According to the latest data released by the State Civil Service Bureau, the recruitment scale of the national public service in 2024 will be 3960,000 people, while the number of people who passed the qualification examination reached 30330,000 people, an increase of more than 400,000 compared to 2023, and the ratio of the number of people who have passed the qualification examination to the number of people who are hired is about 77:1. The top 10 positions with high competition have a ratio of more than 1700:1, and even the highest has reached 3572:1. The intensity of the competition is reminiscent of thousands of horses crossing a single-plank bridge, or even a tightrope. In the final admission results, 3,571 people will lose the chance to be admitted, and their faces are full of helplessness and loss. It is worth noting that the entry threshold has also changed significantly. According to the data, in 2024, there are only 56 positions that college students can apply for, a decrease of 106 from last year. This is undoubtedly a heavy blow to those young people who have a college degree but want to get a chance. On the contrary, the number of jobs requiring a master's degree or above increased to 2,046, an increase of 814 from last yearThere are 24 positions requiring a doctoral degree, an increase of 14 from last year. It can be said that in 2024, the competition for academic qualifications will become more fierce and cruel, and the probability of those with high academic qualifications being eliminated will also increase significantly. In this era of "fighting for academic qualifications", diplomas have become the main competition**. And the national public *** not only to look at the results of the written test, but also to look at the eloquence and reaction ability in the interview, and even to examine the impression of the examiner. Although it is inevitable that there will be phenomena such as "in-house households" and "related households", on the whole, personal ability is the key factor in determining whether an applicant is finally admitted. It is precisely because the national public government should not only look at the skills on the pen, but also look at the kung fu on the mouth, the storage in the brain and the reaction ability of thinking, therefore, in the final admission chance, simply relying on academic qualifications may no longer be effective, and comprehensive ability determines whether the applicant can become the winner.
In stark contrast to the popularity of the public entrance examination, the number of graduate students in 2024 has declined. According to the information released on the official website of the Ministry of Education, the number of applicants for the 2024 national master's admission examination is 4.38 million, 360,000 less than in 2023, which is the first downward trend since 2016. This result came as a surprise to many and was also unexpected. While change may be inevitable, the magnitude of the change is still surprising. The decline of 360,000 is more impactful than the decline in growth. Moreover, such a situation was foreshadowed in last year's application. Compared to 2022, the growth rate of the number of applicants for postgraduate entrance examination in 2023 has slowed down significantly, from 212% dropped to 37%, a decrease of nearly 18 percentage points. The decline in the number of applicants this year further indicates that the popularity of postgraduate entrance examinations is rapidly weakening. On the one hand, the intensification of competition for national public education qualifications, and on the other hand, the decline in the number of graduate students, these phenomena have triggered us to think: has the concept of young people changed?Are they no longer interested in academic qualifications?Or is it that employers no longer pay attention to the pursuit of diplomas?Obviously, none of these are real reasons. The number of positions available to tertiary students has decreased significantly, while the number of positions available to graduate and doctoral students has increased, indicating that employers' pursuit of diplomas is still very obvious. It's just that there is a phenomenon in the national public process, that is, there is no obvious gap between graduate and undergraduate students in terms of cost performance. In terms of other recruitment, the cost performance of graduate students is not necessarily higher than that of undergraduate students, and many units pay more attention to the "first degree" of applicants. The so-called "first degree" refers to the ordinary full-time undergraduate degree of the national education series, which is not the highest degree, but the original degree. If the undergraduate is an ordinary university, then no matter how good the master's or doctoral school is, the employer may turn away these applicants by setting thresholds and other means, and choose those with a higher "first degree". Although the Ministry of Education has publicly responded that the concept of "first degree" does not exist in the relevant policies and documents of the national education administrative department, employers attach more importance to "first degree" and it is irrelevant whether the education administrative department has such a concept. As a result, the impact of applying for graduate school across schools and majors has increased significantly, leading a considerable number of young people to choose to work first and then consider whether to continue their studies for graduate or doctoral degrees. Compared with the postgraduate entrance examination, concentrating on the public examination has become the real idea of many young people. As for whether it is a change in perception, two years of change alone is not enough to draw a correct conclusion, and further observation is needed. Some believe that the decline in the number of graduate students may be related to the increase in the number of people studying abroad after the pandemic. There are reasons for this, but there are also questions about whether having overseas study experience is still an advantage. Because "returnees" are no longer synonymous with "popular", they already need to rely on strength and ability to gain a competitive advantage. Perhaps, this is a sign of China's progress, but also a sign of the maturity of employers, and a sign that young people need to change their mindsets.