United NationsCore Competency
Creativity — UN competency
Actively seeking to improve programmes or services and offering new and different options to solve problems.
What this competency means
Creativity in the UN framework is practical rather than artistic: it is about questioning established ways of doing things, taking an interest in new ideas, and being willing to take calculated risks on untested approaches where the current approach is not working.
Based on the UN Competency Framework
Behavioural indicators
- Actively seeks to improve programmes or services
- Offers new and different options to solve problems or meet client needs
- Promotes and persuades others to consider new ideas
- Takes calculated risks on new and unusual ideas; thinks 'outside the box'
- Takes an interest in new ideas and new ways of doing things; is not bound by current thinking or traditional approaches
Our interpretation for interview preparation
Behaviours that weaken an answer
- Defends the existing process because it is the existing process
- Proposes ideas without assessing feasibility or risk
- Abandons an idea at the first objection
PanelPrep interview guidance
What a strong example might demonstrate
Candidates preparing for competency-based interviews can use this competency to think about a process or product they changed rather than simply operated. A strong behavioural example would demonstrate the limitation identified, the alternative proposed, how resistance was handled, and the measurable improvement.
PanelPrep interview guidance
How to prepare for questions on this competency
Creativity examples usually involve an improvement you initiated yourself, and the work of persuading others to accept it.
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.
- Tell us about an improvement you introduced in your work.
- Describe a time you solved a problem in an unconventional way.
- Give an example of when you persuaded others to try a new approach.
PanelPrep interview guidance
Common mistakes
- Presenting someone else's initiative as your own
- No evidence that the new approach worked
- Ignoring the risk assessment behind the idea
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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.