United NationsManagerial Competency
Building Trust — UN competency
Providing an environment in which others can talk and act without fear of repercussion, and following through on commitments.
What this competency means
Building trust covers operating with transparency, treating sensitive or confidential information appropriately, delivering on commitments, and managing in a deliberate and predictable way so that colleagues know where they stand.
Based on the UN Competency Framework
Behavioural indicators
- Provides an environment in which others can talk and act without fear of repercussion
- Manages in a deliberate and predictable way
- Operates with transparency; has no hidden agenda
- Places confidence in colleagues, staff members and clients
- Gives proper credit to others
- Follows through on agreed upon actions
- Treats sensitive or confidential information appropriately
Our interpretation for interview preparation
Behaviours that weaken an answer
- Changes position depending on the audience
- Shares confidential information to build rapport
- Makes commitments that are not tracked or honoured
PanelPrep interview guidance
What a strong example might demonstrate
Candidates preparing for competency-based interviews can use this competency to think about a relationship that had to be rebuilt or protected. A strong behavioural example would demonstrate the transparency shown, the commitment honoured, and how the other party's confidence changed.
PanelPrep interview guidance
How to prepare for questions on this competency
Trust is often assessed indirectly: handling confidential information, restoring a damaged relationship, or being consistent when it was costly.
STAR preparation
- Situation — set the context in two sentences: where, when, who was involved.
- Task — state precisely what you were responsible for, not what the team was responsible for.
- Action — spend most of the answer here, in the first person, showing the indicators above in practice.
- Result — quantify the outcome and add what you learned or changed afterwards.
PanelPrep interview guidance
Common interview question patterns
Illustrative patterns written by PanelPrep to help you practise. They are not published or endorsed by UN.
- Describe a time you had to rebuild a damaged working relationship.
- Tell us how you handled sensitive or confidential information.
- Give an example of when you followed through on a difficult commitment.
PanelPrep interview guidance
Common mistakes
- Asserting that colleagues trusted you without evidence
- Disclosing confidential detail in the answer itself
- No indication of how trust was demonstrated over time
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The competency name, category and behavioural concepts on this page are based on United Nations, "UN Competency Development – A Practical Guide". Summaries, interview guidance, question patterns and preparation advice are original PanelPrep content.
Framework version: UN Competency Development – A Practical Guide. Source date: 2010-01-01. Last verified: 2026-08-09.
PanelPrep is an independent interview-preparation service. It is not an official website of UN and is not endorsed by or affiliated with UN.