At a glance
This has been dubbed the best year for recent graduates totake the national civil service examination. There are morevacancies and less eligibility requirements than in the previousyears. However, during the first few days of registration,…
This has been dubbed the best year for recent graduates totake the national civil service examination. There are morevacancies and less eligibility requirements than in the previousyears. However, during the first few days of registration, thenumber of applicants was still lower than during the same period last year
As civil service jobs lose some of their glamour, graduates have become more reluctant to choosethis career path
Since 2014, the number of people registering for the civil service exam has dropped. A 2014 ChinaYouth Daily research poll shows that one of the reasons is the government’s anti-corruptioncampaign
Public servants face the stereotype that they “work in a leisurely manner” with opportunities toearn “gray income”. But Huang Ruoshan, senior career consultant of Zhaopin.com, painted adifferent picture
“The reality is that civil servants’ workload is heavy, especially at the grassroots level. Worse still,some ‘special benefits’ were cut,” said Huang
Without these special benefits, the salary for a civil service job is not competitive. A surveyconducted by the Beijing Municipal Commission of the China Communist Youth League revealsthat young civil servants in Beijing earn on average 4,530 yuan each month. The average salaryfor other Beijingers during the same period was more than 6,463 yuan, according to BeijingMunicipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau
Bai Zhili, the associate dean for Peking University’s School of Government, also attributes thedecline of civil servants to the job’s negative public image
“When a lot of people say being a civil servant is not a sensible choice, since it offers no moneyand no future, graduates can easily lose faith in their career path,” he told thepaper.cn
It’s true that most civil servants face a tough career path, with few chances for promotion.According to Chinese law, it takes at least eight years for a grassroots-level civil servant to getpromoted
Despite all the disadvantages of being a civil servant, Zheng Fang, a senior student at HainanUniversity, still chose to take this year’s civil service exam
“For me, a civil service job should be an ordinary career, just as it is now. It should not bebestowed special benefits,” he said
His idea is echoed by other young people too. A China Youth Daily research poll shows that 53.6percent of young people think the main purpose of civil servants is to better serve the public
But that doesn’t mean civil service jobs do not help employees at all. What Zhang values aboutworking as a civil servant is also the platform it offers. Employees learn to better understandsociety, by working for the central Party and its administrative organs or their affiliatedorganizations
“You get to know the policies and how the government works. Besides, this job will allow me tonurture my communication, management and coordination skills. These skills are useful in otherjobs too,” he said
