Provision of Video Interviewing and Online Testing/Assessment Services for Recruitment

The recent COVID19 pandemic has caused the United Nations to proceed more quickly with its plans to procure online video interviewing and assessment tools and platforms. Solutions that can be immediately configurable to the organizations needs, described below, are particularly sought at this time. The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to provide the United Nations (UN) Human Resources Services Division (HRSD) in the Department of Operations (DOS) with the latest knowledge and capabilities of the market with respect to latest methodologies, solutions, systems, services and potential vendors for the provision of testing/assessment content. The content would be used as part of the UN staff recruitment process. The gathered information will be used to determine the availability of solutions, scope, cost estimates, timeframe, and resources required by the UN. The Human Resources Services Division (HRSD) offers expertise in the areas of talent acquisition, staffing innovation, and testing and examinations across all job families in use in the UN Secretariat. It centrally administers the Young Professional Programme and manages rosters of pre-qualified candidates across all job families. More than 200 UN entities all over the world (located in peaceful, developed countries developing countries, and countries with active conflicts) have delegated recruitment authority and conduct individual recruitments. Accordingly, interviewing platforms and testing/assessment content will be used for centralized as well as decentralized recruitment processes and may or may not be stored in a common platform. We are interested in live and recorded online video interviewing services available in English and French. Availability in other UN languages (Russian, Spanish, Chinese and Arabic) would be an asset. Interviews are an integral part of the recruitment service in the United Nations; they are confidential and high stakes. Generally, the UN conducts competency based interviews according to its established UN competency framework (https://careers.un.org/lbw/attachments/competencies_booklet_en.pdf) and records interview results in its online talent management platform (inspira.un.org or careers.un.org). Interview panels consist of three panel members and one ex-officio recruiter. Live online interviews are done with panelists and candidates in different locations around the world and are conducted live. Pre-recorded video interviewing may be used as an option (e.g. in addition to a written test or other assessment method) to define the list of most qualified candidates to be further interviewed by a panel. It might cover knowledge or skills-related questions including language skills. In addition, the UN may use pre-recorded interviewing as part of an assessment process. According, the Human Resources Services Division wants to explore the use of online interviewing tools for, inter alia: (1) live or pre-recorded interviewing, (2) candidate screening, and (3) administration of oral tests/exams. Our current focus includes the following functionalities: • Online and on-demand interviewing services, including and recorded options [candidate records video interview alone with HM recording questions in advance, questions asked by an avatar, recorded person, or written questions] • Services that enable grading of the interview performance by individual recruiters/ panels with or without Advanced Technology or Artificial Intelligence overlays; • Use of Avatar interviewers or written questions rather than live interviewer/s; • Platforms/Tools/Services with the ability to store UN-specific interview question banks/ libraries as well as tools/services that have a library of standard questions. • Platforms that combine interviewing and testing/assessments including out of the box tests/assessments Interview Format: • Tools should have a functionality to conduct live, concurrent interviews with at least 5 interview panel members and 1 candidates in unique, separate locations in various time zones around the world • Tools should have the option of candidates recording interviews, which are assessed later by hiring managers/recruiters/panel members • Interviews will typically 30-90 minutes and are administered within an identified time period (e.g. from 1 day to 4 weeks) • Solutions should have an option for limited bandwidth locations (e.g. audio only) • Solutions should have the ability to limit the candidate response time for each question. • Tools should have an option to combine customizable written questions with open text response or multiple choice questions and recorded or live interviews Specific Requirements: • Ability to administer interviews simultaneously across different time zones; • Ability to handle a high volume of concurrent online live video interviews (e.g. 15-20 interviews at a time) with up to six participants in various global locations per interview. • Ability to conduct live interviews in English and French; ability to conduct recorded interviews in English, French, Mandarin, Arabic, Russian, and Spanish. • Video and audio playback controls including volume and tone adjustments, rewind and forward control, playback speed; • Online audio recording functions to enable examinees to submit audio responses; • Ability for administrators to download candidates’ answers in video or audio file format such as mp3 or wave files; automated transcription of interviews is an additional advantage • Ability for the assessment panel to evaluate candidates, e.g., anonymous marking by single or multiple assessors; • Interview scheduling functions, including email invitations (available in English and French); • Cross-platform, cross-browser compatibility, and support full use on mobile devices; • Ability to link with other platforms including Moodle and the UN talent management platform (inspira.un.org, careers.un.org) which is based on PeopleSoft/Oracle. Each service/tool must meet the following criteria: • Content, images, design and scenarios reflect global cultural and gender diversity and sensitivity. In scenarios or case studies, there should be a good balance between male and female characters as well as from different ethnic groups. • Support and on-going services, including helpdesk and trouble-shooting 24/7 due to the global users in the UN system. • Online tools and services must be accessible worldwide, including locations with low bandwidth or limited connectivity. • Tools and services must be available in English and French; Mandarin, Spanish, Russian and Arabic capabilities are an advantage. • Tools and services must have an easy to use interface and be delivered with out of the box online training included for users (candidates, hiring managers and recruiters). • Tools and services must incorporate adequate user authentication and encryption of personal data. • Tools should have the option to insert organizational branding, links to organizational websites, and video explanations (1-5 minutes) of what it is like to work in the United Nations and/or in specific functions. The United Nations would like to receive the following information and may request product/services demonstrations from interested parties: (1) Introduction of the company as well as the line of business dealing with the requirement, including online demonstrations (2) Product brochures and/or specifications/methodologies of the related tools/services (3) A list of recent services/engagements featuring similar requirements (4) Examples of tests/tools and success stories