Overseas graduates come to terms with civil service posts

Ying Jie ranks among a group of vloggers who have taken to social media to detail their daily lives working in China's civil service.

What makes the 29-year-old a little different from his colleagues is that he completed his studies overseas.

In a three-minute vlog he posted recently on Xiaohongshu, the smartly dressed Ying detailed his 30-minute drive to the office, breakfast in the canteen and the beginning of his working day.

In 2020, with a bachelor's degree in finance from Jinan University, a highly regarded college in Guangdong province, and a master's degree in business analysis from the University of Sydney, Ying decided to return to his hometown of Foshan to take the civil service exam.

Getting a job in the civil service has a long history in China, and passing the entrance exam and gaining a position effectively means a job for life, offering more stability than working in the private sector.

The number of applicants who passed vetting for the annual recruitment exams for central and State organs hit a record 3.03 million last year, up from 2.6 million the previous year, indicating how people are turning to the civil service in the often volatile and unpredictable job market.

Figures show 39,600 central government jobs are being offered this year, with there being one job per 77 applicants on average, slightly higher than the 1-70 ratio last year. The most sought-after position is at the National Bureau of Statistics where 3,572 vied for a single post.

Previously, highly educated overseas graduates were thought to be "above" taking the civil service exam, instead having eyes on the private sector. But recent high-profile cases have proved those thoughts wrong.