Beijing (CNN) — College student Wang Zixu was among the 1.1 million hopefuls who packed out school and universities across China on Sunday to sit the country's civil service exams.
It's a tradition that dates back more than 1,300 years when exams were first held to select the best applicants for ancient imperial bureaucracy. Today's young job seekers are vying for government posts in record numbers.
Like many of the candidates, Wang, who will graduate next year, says the prospect of stable salary and good benefits make more it appealing than the private sector that attracts many of the most ambitious minds in the U.S. and Europe.
"I think the exam wasn't too hard. I answered all the questions," Wang told CNN after taking the three-hour exam outside the China Institute of Political Science and Law.
"The pay is not very high but it has good bonus and social security," he added.
Central government jobs are often described as a "golden rice bowl" for their stable income and generous benefits.
But with only 19,000 jobs available, Wang's chances of a civil service career are slim. The exam attracted record numbers of applicants, with
1.52 million completing the online registration process up from 30,000 in 2001.
About 7,200 people competed for the most popular position as a researcher with the State Ethnic Affairs Commission, according to The China Daily. The annual exam includes an aptitude test and a policy essay, and those who pass make it to an interview round.
When China's economy first opened up 30 years ago, going into private business or commerce was seen as the best way to get ahead. But the civil service first began attracting huge numbers of applicants a decade ago, said Zhang Juwei, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences ' Institute of Population and Labor Economics.
"The private sector in China is not very well structured or developed like the U.S.," he said.
"Most of the people in private companies in China, unless their positions are high, they usually don't pay well or have a clear career ladder to move up."
Many of the candidates are university graduates and the increase in the numbers applying for government jobs reflects a surge in the number of university graduates entering a fiercely competitive job market. This year a record seven million graduated, up from around two million a decade ago, according to Chinese magazine Caijing.
Xu Ru and her friend Liu Jiashuang were among the class of 2013 trying their luck. While some prepare by taking crash courses offered by cram schools , Xu said she had not studied for the exam.
"Everyone is taking it today, so I just feel like I should give it a try, and if I got it, it would be simply great," she said.
None of the half a dozen candidates CNN spoke to said they were concerned by the government's anti-corruption drive that has targeted both high and low-ranking officials. "I think I would not do that — I have my own principles," said a man called Wang, who said he didn't do well in the exam this time around and would consider taking it again next year. The exam is also seen as being relatively transparent and fair in a society where connections can often count for more than ability. Parents also think it's a suitable career in today's uncertain economy.
"I mean for a girl, being a civil servant can be ideal. I know people who worked in the private sector here, they jump from place to place, it's a lot of pressure," said Fu Wenxia, the mother of an exam taker.
The document, released Friday night, is the culmination of a four-day meeting of top Communist Party leaders in Beijing that ended Tuesday. While a communique released on Tuesday left many observers searching in vain for specific reform ideas, the full report promises a handful of potentially significant changes. As WSJ reports:
The document said China would significantly ease its one-child policy, allowing couples to have two children if one of the parents is an only child. Currently, Chinese couples are restricted to one child except under some circumstances, such as rural dwellers, pilot programs in a number of areas and among ethnic minorities.
„ China also plans to abolish a controversial labor camp system in what Xinhua described as “part of efforts to improve human rights and judicial practices.” Under the system, which has been in pl ace since 1957, police are allowed to imprison people in labor camps for up to four years without formal arrest or trial.
Other proposed reforms include a system for insuring bank deposits, an increase in the amount of profits state-owned companie s pay the government and an increased emphasis on environmental protection in the evaluation of officials.
As with all Chinese government policies, the devil will be in the implementation.
Shanghai (CNN) — Liu Jianle smiles as he spots a potential suitor for his recently divorced niece among a sea of white personal ads pegged to a board.
Pencil in hand, he jots down the man's details — 33 years old, 1.7 meters tall (5 feet 7 inches), 140 pounds, a property owner, divorced but no kids. The only wrinkle is that his salary is $800 a month, not high by Shanghai standards. No matter, says Liu, his niece has a good job.
Welcome to Shanghai's marriage market.
Each weekend, mothers, fathers and, in Liu's case, concerned uncles, come to a sun-dappled corner of Shanghai's People's Park to find Mister or Miss Right for their children.
Some write posters by hand listing their offsprings' vital statistics — height, age, income, education and their hukou or registered hometown — and pin them to umbrellas or shopping bags. Others come with a notebook to see what is available.
Liu is a veteran. He found his son a wife here and they've been married for more than a year.
"She's 1.69 meters tall (5 feet 6 inches) and beautiful like a movie star," he says. "He was happy to get the introduction."
With young Chinese told to put education and work before finding love, many struggle to find boyfriends or girlfriends, a source of deep concern for their parents in a society which emphasizes the survival of the family line.
Worried family members are joined by professional matchmakers, who try to make a living from the unusual gathering.
The city even organizes an "annual love and marriage expo" to help young people find love that attracts 18,000.
"A lot of kids who were born after 1980, they don't have siblings . So they grow up in an environment where you don't have the experience to meet with people of the opposite sex," Song Li, the founder of an online dating service, told CNN at the event in May.
The market has been around since 2004, says Li, who runs a professional matchmaking service from the park. With almost three times as many women looking for partners than men, it can be difficult to make a successful match.
Men can register for free, while she charges a fee of $500 for her female clients.
She also has an age limit; men born after 1970 can sign up, but women must be under 33.
"There's a shortage of superior men," she says by way of explanation. It's a similar story at Fan Dongfang's booth. He says he matches 20 to 30 people a year and brandishes a clutch of wedding invitations as if to prove it. He also has a glut of women on his books.
"There are too many leftover women in Shanghai," he says, using a popular term to describe educated, single, urban women over the age of 27. "Their standards are too high."
While the numbers stack up in favor of Chinese women — according to the China Statistics Bureau , there are now 34 million more men than women in China — this doesn't mean they will pair up easily.
Chinese men tend to "marry down" both in terms of age and educational level , observers say. Plus, many of China's unmarried men live in the countryside.
Distance is no obstacle to the parents' matchmaking ambitions, nor is their children's consent.
One mother displays a handwritten A4-sized poster in a clear plastic wallet seeking a match for her 36-year-old daughter, who works as an accountant in Toronto.
The market has an "overseas corner" for parents who have children living abroad.
"I can't give you my name because my daughter doesn't know I'm doing this and I don't want her to find out," she says.
"I just want her to find someone with a stable job, who is tolerant and open-minde d
【Source: The Wall Street Journal】
It’s one of the first things people think to do after losing a job: quick ly get a résumé into as many hands as possible. But career experts say doing so without a strategic plan is a mistake because it wastes time and energy and typically results in few callbacks.
Here’s how to fine-tune your résumé:
Make a wish list. Take the time to identify the companies you want to work for before you sit down to write your résumé. This can help you make key adjustments to the document. For example, knowing a company you are applying to is in the midst of making acquisitions can help you structure your résumé to highlight relevant work experience.
Use keywords. Recruiters often rely on keyword-search technology to sift through resumes. When responding to job ads, be sure to include the same language they contain in your résumé. For example, if you’re answering an ad for an arbitrator position make sure your document describes you as such and not a mediator, even though both terms refer to the same job. Tell your story. Once you’re ready to send out the résumé, make sure it’s doing the job of showcasing your skills and accomplishments. First, for each job you list, spell out the details of a work-related situation, any obstacles you encountered, the actions you took to resolve the issue, and the results that followed. Next, write out the complete story and then whittle it down to a series of concise descriptive bullet points.
Find an insider. Develop a networking list of friends, former colleagues, and acquaintances who might know people at your target companies. Then ask them to help ensure your résumé gets into the right person’s hands. Try a personal touch. Writing a tailored cover letter to accompany your résumé is one way to grab the attention of hiring managers. In it, demonstrate that you have researched the firm, for example, by mentioning its last quarterly report or a recent speech made by the CEO. Your ultimate goal is to stand out from the competition by showing you’re knowledgeable and interested in the particular organization you’ve targeted.
Re-evaluate after a lull. If you’ve been sending your résumé out for a month or more with no response, ask yourself a few questions. Have you developed a plan that outlines the job functions and industries that most interest you? Is your résumé lacking keywords or are your bullet points not playing to your strengths or the copmany’s needs? Does your cover letter provide details that make you stand out from other applicants
Beijing (CNN) — College student Wang Zixu was among the 1.1 million hopefuls who packed out school and universities across China on Sunday to sit the country's civil service exams.
It's a tradition that dates back more than 1,300 years when exams were first held to select the best applicants for ancient imperial bureaucracy. Today's young job seekers are vying for government posts in record numbers.
Like many of the candidates, Wang, who will graduate next year, says the prospect of stable salary and good benefits make more it appealing than the private sector that attracts many of the most ambitious minds in the U.S. and Europe.
"I think the exam wasn't too hard. I answered all the questions," Wang told CNN after taking the three-hour exam outside the China Institute of Political Science and Law.
"The pay is not very high but it has good bonus and social security," he added.
Central government jobs are often described as a "golden rice bowl" for their stable income and generous benefits.
But with only 19,000 jobs available, Wang's chances of a civil service career are slim. The exam attracted record numbers of applicants, with
1.52 million completing the online registration process up from 30,000 in 2001.
About 7,200 people competed for the most popular position as a researcher with the State Ethnic Affairs Commission, according to The China Daily. The annual exam includes an aptitude test and a policy essay, and those who pass make it to an interview round.
When China's economy first opened up 30 years ago, going into private business or commerce was seen as the best way to get ahead. But the civil service first began attracting huge numbers of applicants a decade ago, said Zhang Juwei, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences ' Institute of Population and Labor Economics.
"The private sector in China is not very well structured or developed like the U.S.," he said.
"Most of the people in private companies in China, unless their positions are high, they usually don't pay well or have a clear career ladder to move up."
Many of the candidates are university graduates and the increase in the numbers applying for government jobs reflects a surge in the number of university graduates entering a fiercely competitive job market. This year a record seven million graduated, up from around two million a decade ago, according to Chinese magazine Caijing.
Xu Ru and her friend Liu Jiashuang were among the class of 2013 trying their luck. While some prepare by taking crash courses offered by cram schools , Xu said she had not studied for the exam.
"Everyone is taking it today, so I just feel like I should give it a try, and if I got it, it would be simply great," she said.
None of the half a dozen candidates CNN spoke to said they were concerned by the government's anti-corruption drive that has targeted both high and low-ranking officials. "I think I would not do that — I have my own principles," said a man called Wang, who said he didn't do well in the exam this time around and would consider taking it again next year. The exam is also seen as being relatively transparent and fair in a society where connections can often count for more than ability. Parents also think it's a suitable career in today's uncertain economy.
"I mean for a girl, being a civil servant can be ideal. I know people who worked in the private sector here, they jump from place to place, it's a lot of pressure," said Fu Wenxia, the mother of an exam taker.
The document, released Friday night, is the culmination of a four-day meeting of top Communist Party leaders in Beijing that ended Tuesday. While a communique released on Tuesday left many observers searching in vain for specific reform ideas, the full report promises a handful of potentially significant changes. As WSJ reports:
The document said China would significantly ease its one-child policy, allowing couples to have two children if one of the parents is an only child. Currently, Chinese couples are restricted to one child except under some circumstances, such as rural dwellers, pilot programs in a number of areas and among ethnic minorities.
„ China also plans to abolish a controversial labor camp system in what Xinhua described as “part of efforts to improve human rights and judicial practices.” Under the system, which has been in pl ace since 1957, police are allowed to imprison people in labor camps for up to four years without formal arrest or trial.
Other proposed reforms include a system for insuring bank deposits, an increase in the amount of profits state-owned companie s pay the government and an increased emphasis on environmental protection in the evaluation of officials.
As with all Chinese government policies, the devil will be in the implementation.
Shanghai (CNN) — Liu Jianle smiles as he spots a potential suitor for his recently divorced niece among a sea of white personal ads pegged to a board.
Pencil in hand, he jots down the man's details — 33 years old, 1.7 meters tall (5 feet 7 inches), 140 pounds, a property owner, divorced but no kids. The only wrinkle is that his salary is $800 a month, not high by Shanghai standards. No matter, says Liu, his niece has a good job.
Welcome to Shanghai's marriage market.
Each weekend, mothers, fathers and, in Liu's case, concerned uncles, come to a sun-dappled corner of Shanghai's People's Park to find Mister or Miss Right for their children.
Some write posters by hand listing their offsprings' vital statistics — height, age, income, education and their hukou or registered hometown — and pin them to umbrellas or shopping bags. Others come with a notebook to see what is available.
Liu is a veteran. He found his son a wife here and they've been married for more than a year.
"She's 1.69 meters tall (5 feet 6 inches) and beautiful like a movie star," he says. "He was happy to get the introduction."
With young Chinese told to put education and work before finding love, many struggle to find boyfriends or girlfriends, a source of deep concern for their parents in a society which emphasizes the survival of the family line.
Worried family members are joined by professional matchmakers, who try to make a living from the unusual gathering.
The city even organizes an "annual love and marriage expo" to help young people find love that attracts 18,000.
"A lot of kids who were born after 1980, they don't have siblings . So they grow up in an environment where you don't have the experience to meet with people of the opposite sex," Song Li, the founder of an online dating service, told CNN at the event in May.
The market has been around since 2004, says Li, who runs a professional matchmaking service from the park. With almost three times as many women looking for partners than men, it can be difficult to make a successful match.
Men can register for free, while she charges a fee of $500 for her female clients.
She also has an age limit; men born after 1970 can sign up, but women must be under 33.
"There's a shortage of superior men," she says by way of explanation. It's a similar story at Fan Dongfang's booth. He says he matches 20 to 30 people a year and brandishes a clutch of wedding invitations as if to prove it. He also has a glut of women on his books.
"There are too many leftover women in Shanghai," he says, using a popular term to describe educated, single, urban women over the age of 27. "Their standards are too high."
While the numbers stack up in favor of Chinese women — according to the China Statistics Bureau , there are now 34 million more men than women in China — this doesn't mean they will pair up easily.
Chinese men tend to "marry down" both in terms of age and educational level , observers say. Plus, many of China's unmarried men live in the countryside.
Distance is no obstacle to the parents' matchmaking ambitions, nor is their children's consent.
One mother displays a handwritten A4-sized poster in a clear plastic wallet seeking a match for her 36-year-old daughter, who works as an accountant in Toronto.
The market has an "overseas corner" for parents who have children living abroad.
"I can't give you my name because my daughter doesn't know I'm doing this and I don't want her to find out," she says.
"I just want her to find someone with a stable job, who is tolerant and open-minde d
【Source: The Wall Street Journal】
It’s one of the first things people think to do after losing a job: quick ly get a résumé into as many hands as possible. But career experts say doing so without a strategic plan is a mistake because it wastes time and energy and typically results in few callbacks.
Here’s how to fine-tune your résumé:
Make a wish list. Take the time to identify the companies you want to work for before you sit down to write your résumé. This can help you make key adjustments to the document. For example, knowing a company you are applying to is in the midst of making acquisitions can help you structure your résumé to highlight relevant work experience.
Use keywords. Recruiters often rely on keyword-search technology to sift through resumes. When responding to job ads, be sure to include the same language they contain in your résumé. For example, if you’re answering an ad for an arbitrator position make sure your document describes you as such and not a mediator, even though both terms refer to the same job. Tell your story. Once you’re ready to send out the résumé, make sure it’s doing the job of showcasing your skills and accomplishments. First, for each job you list, spell out the details of a work-related situation, any obstacles you encountered, the actions you took to resolve the issue, and the results that followed. Next, write out the complete story and then whittle it down to a series of concise descriptive bullet points.
Find an insider. Develop a networking list of friends, former colleagues, and acquaintances who might know people at your target companies. Then ask them to help ensure your résumé gets into the right person’s hands. Try a personal touch. Writing a tailored cover letter to accompany your résumé is one way to grab the attention of hiring managers. In it, demonstrate that you have researched the firm, for example, by mentioning its last quarterly report or a recent speech made by the CEO. Your ultimate goal is to stand out from the competition by showing you’re knowledgeable and interested in the particular organization you’ve targeted.
Re-evaluate after a lull. If you’ve been sending your résumé out for a month or more with no response, ask yourself a few questions. Have you developed a plan that outlines the job functions and industries that most interest you? Is your résumé lacking keywords or are your bullet points not playing to your strengths or the copmany’s needs? Does your cover letter provide details that make you stand out from other applicants