If you still want to take the civil service exam within 2 years of graduation, check how the announcement defines a "fresh graduate" before you sign a job or transfer your file: for the national exam, the file and hukou (户口) stay with the school or a talent service agency

Many posts in the national exam mainly recruit fresh graduates. If within 2 years of graduation you have not been placed in a work unit, and your file and hukou are still kept at the school or a talent service agency, you still count as a fresh graduate. Provinces say it differently. Fujian still counts you if you have signed a contract and paid social insurance (社保). So before you sign a job or transfer your file, read the announcement of the exam you want to take.

Cost

No money. Before you sign with an employer, spend half an hour finding the announcements of the exams you want and reading them through. The hard part is that localities say it differently, so you check exam by exam.

Benefit

The 2027 national civil service recruitment announcement says that, for central organs, "organs directly under them at city (prefecture) level and below mainly recruit fresh college graduates." Question 3 of that year's application guide answers whether a past graduate counts as a fresh graduate. The original text is: "A graduate of an ordinary higher-education institution under the unified national admissions plan who, on leaving school and during the job-seeking period (the state sets the job-seeking period at 2 years), has not been placed in a work unit, and whose hukou, file, and organizational affiliation are still kept at the original school, or kept at graduate-employment authorities at each level (graduate employment guidance and service centers), talent-exchange service agencies at each level, and public employment service agencies at each level, may be treated as a fresh college graduate." The job-seeking period is the 2 years after graduation spent looking for work. So the national exam requires both things at once: no work unit placed during the 2 years, and the file, hukou, and organizational affiliation not transferred to an employer. Each province sets its own exam. Fujian's 2023 notice says: "For that year's fresh graduates, signing an employment agreement or a labor contract, or paying social insurance, does not affect recognition as a fresh graduate; a graduate of the previous year who has work experience and a social insurance payment record may apply for a fresh-graduate post." This covers Fujian's civil service, public institutions, state-owned enterprises, and central-enterprise offices in Fujian. Chongqing's 2025 notice writes the exams separately. For Chongqing's civil service exam, it copies the national-exam sentence above. For Chongqing's public institutions and state-owned enterprises, as long as within 2 years you have not been hired into a staffed post, "signing an employment contract (agreement), work experience, and payment of social insurance do not affect the application" (nationwide, and each province sets its own).

Notes

The national-exam guide does not say whether signing a labor contract or paying social insurance counts as "being placed in a work unit." If you are not sure, call the consulting phone of the recruiting organ printed on the guide. Question 21 of the guide tells candidates to go straight to the recruiting organ. What is often said online, that paying social insurance means you no longer count as a fresh graduate, is the rule of some exams, not a rule for the whole country. The Fujian and Chongqing notices cited above are only examples. Provinces may change them every year. Follow the announcement of the year you take the exam. People in a grassroots service project such as «三支一扶» can also apply for fresh-graduate posts within 2 years after the term ends. See item 7 of this section (grassroots service projects). The same application guide also states that this exam does not designate a prep book, and does not run or entrust any institution or person to run a prep class. Article 4 of the Regulations on the Recruitment of Civil Servants states that civil servants are recruited by "open examination, strict assessment, equal competition, and admission of the better candidates." So if someone takes money and promises an "internal slot" or "a guaranteed staff post," treat it as a scam and report it. See section 8, item 3 (hard rules on fraud). The national-exam wording here follows the 2027 announcement as of October (10) 2026. In later years, also read that year's announcement.

Sources · 5

1. 国家公务员局 (2026). 中央机关及其直属机构 2027 年度考试录用公务员公告，及同年度报考指南（第 3、11、21、48 问），铜仁市人民政府网转载. trs.gov.cn/xwzx/tzgg/zkxx/202610/t20261013_90…
2. 国家公务员局 (2025). 中央机关及其直属机构 2026 年度考试录用公务员报考指南（第 3 问同文），北京市人民政府网转载. beijing.gov.cn/fuwu/bmfw/sy/jrts/202510/t2025…
3. 中共福建省委组织部等四部门 (2023). 关于应届高校毕业生就业有关政策的通知（闽人社文〔2023〕84 号，第一条）. rst.fujian.gov.cn/zw/zfxxgk/zfxxgkml/zyywgz/z…
4. 中共重庆市委组织部等四部门 (2025). 关于高校毕业生就业有关事项的通知（试行）（渝人社规〔2025〕5 号，第一、二、三条）. rlsbj.cq.gov.cn/zwgk_182/zfxxgkml/zcwj_145360…
5. 中共中央组织部 (2019). 公务员录用规定（第四条）. 12371.cn/2020/01/08/ARTI1578447606460158.shtml（共产党员网刊登）