New graduates will be sidelined in civil service recruitment carried out by the Beijing government in 2011.

"It is a tendency to decrease the recruitment of fresh graduates because the government wants to recruit civil servants with work experience," said Song Guilun, secretary of the Beijing social work committee.

Song said the government wants 80 percent of its new civil service workers recruited this year to have two years of experience. In 2009, it was only looking for 50 per cent of new recruits with experience and the other half comprised graduates.

"The tendency is aimed at directing graduates toward work in primary level positions. It would be an advantage for their future work," Song said.

Fresh graduates can get a lot of experience working in a primary level position, Song said.

He said the government planned to recruit 2,000 fresh graduates to work in communities all over the city in 2010.

About 2,100 fresh graduates were employed to work in communities in 2009.

"The tendency will be good news for us, because it will cut down on competition," said Wu Fan, who sat the Beijing civil servants exam in October. The exam was directed at people with work experience.

But the exclusion will limit opportunity for graduates in the tough job market.

"Although I do not really want to be a civil servant, it has been a way into the job market because finding a job is getting difficult," said Li Yan, a junior student from Capital University of Economics and Business.

Li said he and his classmates took the Beijing civil servants exam as a fall-back.