u/sapajou31

I’ve been applying for months to quite niche EU roles and have not been invited to the CAST testing stage.

I’m starting to wonder how much the initial screening is based on keyword matching versus actual profile quality.

For example for the “project management" call , duties are listed such as stakeholder coordination”, “policy implementation”, etc.
Is it important to explicitly reuse those exact terms in the application/CV/motivation?

Or are HR mainly looking at overall experience and seniority?

Curious to hear from people who successfully got invited: what materially improved your invitation rate?

I’ve been at the Bank ~2.5 years, currently IU international STC (B3). I hold a PhD, highly technical, niche profile. I’ve been involved exclusively on large regional operations, missions, and global fora.

Despite strong delivery, I have very limited visibility on ETC/staff conversion. I’ve done a lot of networking, but nothing concrete. Applied to about 20 internal roles, not even shortlisted once. I’ve also mostly worked with TTLs who were non-committal on longer-term opportunities and transactional.

Honestly, I’m also starting to wonder whether conversions tend to favor men more than female consultants, even when women are highly technical and filling niche roles.

Does this sound common? Any final advice/actions I should consider before deciding to leave the boat?

Would really value a candid view.

I am considering a mid/senior-level UNDP international consultancy while based in Belgium.

I’m trying to understand a few things before moving forward:

1. Are UNDP consultants usually tax-exempt, similar to other UN agencies, in Belgium?
2. What daily rate should I be looking at for a mid/senior-level international consultancy?
3. Can I choose to be paid in EUR instead of USD?
4. What is the work culture like at UNDP?
5. How strong are the teams technically?

Any direct experience with UNDP consultancies and Belgium-based tax treatment would be really helpful. Thanks a lot!