The Craze of Entering the Civil Service

For over a decade, the craze of Chinese college graduates taking qualifying examinations to become civil servants has remained unabated. An important proportion of graduates view civil service as their top priority in job selection and they spare no efforts in preparing for those examinations, sometimes years before their graduation.

To some extent, this craze is a modern revival of the ancient notion that “those who excel in academics end up in officialdom.” In the present-day China, however, there are complicated reasons underlying this phenomenon. The jobs in sectors other than civil service are insecure and unstable, and employees have to work under greater stress faced with growing competitions in the workplace and the industry. Some government departments are related to monopolized industries and civil servants can enjoy unusually high salaries and welfare benefits. Finally, government officials are usually regarded as occupying the highest rung of the social hierarchy and a student who succeeds in becoming government official is considered the pride of the family, adding prestige and glory to the entire clan.

For all the apparent attractions of the officialdom, the craze of entering the civil service is a distorted one. In the United States, truly ambitious students enter the industry instead of civil departments, where they apply their individual initiative to achieve personal success. It has already been pointed out that, with so many best minds of the nation fighting their way into the civil sectors, the consequences are catastrophic. The civil servants system, with its inherent bureaucracy and rigid rules, would inevitably turn the otherwise energetic and aggressive young people into docile followers of their superiors’ instructions and dutiful but mediocre implementers of executive orders. This will considerably undermine the vitality of a whole generation and the competitiveness of the entire country in the international arena. All forms of craze are accompanied by elements of irrationality and abnormality and, the sooner this craze vanishes, the better.

                                       考公务员热


        十多年以来，中国大学毕业生参加资格考试成为公务员的热潮，一直势头强劲，丝毫不减。相当一部分比例的大学毕业生将文职系统作为其选择工作的最优项，并且不遗余力地进行备考，有时往往在毕业前的几年就着手进行了。

        在某种程度上，这般热潮是“学而优则仕”这一古代观念在现代的复活。但在当下的中国，这一现象背后则隐藏着更为复杂的原因。文职体系之外的部门中，工作缺乏稳定性和固定性；面对着工作单位内部以及来自业界的日趋激烈的竞争，雇员们必须在更大的压力下工作。成为公务员则舒适安慰得多。另外，某些政府机构与垄断行业有关，那里的公务员可以享受到极高的薪水和福利待遇。最后，政府官员往往被视为占据着社会等级体系中最高的层级，一个能成功地成为政府官员的学生无不被看作家庭的骄傲，能够为整个家族带来声誉和荣耀。

        尽管公务员体系不乏所有这些明显的诱人之处，但考公务员热却是一个畸形扭曲的现象。在美国，真正有抱负的学生，会选择进入业界，而非进入文职部门；在业界，他们发挥其个人进取心，来实现人生的成就。早就有人指出，中国如许多最优秀的人才削尖了脑袋往文职部门里挤，其后果是灾难性的。公务员体系，以其所固有的官僚体制及清规戒律，会将原本是精力充沛、敢做敢为的年轻一代，变成服服帖帖的应声虫，对长官意志惟命是从；在执行行政命令的过程中，虽恪尽职守，但终究碌碌无为。这将在相当程度上削弱整个一代人的活力，削弱整个国家在国际竞技场上的竞争力。所有的狂热背后必伴随着非理性与反常的成分，因此，考公务员热如能尽早消失，则善莫大矣。