The huge thirst for jobs in
the civil service has made the
national civil servant exam
one of China's most competitive tests.
The first exam was held in 1995, and since then more and more people
have signed up for it, with applications reaching a peak over the last two
years.
The latest online survey, carried out by China Youth Daily and
www.qq.com, found that more than 73 per cent of young people want to work
as civil servants.
Of the 17,330 respondents, about 83 per cent said they were attracted
by the job's stability, guaranteed health care and pension.
Meanwhile, 55 per cent said it could bring "practical profits."
Nearly 1 million people applied to take the exam last year, yet only
just over 10,000 were finally employed.
This year the stiff competition continued. The exact number of
applicants is not known, with the final day for applications today.
But the influx of applicants has already broken the exam's website
once.
China Youth Daily reported that the site was forced to close for
maintenance due to unusually high traffic on the night of October 16.
In a typical year several hundred applicants will apply for many of the
jobs listed. For example, the five job vacancies provided by the
secretariat of the Central Committee of the Party have this year attracted
more than 3,880 applicants.
In general, the exam means 50 people competing for one post, the report
said.
Positions as civil servants are attractive, not only because of the
stable income and good health care, but also because of the low risks
compared with the power and resources the positions enjoy.
