IN Shanghai, about 50,000 candidates sat the National Public Servant Exam to compete for 147 local government posts.
The fiercest competition was for one vacancy in the Huangpu District Post Administration, which attracted more than 1,100 candidates.
Shanghai Customs had the biggest number of candidates, followed by Shanghai Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau and Shanghai Entry-Exit Frontier Inspection Station.
The three bodies are expected to recruit 27 people. However, the number of candidates applying for posts exceeded 30,000, or nearly 60 percent of the total number of candidates in the city.
Despite that, many test-takers remained philosophical about their prospects since the exam was not the only way to secure a job.
A post as a public servant has long been viewed as a stable and respected job in China. With the general job market gloomy, many parents encourage their children to take the exam.
Pan Zheying said she took the test to satisfy her parents' wishes. But she is also preparing for tests and interviews organized by businesses.
"Some state-owned companies also have aptitude tests. So it will not be waste of time preparing for the public servant exam," said Pan.
She said about two-thirds of her classmates took the national exam and they had been preparing for it for more than five months.
