Long Odds for Chinese Taking Civil Service Exam
About 1.12 million people took the National Public Servant Exam on Nov. 25, about 150,000 more than the year before, the Xinhua news agency reported.
About 1.12 million people took China's National Public Servant Exam on Nov. 25, about 150,000 more than the previous year, and they are competing for only about 21,000 government jobs to be filled next year, according to a report filed by the Xinhua news agency that cited numbers from the State Administration of Civil Service.
The annual exam includes an aptitude test and a written policy essay. Those who pass the written exam move on to the interview round, according to the report, which said the growing popularity of the exam "has been attributed to mounting pressures in finding employment, fairness of the test, and an attractive civil servant job which is stable and respected."
The report also said the number of college graduates in China will be 6.99 million in 2013, 190,000 more than in 2012, according to the Ministry of Education.