Civil service recruitment faces fierce competition

A single border police post in Jilin province has garnered over 6,000 approved applicants, highlighting the fierce competition facing candidates as registration for China's 2027 national civil service examination closed on Sunday, with more than 3 million applicants passing qualification review.

Organizers plan to recruit 35,700 people through the exam, about 2,400 fewer than last time, with recruitment continuing to favor new graduates and grassroots positions. According to the National Civil Service Administration, 26,900 positions are at the county level and below, and 24,600 positions at the municipal level and below under central organs are primarily targeted at new college graduates.

More than 3,000 positions are reserved for people who have participated in grassroots service programs and college graduates who have served in the military for at least five years.

As of 5 pm on Sunday, more than 3 million applicants had passed qualification review, according to statistics from education institutions.

The 10 most sought-after positions each attracted thousands of applicants. The Yanbian border management detachment in Jilin, for example, received more than 6,000 qualified applicants for a single opening.

Other popular positions included one on the survey team of the National Bureau of Statistics in Gongyi, Henan province, which attracted 5,534 qualified applicants for one opening, and one in the Resource Development Department of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, which drew 4,761 qualified applicants. However, some of the positions received no applications.

Wang, a 25-year-old postgraduate student majoring in journalism at Beijing Foreign Studies University, said she was taking the exam because she preferred the job security offered by the public sector. Her main targets are public institutions and State-owned enterprises.

Although the position she applied for did not attract thousands of applicants, competition remained fierce. Wang said the intense competition had not deterred her, although she felt somewhat discouraged by the slim chance of success. Therefore, she has resolved not to rely solely on the national exam and is also considering provincial civil service exams and recruitment by SOEs.

Li, a 23-year-old computer science graduate from Jilin University who is taking the exam for the third time, said her major qualified her for many private-sector jobs offering high salaries but demanding workloads that she felt she could not physically sustain.

She said she selected positions based on their locations because there were few satisfactory job opportunities in her hometown of Jilin city. Having graduated in 2025, she has been preparing for the exam full-time. She said the highest cost was the pressure from family members who repeatedly urged her to find work, as well as the need to keep a low profile while studying. She will decide whether to continue preparing based on her score in the exam.

Tang Daisheng, a professor at the School of Economics and Management at Beijing Jiaotong University, attributed the intense competition to the large supply of college graduates, limited recruitment in some industries amid economic upgrading, and the premium young job-seekers place on the stability of public-sector employment.

China is expected to have 12.7 million college graduates in 2026, an increase of 480,000 from 2025, according to China's Ministry of Education.

Tang also noted that artificial intelligence and digital technologies are replacing some routine and repetitive jobs, reducing the capacity of traditional industries to absorb entry-level workers.

Civil service positions, which offer opportunities for candidates from a wide range of academic backgrounds and relatively clear career paths, have consequently become a preferred option for many graduates.

Tang, however, warned that the trend could lead to a misallocation of human capital if large numbers of young people devote years to preparing for exams with low odds of success. The admission rate is about 1.35 percent, with an average of approximately 85 applicants competing for each position this year.

The financial burden of full-time preparation can also be substantial. In first-tier cities, out-of-pocket annual costs, including living expenses and exam preparation, can reach 50,000 to 80,000 yuan ($7,500 to $12,000), while total spending on training can exceed 100,000 yuan, Tang said.

Tang called for a more measured approach to career planning, urging young people not to pin all their hopes on public-sector employment while overlooking opportunities in private enterprises and emerging industries.

"Life is a long run, not a gamble on a single bridge," Tang added.

Yu Xinyan contributed to this story.