Jobseekers drawn to civil servant exams

By Kim Bo-eun

Over the past three years, Kim, 31, has been studying for the state exam to become a civil servant, one of the most coveted jobs sought by young jobseekers for its security.

However, passing the test became so hard as the competition ratio hovers about 40 to one.

“When I take the test and get disappointing results, I feel like giving up on everything,” he said.

Hundreds of posts by people like Kim come up daily on the 250,000-member online community “dokgongsa,” which stands for “people who doggedly prepare to become civil servants” in Korean.

The job is in demand not only by college students and graduates, who have trouble landing a decent position in the tough job market, but also among older people with work experience who are dissatisfied with their job or have been laid off.

“I am in my late 30s, have been married for five years and have two sons. I worked for over 11 years at a company, but I was laid off. I started up a business but it didn’t go very well. I thought about what I could do, as I had technology skill certificate so I decided to study to take the civil service exam for a technical position,” a man posted on a different online community.

Reflecting on the popularity, some 160,000 people took the written test for the entry level 9 civil servants across the country, Saturday, hoping to get one of the 4,120 positions available.

Some desperate test-takers even seek unfair means to land the job. Last month, a 26-year-old university student broke into a government building in Seoul several times, first to steal the paper for the civil servant test and later to alter his test score. When he was taken to a detention center after a local court issued an arrest warrant, he told reporters, “I’m sorry, I wanted to become a civil servant.”

There are many reasons for the high popularity.

The first is job security. While employees at private companies start to retire in their 40s, civil servants are able to work until the age of 60. The pension for public workers also gives more benefits than private-sector ones.

For starting level civil servants, yearly pay ranges from 26 million to 27 million won, when including extra payments for meals and welfare. This may look small, as a survey by the Korea Employers Federation on 414 companies last year showed the average income for entry level employees who graduated from a four-year university, was around 35 million won.

However, the number of jobs at the companies was very small compared to the huge number of jobseekers. A different survey on small-and medium-sized companies with less than 300 employees, showed a starting level salary for non-regular workers was 22 million won.

For female workers, guaranteed maternity leave and a flexible work system are also attractive factors. The percentage of female applicant for the level 9 civil servant examination this year was the highest at 53.6 percent.

“Considering the pay, pension, early retirement and stress at private companies, a civil service job is much better,” Kim said.