be eligible for the Young Professionals Program.

·         Citizenship of a member country of the World Bank Group
·         Be born on or after October 1, 1987
·         A PhD or Master’s degree and relevant work experience
·         Fluency in English
·         Full proficiency in one or more of the WBG’s working languages — Arabic, Chinese, French, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish — is desired, but not required
·         Specialization in a field relevant to the WBG Technical/Operations such as economics, finance, education, public health, social sciences, engineering, urban planning, agriculture, natural resources, and others
·         At least three years of relevant professional experience related to development or continued academic study at the doctoral level

Additional Qualifications

To be competitive for the limited number of positions, a combination of the following credentials is highly desirable:

·         Display a commitment and passion for international development
·         Possess outstanding academic credentials
·         Exhibit excellent client engagement and team leadership skills
·         Have international development country experience

Program Features

Professional Experience

Young Professionals are expected to make significant contributions toward their unit’s work program while they gain a broad overview of the WBG’s policies and work. As part of their two-year program and in line with their units’ business needs and Young Professionals’ interests, they will undertake a business driven rotational “stretch/exposure” assignment where they will gain valuable on-the-job experience.

Field Work

Young Professionals in the Operations stream are likely to join colleagues on field business trips, also called ‘missions,’ in developing countries. These missions allow Young Professionals to experience firsthand the challenges of global development, understand key aspects of our work, and meet WBG’s clients.

Training

A comprehensive development curriculum has been designed to ensure that YPs develop a WBG mindset, gain the foundational learning needed to understand and contribute to the WBG, and build the competencies required for an entry-level position: collaboration, leadership, integrative thinking, and innovation skills, while strengthening a culture of continuous learning.

The curriculum includes a blend of learning activities in a WBG cohort, small groups or individually. These activities range from onboarding activities, e-learning, cohort discussions with WBG leaders and leadership training, to career development conversations and networking opportunities.

Coaching and Mentoring

YP Buddy: Before they join, Young Professionals are assigned a YP buddy from the previous year’s group, based on their professional interests and cultural background. YP buddies help new recruits to better settle in the new organization and location, as well as to understand the expectations and challenges of the program.

Technical Buddy: In their hiring units, an experienced colleague is assigned as a “go-to person” to answer technical questions in their fields.

WBG Mentor: Once they have settled into their jobs, Young Professionals can be paired with a technical senior colleague who can mentor them on topics such as career options, “stretch/exposure” assignment opportunities, and help them gain insight into the organizational culture.

Youth Program Team: The Youth Program Team is dedicated to recruiting and helping integrate Young Professionals into the WBG. The team coordinates activities designed to support YPs, including mentoring and guidance, helps  develop career strategies, and others. The Youth Program Team is a one-stop shop for Young Professionals looking for support and guidance.

Compensation and Benefits

Salary: As an entry-level professional in the WBG, Young Professionals are offered an internationally competitive salary, based on their education and professional experience.

Health, Life, Accident, and Other Insurance Programs: Young Professionals and their families (including declared domestic partners) may choose from three comprehensive medical/dental benefit plans. The WBG also provides basic life and accident insurance to all staff at no cost, and staff can elect optional life and accident insurance plans. The WBG provides disability and workers’ compensation coverage to staff at no cost.

Pension Plan: The WBG sponsors a comprehensive pension plan for eligible staff. Upon separation from the WBG, either a lump sum or a pension will become payable to the staff based on eligibility.

Relocation and Transportation Benefits

These benefits are only applicable to staff who are not residents of the greater Washington-Baltimore metropolitan area at the time of appointment. The World Bank will bear the cost of one-way transportation of staff and immediate dependent family from the staff member’s residence.

A one-time grant is included in the first paycheck to cover the cost of relocation.

Please note:

1.    Staff Members who are not citizens (or in the U.S. lawful permanent residents) and have resided in the Host Duty Station area for 12 months or more immediately preceding acceptance of (a) appointment; (b) reappointment following a break in service are ineligible for Relocation and Transportation Benefits.

 2.    Staff Members who are citizens (or in the U.S., lawful permanent residents) of the Host Duty Station country and have resided in the Host Duty Station country for 12 months or more immediately preceding acceptance of (a) appointment; (b) reappointment following a break in service; are ineligible for Relocation and Transportation Benefits.

Mobility Premium: A financial benefit is provided for a fixed period to cover expenses associated with being an expatriate staff member, based on family size and nationality. This benefit is not available for U.S. citizens and U.S. permanent residents.

Tax Allowance: U.S. staff receive an additional quarterly payment to cover the federal, state, and local income tax liabilities on their World Bank Group income. Expatriates and U.S. permanent residents do not incur U.S. income tax liability and are thus not eligible for this benefit.

Financial Assistance: The World Bank Group offers several financial assistance programs, including a two-year interest-free settling-in loan to those who relocate upon appointment.

Selection Cycle

Timeline
·         June: Application period
·         June–July: 

• Review of applications to ensure that candidates meet the eligibility criteria.
• Update of status to all candidates (candidates moving to the second round and those who are not moving forward)

· August – September: Technical review of second round candidates, which takes a closer look into the application packages and determines which candidates will be selected for interviews

· September-October: Status update to candidates (those invited to interviews and those who are not moving forward). Interviews are scheduled at WBG headquarters in Washington, D.C., USA and our offices in Paris, France and Dakar, Senegal

· October – December YPP interviews

· January: Decisions and offers are communicated

· September: New YP cohort starts

YPP Interviews

Evaluation Criteria

We assess candidates based on three main competencies:

Client Orientation

– Commitment to Clients
– Results Orientation
– Integrity and Ethics

Professional Expertise

– Technical Expertise
– Strategic Perspective
– Problem Analysis

Team Leadership

– Teamwork
– Listening and Communication
– Innovation
– Negotiation

Furthermore, we ensure that candidates are able to work in multiple sectors.

Format of the Interview Day

The interview is a full-day event. Those invited to interviews will be asked to come to the WBG from 8 am-5:30 pm.

The interview consists of:

(1) Interview: a 1-hour interview with a panel of three senior technical experts in the field of expertise of the candidate; and

(2) Assessment Center: either a morning or an afternoon 4-hour group assessment center (AC). The group assessment center is done with five other candidates. It consists of a series of individual and group exercises related to an international development case study that is given to the candidates at the start of the AC

– Look for tips for interviewing at the World Bank Group

– Check this video to learn more about the assessment center from a Young Professional alum

– Get familiar with typical World Bank Group documents and projects

Before You Apply, please ensure that:

·         You meet the minimum requirements for eligibility for the Young Professionals Program and,

·         You have all the information at hand including key dates, an updated Curriculum Vitae (CV), Education Certificates/Transcripts, PhD Dissertation/Master’s Thesis topics (short summary), if applicable, and the Application Essay ready to be uploaded.

Application Essay for the 2020 Selection Process

The international community is racing to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals in less than 12 years, with trillions of dollars needed to deliver on the promise. Overlapping crises, from climate change to pandemics, natural disasters to forced displacement, threaten to erase hard-earned development gains, and historic economic changes, in part from technological advancement and disruption, present risks for countries, but also opportunities if they have made the necessary investments in their people, communities, and economies to take advantage of them.

The world needs partners that can help meet the challenges of today, while making the investments to prepare for the challenges of tomorrow. By offering financing, knowledge, experience, and a long-term commitment to its country clients, the World Bank is a trusted partner for all its members to help transform economies and advance the 2030 sustainable development agenda. With a mission to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity, the World Bank supports its client countries in three priority areas: promoting sustainable, inclusive economic growth; investing more—and more effectively—in people; and building resilience to fragility, shocks, and threats to the global economy.

The Bank applies this three-pronged approach across all sectors of development so that countries make the integrated investments that can best help people lift themselves out of poverty. (Extract from the 2018 WBG Annual Report)

Describe in fewer than 1,000 words your own contribution to the Bank’s mission (if you were to work for the World Bank Group) and the potential role of World Bank in resolving some of the above challenges. You may focus on a region or set of countries as well as your area of expertise to describe your proposal. 

Application Checklist

· Use Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, or Internet Explorer 10 or higher as your browser

·         You will be asked to register for an account and provide an email address. Ensure it is spelled correctly and will be working for the next year or so, since this will be our main channel of communication with you.

·         You must complete your application in a single session and will be able to submit it only if you have uploaded all the required documents and answered all the questions (all questions marked with an asterisk—*—are required). Do not use any special characters in the application (e.g. accents, cedille etc) as it may prevent your application from moving forward.

·         Provide the most current contact information, including your complete phone number (country code + city code + number). The information should be valid for one year. If your contact information changes during the selection process, (including personal address). It is your responsibility to email us the updated information.

·         Please attach the following documents (mandatory):
o CV
o Education certificates/transcripts
o PhD dissertation/Master’s thesis topic (short summary), if applicable
o Application essay

Files should not exceed 5 MB each and should be in the following formats: .doc, .docx, or .pdf

Once you submit your application, you will not be able to make any changes/updates.

Upon successful submission of your application, you will receive an email confirmation along with a YPP ID number.

Applicants will be informed of their status as the process moves along.