The civil service exam is not the only way into the system: finish 2 years in a grassroots service project and you can apply for the directed recruitment plan of about 10% each year

Getting into the system is not only the civil service exam. Finish 2 years in a grassroots service project such as «三支一扶» (a named grassroots service program), and pass the assessment, and you can apply for a directed recruitment plan open only to these people. Each province is to set aside about 10% of its civil service recruitment plan each year for them. Take the postgraduate exam within 3 years and 10 points are added to the preliminary-exam total. The price is that those 2 years pay a fiscal subsidy.

Cost

No money. The price is 2 years of service at the township grassroots. Those 2 years pay a fiscal subsidy, not a market wage. The hard part is being able to stay through the 2 years.

Benefit

The notice on round 4 of the «三支一扶» plan says "the service term is 2 years." It also says: "Each province (autonomous region, municipality) shall each year set aside about 10% of the civil service recruitment plan for directed recruitment of people in the «三支一扶» plan and other projects serving the grassroots. When county and township public institutions openly recruit, they shall, according to local conditions, set aside a certain number or proportion of posts for special recruitment of people who have finished «三支一扶» service and passed the assessment... After hiring, a probation period need not be agreed." Directed recruitment and special recruitment mean these places are competed for only among people who have done a grassroots service project. Other people cannot apply. The same notice also says: "«三支一扶» participants who pass the end-of-term assessment and take the national master's entrance exam within 3 years have 10 points added to the preliminary-exam total, and are admitted first under otherwise equal conditions... Higher-vocational (junior-college) graduates who finish the term and pass the assessment may enter an adult higher-education bachelor's program starting from a junior-college credential without an exam." Entering without an exam means going on to the associate-to-bachelor program without sitting another exam. The notice also says: "People who had no work experience before joining the «三支一扶» plan, and who finish the term and pass the assessment, may within 2 years enjoy the policies for graduating students on the same terms in recruitment by government organs and by enterprises and public institutions, in starting a business, in settling hukou (户口), and in going on to further study. Years of «三支一扶» service at the grassroots count as work seniority, and the date they started work is the day they reported to the grassroots post." The central fiscal subsidy is 30000 yuan per person per year in the western region, 24000 yuan in the central region, and 12000 yuan in the eastern region. The opinion of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council says: "People who had no work experience before joining a grassroots service project, and who finish the service and pass the assessment, may within 2 years enjoy the policies for graduating college students on the same terms in recruitment by government organs and public institutions, in hiring by enterprises of every kind, in starting a business, in settling hukou, and in going on to further study." That opinion also says: "When organs at provincial level or above recruit civil servants, except for special posts, they shall, under the relevant rules, recruit only from people with 2 or more years of grassroots work experience." Another path is the western program. It is "jointly organized by the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security." It recruits graduating college students or current graduate students "to do volunteer service at the western grassroots for 1 to 3 years" (nationwide).

Notes

Round 4 of the «三支一扶» plan covers 2021 to 2025. A round 5 document and a 2026 recruitment notice were not found this time. Check that year's recruitment announcement before you apply. In 2025, central finance supported recruitment of 34430 people. The original implementation plan of the western program cannot be found online, and the policy column on the official site does not open the content. Benefits after that program ends follow the document from the General Offices of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council that covers all grassroots service projects. These 2 years pay a fiscal subsidy, not a market wage. That price has to be counted together with the directed recruitment after the 2 years. How a graduate's fresh-graduate status is recognized, and what to check before signing a job, is in item 17 of this section ("fresh graduates").

Sources · 3

1. 中共中央组织部、人力资源社会保障部等十部门 (2021). 关于实施第四轮高校毕业生「三支一扶」计划的通知（人社部发〔2021〕32 号，第七、八、九、十一、十二、十三条）. gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/2021-06/04/content_5…
2. 中共中央办公厅、国务院办公厅 (2017). 关于进一步引导和鼓励高校毕业生到基层工作的意见（第五、十六、十八条）. gov.cn/gongbao/content/2017/content_5171278.htm
3. 全国大学生志愿服务西部计划项目管理办公室 (2026). 2026—2027 年度大学生志愿服务西部计划招募协议书. xibu.youth.cn/tzgg/202604/t20260423_16623558.htm