French interviews for a role at FAO, WFP or IFAD

FAO (the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), WFP (the World Food Programme) and IFAD (the International Fund for Agricultural Development) are all headquartered in Rome. All three are part of the United Nations system, where French is one of the two official working languages alongside English.

Why French matters at FAO, WFP and IFAD

In practice, FAO itself states that interviews are normally conducted in English, but that panels may ask certain questions in one of the official working languages — including French. That means part of the interview, even a short part, can switch to French, including for a role that isn't explicitly "French-speaking." This is especially true for roles connected to French-speaking West and Central Africa, where French proficiency is often an explicit requirement or a clear advantage, even for a role based in Rome.

Why this is a distinctive interview context

An interview for an international organization has its own conventions, different from a typical corporate interview:

• Behavioral competencies matter as much as technical expertise — UN competency frameworks are often built around structured behavioral questions (the "describe a situation where..." type).
• The panel may be multicultural — you may switch from one language to another depending on the question or the person asking, which requires particular ease.
• Precise institutional vocabulary matters — the terms used in these organizations have a specific usage that's better mastered before the interview, not during.
• The format is often standardized — a panel of several people, a scoring grid by competency, a structured response time. It isn't a free-flowing discussion.

A candidate who is perfectly bilingual in writing can lose clarity when speaking simply because the interview format is unfamiliar — that's not a lack of level, it's a lack of practice on this specific format.

The institutional vocabulary to know

Certain terms come up constantly in the language of international organizations, and are worth mastering before the interview rather than translating on the fly:

• Results / results framework — the results-based management logic that structures most projects.
• Partnerships / stakeholders — coordination with governments, NGOs, and donors.
• Accountability — a term used constantly in this field.
• Logical framework (logframe) — the project-planning tool present in nearly every project document.
• Implementation — a central term in almost every job description.

Typical questions for this kind of interview

Beyond the classic behavioral questions (see the general guide to French job interviews), some questions are specific to this context:

• "How do you work with partners who have different priorities?" — tests your ability to navigate multi-stakeholder coordination, a core part of UN work.
• "Describe a project where results weren't achieved as planned." — evaluates your honesty and adaptability, not your success rate.
• "How do you integrate gender / inclusion issues into your work?" — nearly universal in this type of organization, worth preparing even if it's not the core of the role.
• "Why the UN system, and why this agency in particular?" — a good answer distinguishes FAO, WFP and IFAD rather than staying generic about "the UN."

The most common mistakes

• Staying too generic about "the United Nations" without showing you know the specific mandate of the agency you're targeting (food security for FAO, emergency food assistance for WFP, agricultural development financing for IFAD).
• Translating technical jargon from English on the fly, which slows your pace at the worst possible moment.
• Neglecting the behavioral portion by assuming technical expertise will be enough — UN scoring grids often give equal, sometimes greater, weight to behavioral competencies.
• Not practicing switching languages if the panel is multicultural and the interview may move between French and English depending on the question.

How to prepare

The most effective preparation for this type of interview combines three things: a solid grasp of the institutional vocabulary specific to the organization you're targeting, structured practice on typical behavioral questions (the STAR method, covered in the general guide), and above all, repeated spoken practice in conditions close to the real thing — not just passive review.

This is exactly what Horiva's one-on-one coaching offers: preparation calibrated to your role, your target organization, and your real deadline, until you arrive at the interview ready to convince, in French, under pressure.

You can discover the full method on the Horiva homepage, or start directly with the Checkpoint below.