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Chinanews. com client Beijing, October 25 th:Why do young people eager to "go ashore and become public" take the civil service exam?
Author: Lang Lang
It is another year of national examination season. Since 2009, the national examination has registered more than one million people for 11 consecutive years.
Public examination fever, which is not a new topic, attracts social discussion every year.
"Iron rice bowl", "within the system" and "wanting to be an official" … … On the internet, it seems that public opinion can’t escape these stereotypes in interpreting the fever of public examinations.
However, focusing on individuals, those young people who embark on the road of public examinations either want to give themselves more opportunities to apply for jobs after graduation or have re-planned their lives and careers. In short, they hope to fight hard for themselves in an equal competition.
Data Map: A national examination center in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, candidates are ready to enter the examination room. Photo by Wu Junjie
Four public exams: I didn’t think about anything except civil servants.
In April this year, Zhang Keran participated in the recruitment of civil servants for the fourth time, but she lost again, only 0.5 points away from the admission score.
She was disheartened and lay in bed for seven days without eating or drinking, constantly asking herself why she didn’t pass the exam again, and why she was so inferior to others. Cut off contact with the outside world, Zhang Keran like into thin air.
Her collapse is understandable. After all, since she graduated from college in 2015, all her life has revolved around public examinations, and becoming a civil servant has even become her dream.
As an only child, she doesn’t want to be too far away from home. In her own words, the "stability" and "security" of civil servants can best give her a sense of security.
At the age of 26, Zhang Keran, who is single, also plans to get married and start a family in the future. He has an official position in his hometown and is even an important bargaining chip when talking about marriage.
"Although it will not be rich and expensive, the work of civil servants can guarantee my basic life." She said.
Data Map: Candidates are looking for the examination room. Photo by Zhang Bin
The four-year journey of the public examination is inseparable from the support of family members. Grandpa has been Zhang Keran’s staunchest supporter since he made the decision to take the public examination in his senior year. The retired civil servant has a certain understanding of the system. After all, civil servants have a decent social status. In the eyes of his hometown, public officials eat "imperial grain" and are guaranteed to receive income through drought and flood.
Fairness is another important reason why Zhang Keran chose the road of civil servants. Zhang Keran, who graduated from an ordinary undergraduate college, deeply feels that the employment pressure is too great, and the civil service team is becoming more and more standardized and the selection method is fairer. For her, it is really the best choice.
In order to prepare for the fourth exam, the family spent more than 30 thousand to send her to a 53-day closed training class in a public training institution. Before leaving, my mother said, "This is your last exam. If you fail, don’t give me another exam!" " With pressure, from 8: 30 a.m. to 11: 00 p.m. every day, Zhang Keran dare not relax and can’t sleep at night.
After enduring great mental pressure and intense review rhythm, she still didn’t get the ideal result, which she couldn’t accept.
But she is still unwilling and plans to take the fifth civil service exam.
Photo courtesy of candidates who are studying in closed classes
Career choice: public examination is only one of the choices.
After taking the civil service exam for so many years, Zhang Keran’s dream is still to "go ashore" one day, which is a jargon among candidates in the public exam, referring to the success of the exam. In their view, if leaving the system is called "going to sea", then their goal should be called "landing".
Liang Yihui and Han Xiao are now "people on the shore".
Three years ago, when the university was about to graduate, Liang Yihui wanted to stay in Shenzhen. Getting a stable and secure job in such a big city could help him lay a relatively stable foundation.
In the next semester of junior year, Liang Yihui started the busy graduation season. Internship, campus job fair, graduation project, written interview … … After trying to do the simulation questions, Liang Yihui felt that it was possible to win the civil service exam, so he ended his internship early and began to concentrate on reviewing.
Piecemeal review +3 months of assault, Liang Yihui broke through the encirclement from the national examination army of millions in 2017 and "went ashore". Before that, he also got the offer from the company.
"Leave yourself a little retreat, and do something else if you don’t pass the exam." He said.
Compared with Liang Yihui, Han Xiao was a little confused in his graduation season.
He didn’t have a career plan when he failed in the postgraduate entrance examination. He just felt that he should have a job anyway, and he followed the resume of everyone in a daze. He changed five jobs five years after graduation, and finally decided on the public examination.
"My previous jobs were not what I wanted, and I didn’t have a sense of value," Han said with a smile, unwilling to get along like this.
He traveled to nearly ten cities and experienced 22 exams. He was eager to "go ashore" and even passed the highway toll collector. Finally, Han Xiao successfully "landed" in the civil service recruitment exam in Hebei.
In the data map, Xinhua News Agency issued Meng Delong photo
After "landing": the civil service profession "can be seen at a glance"?
After all the hardships, I finally "landed". Is the life after "landing" what I want? Just as they are for the civil servants in stabilizing selection, this feature of "stability" makes them questioned by the outside world.
On the Internet, whenever there is a public examination topic, netizens’ comments on public office are mostly "iron rice bowl", "wanting to be an official", "life at a glance" and "comfort within the system" … … However, as an experienced person, Liang Yihui, who has been working for two years, felt the challenge brought by his work.
"Communication and coordination, overall planning, deployment and implementation, summary and improvement, as long as you work hard and think well, you can make people grow." Liang Yihui said that civil servants are just a professional identity. From the perspective of posts and ranks, different heights do different things, which is full of changes and richness.
For him, since he chose to be a civil servant, he has to bear the corresponding post responsibilities, even if he went to other posts at the beginning, he has such an attitude.
"I have never imagined my ideal working state, but this state of civil servants is acceptable to me." Liang Yihui said.
Data map: Candidates walk out of the examination room. Photo by Wang Zhongju, a reporter from China News Service.
Han Xiao once disdained the work within the system. The potential "survival rule" of the office and the repetitive work content made him feel that this was a job that only people without ambitions would choose. However, after the social beating, he changed his mind about this job.
"You may not see the upper limit when you are admitted to a civil servant, but you can guarantee your lower limit," Han Xiao said. "You can’t guarantee the lower limit of your life when you go to a business, and it’s hard to live a life that you can see at a glance."
"The days when you look at the end are for those who don’t make progress all their lives." Persistently choosing the road of public examination, Zhang Keran is also quite disgusted with the outside world’s view that "public examination is a comfortable way". She believes that people who have this idea are a matter of attitude towards life, not a matter of occupation.
"If you only treat your work as a job, then any job is at the end of your life. If you do sales, you will be selling all your life; As a teacher, I have been a teacher all my life. Is it all at once? "
Zhang Keran obviously has a higher pursuit, and this ideal job has brought her a sense of self-identity. She doesn’t think the work of civil servants is particularly simple, but like a pinion, she promotes the progress of society and the country in repeated and day-to-day work.
Data map: Taiyuan, Shanxi, candidates who took the civil service exam walked into the test center. Photo by Wei Liang.
Cold thinking behind "public examination fever"
In 1994, the former Ministry of Personnel formally established the civil service examination and recruitment system, and organized the first civil service recruitment examination for the central state administrative organs. According to statistics from some media, the national examination in that year provided 490 places for more than 30 state organs, and finally 4,400 people formally applied for the exam, which is equivalent to 9 people competing for a position.
The real "public examination fever" occurred in the last ten years. Looking back at the number of applicants for the national examination in the past 10 years, the number of applicants for the national examination exceeded 1 million for the first time in 2009, and the number of applicants for the national examination has been more than one million for 11 consecutive years until the recruitment of the national examination in 2019. In the registration, the competition ratio of "one in a thousand" or even "one in a thousand" makes the "public examination fever" a topic of concern to the whole society.
"In many employment choices, many people still choose civil servants as their careers. After all, this is a relatively stable industry with guaranteed treatment." According to Wang Yukai, a professor at the National School of Administration, from the perspective of college students’ career choices, the advantages of civil servants’ careers are, on the one hand, decent jobs and respect, on the other hand, stable job security and career expectations.
Data map: Candidates enter the examination room, photo by China News Service reporter Chen Yushe.
"There is no denying that in the annual public examination army, many college students decide to prepare for the exam blindly. In the face of employment competition, they regard the public examination as one of their graduation ways and give themselves multiple opportunities." Ding Ya, an expert in public examination counseling and the founder of the hornbill public examination, said that in the face of the confusion at graduation, there is a relatively perfect growth system and career channels in the civil service system, which is also one of the factors that attract young people to enter the public examination.
Ding Ya said that at present, with the rapid economic and social development, the country needs to enrich more talents to enter the civil service, and the public examination is more professional and high-quality. College students are an important source of talent selection, and they should be attracted to the grassroots to make contributions.
As experts have said, judging from the requirements of the public examination itself in recent years, the recruitment policy has tilted to the grassroots level, the threshold for registration has gradually increased, and the job requirements have become more and more clear. The selection of civil servants by the state has become more and more detailed and strict.
"As far as the public examination itself is concerned, candidates need to make rational choices and carefully prepare for the exam. They should effectively prepare for the exam by post. The post means that candidates should choose suitable positions according to their own abilities and majors, and have a clear aim to maximize the matching between people and posts." Ding Ya said.
Ding Ya said that every year, candidates register for public examinations, and the competition ratio of some positions is too high. In fact, the civil service examination is only one of the public examinations, and there are examinations for public institutions and Selected Graduates. Some candidates who have repeatedly lost and fought can put down their attachment to a certain position and choose a matching unit according to their own abilities.
Wang Yukai said that in recent years, the recruitment policy of the national civil service examination is more inclined to the grassroots. "This is actually an important signal to those who apply for civil servants. Don’t simply think too high, but be pragmatic. You can go to the grassroots to get exercise. "
