In order to attract people with aspirations to serve the community to join the civil service and to enable young people to better plan their future career development, starting from this year, the Government will expand the pool of eligible candidates for civil service jobs requiring an undergraduate degree to students advancing to their third year of undergraduate studies (in a four-year curriculum) in the new academic year or those currently in their third year of undergraduate studies. Recommended candidates will be granted a conditional offer and will join the Government upon graduation.
The Secretary for the Civil Service, Mrs Ingrid Yeung, met with representatives of eight University Grants Committee-funded universities at the Central Government Offices today (June 1) to exchange views on how to encourage more university students on campus with aspirations to serve the community to join the civil service.
In the past, government departments/grades would generally consider only final year students or those who have already obtained the relevant qualifications during recruitment. Under the new initiative, departments/grades may, having regard to their manpower resources and operational needs, consider whether to expand the pool of eligible candidates to undergraduate or postgraduate students in their penultimate year of study, so they may apply for civil service jobs requiring an undergraduate or a postgraduate qualification. Such arrangements will be clearly set out in the recruitment advertisements. Successful candidates with conditional offers can join the civil service upon graduation, subject to their fulfillment of specified conditions, including the completion of the relevant academic qualification within a stipulated period of time.
Mrs Yeung said, "Every year, the Government conducts recruitment exercises for jobs of different professions and nature, providing a wide range of employment opportunities for graduates, young people and job seekers. For young people with aspirations to join the civil service, to serve the community and to contribute to the country, we hope to provide opportunities to them as early as possible and allow them to join the Government immediately upon graduation to realise their potential and fulfil their aspirations.
"This new initiative will be a win-win situation for young people, universities as well as the Government. Young people with aspirations to join the Government will be able to plan their careers early, focus on their studies and equip themselves after being offered a conditional appointment. Universities will be able to help more students interested in public services to plan ahead and better prepare themselves. The Government will be able to recruit talent as early as possible to infuse new blood into the civil service and build up a diverse talent pool."
She added, "As more and more public organisations and private enterprises have implemented similar initiatives, it is important for the Government to keep abreast with the times and recruit talent earlier. We will collaborate with universities and post-secondary institutions to provide details of the initiative to students in campuses."
Civil service recruitment examination arrangements
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The Civil Service Bureau will adjust the arrangements of the relevant civil service recruitment examinations in light of the above initiative.
The Common Recruitment Examination (CRE) and the Basic Law and National Security Law Test (Degree/Professional Grades) (BLNST) tentatively scheduled for October (in Hong Kong) and December (in cities outside Hong Kong) this year, and the Joint Recruitment Examination for Administrative Officer, Executive Officer II, Assistant Labour Officer II, Assistant Trade Officer II, Management Services Officer II and Transport Officer II (JRE) scheduled for December (in Hong Kong and cities outside Hong Kong) will be open to persons holding a bachelor's degree, final year undergraduate students (i.e. graduating in the 2023-24 academic year), and penultimate year undergraduate students graduating in the 2024-25 academic year.
The next round of the CRE and BLNST is tentatively scheduled to be open for application in August (for examinations in Hong Kong) and September (for examinations outside Hong Kong) this year, while the JRE (for examinations in and outside Hong Kong) is tentatively scheduled to be open for application in September.
It is expected that similar arrangements will be announced by different departments/grades. Those who wish to apply for civil service jobs early are advised to pay attention to the recruitment and examination details concerned.
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