The deadline for final year university students to
apply for next year's civil service intake was midnight on Friday,
and the Ministry of Personnel said on Sunday that 380,000 had been
selected to sit exams for 10,000 vacancies in 97 central government
departments.
Students had been able to apply online since
October 15, and demand was high despite there only being one job
for every 38 examinees.
China Daily reported today that stability,
less pressure and social status, as well as housing subsidies and
medical allowances, continued to make civil service careers
desirable despite higher wages being available in
joint-ventures.
Cao Kai, majoring in international journalism at
the Communication
University of China, told China Daily yesterday that 80
percent of his classmates have signed up for the 2006 national
examination for civil servants.
"Civil service seems a good choice given the
current tough employment situation," said Cao.
"I'm not sure whether I will like the job," he
added, "but given the fierce competition in the job market, I just
want to have a try like many other people."
Wang Qian, who began working for China Insurance
Regulatory Commission as a civil servant last year, said she
believed being a civil servant is particularly suitable for female
students.
"All of my friends and my parents think I should be
a civil servant because the job is stable and without too much
pressure," she said.
Liu Xirui, professor at the Beijing-based National
School of Administration, told Oriental Morning Post
yesterday that the continued demand is related to the material
benefits and social status that civil servants enjoy due to their
existing administrative powers.
Liu said this is likely to remain the case, as
there are still only limited vacancies and changes to the powers of
civil servants will take a long time.
More than 4 million students are expected to
graduate from university next July. The national examination for
civil servants was introduced in 1994, and the number of applicants
has risen every year.
(China Daily November 1, 2005)