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interview and article: mu zhe

editor: cheese salted fish

after spending millions to study abroad at a world-renowned university, the best way out is still to return to your hometown and take the civil service exam?

a while ago, the civil service bureau of suzhou city, anhui province, announced the list of "public notice of proposed civil service recruitment in 2024". there was a candidate with a doctorate degree who graduated from stanford university in the united states and was proposed to be admitted to a grassroots position in a township government in lingbi county. this list has sparked heated discussions on the internet. netizens don't understand why a doctor who returned from studying abroad at a top university would choose to work in the township system?

● list of township civil servants to be investigated released by anhui suzhou city civil service bureau, picture from the internet

in the past two years, it has not been uncommon for overseas students to return to china to apply for jobs within the system. some media have reported that a harvard university master's degree graduate was employed by a street office in hangzhou; a yale university graduate became a civil servant in the suburbs of zhengzhou... with limited positions in urban system units, some overseas students have set their sights on their hometowns in rural areas.

#study abroad has a lower cost-effectiveness# #returnees have no obvious salary advantage# and other terms have been trending on weibo. on douban, young people who have returned from studying abroad also ridiculed themselves in the group "returnees waste recycling mutual aid association":

"my parents spent millions to send me abroad, but when i returned to china, i was immediately unemployed."

"if i can't find a job after graduating from the top 50 in qs, is it too late to go back to my hometown and take the civil service exam?"

● douban "returnees waste recycling mutual aid association", seeing the frustrations of international students

the era of studying abroad for a good living seems to be a thing of the past. after returning to china, the returned students have encountered a series of workplace crises such as finding a job, 996, salary cuts and layoffs. in order to seek stability, they no longer worry about sunk costs, nor are they obsessed with the neon lights of big cities. they are willing to return to their hometowns to take the civil service exams and earn a salary that is completely inconsistent with the cost of studying abroad.

"i spent 4 million yuan studying abroad for 6 years.

returning to the career post with a monthly salary of 4,000 yuan"

(@杨柳, studied in australia for 6 years and was admitted to a career position in her hometown)

yang liu's home province of hebei is known as a "high-volume province for college entrance exams," with fierce competition every year. fortunately, yang liu does not need to be involved in this competition. she comes from a wealthy family, and her parents have arranged a common path for middle-class families to cultivate elites since she was a child: attending an international high school, applying to a prestigious foreign university, and studying business abroad.

she once thought that such experience would make it easy for her to find a high-paying job in the future and achieve career success that is at least as good as her parents'.

● yang liu took a photo at the school gate during her study abroad. the photo was provided by the interviewee.

yang liu completed her undergraduate and postgraduate studies in australia. the university of sydney where she studied was one of the most expensive universities for studying abroad. she did some calculations: the annual tuition for the preparatory stage was 150,000 yuan, the annual tuition for the undergraduate stage was 250,000 yuan, and the annual tuition for the postgraduate stage was even higher. add to that the rent, transportation, travel and shopping expenses in sydney, and her family spent nearly 4 million yuan in six years studying abroad.

she majored in finance in her undergraduate studies, but because she liked the american tv series "the newsroom", and because the media industry is one of the most developed industries in australia, she studied media as an interdisciplinary major in her graduate studies.

● the picture shows the university of sydney taken by yang liu. she once went to the farm to see koalas.

in 2021, yang liu returned to china after graduating with a master's degree. her first stop was beijing. when she was ready to make a big splash, reality taught her a lesson. the education experience at a prestigious overseas university did not add much color to her resume. in the fiercely competitive job market, she often found that the job had closed as soon as she saw the job she liked. most of the offers she got after going through so many rounds were from small and medium-sized enterprises.

in the third month of job hunting, she lowered her expectations and joined a small internet company as a technology copywriter. since she had just graduated, her after-tax salary was only over 8,000 yuan, and her parents had to help her rent a house. seeing that her colleagues in the r&d department of the same company could earn 30,000 yuan, she felt a little unbalanced. she worked just as hard, but why was her salary so low?

unlike the relaxed atmosphere in australia, the overtime culture in china's first-tier cities also makes yang liu feel overwhelmed. when it's time to get off work, every colleague sits at his workstation without moving, and few people leave on time. even though she works from home during the epidemic, yang liu still has endless work to do, endless department meetings, and the same old ppts to write every day.

during the days she worked in this company, yang liu often suffered from insomnia. during a physical examination, she was found to have grade 2 thyroid nodules. the doctor said that this was related to her long-term mental stress and irregular work and rest schedule.

● yang liu was diagnosed with breast hyperplasia and thyroid abnormalities during a physical examination

after the results of the physical examination came out, she wanted to resign.

yang liu's parents were happy to see her resign and kept persuading her to go back to her hometown to take the civil service exam or the civil servant exam. yang liu was a little hesitant because the competition for civil servant exams was high and in her hometown of tangshan, even in the institutional units, she could not earn much money, at most 4,000 to 5,000 yuan a month.

but if she continued to stay in beijing, she would face huge pressure every day and there would be no hope of promotion. at least her hometown did not have a competitive exam system, and if she could really pass the exam and get into the system, she could live a comfortable life with the financial support from her parents, so she listened to her parents and prepared to return to her hometown tangshan to prepare for the exam.

after experiencing the torture of working 996 hours a day, yang liu coveted a job in the system. there are both advantages and disadvantages for international students to take the civil service exam. the ministry of foreign affairs and the ministry of commerce favor international students who are fluent in english, while some positions involving confidentiality and targeted selected students do not recruit international students (in recent years, some provinces and cities have begun to recruit international students for selected students). there are more opportunities to take the civil service exam, and the competition pressure is not as high as taking the civil service exam. considering my interests and major, i finally decided to apply for the education-related career exam.

during the preparation period, she collected information on local education positions, as well as practical experience shared by bloggers who had successfully landed the job. she made a study plan, got up at seven o'clock every morning, and except for a lunch break, spent almost all her energy on reading until she fell asleep at night.

she read the 500-page textbook over and over again, repeating the process of reading the book and doing exercises every day. she carefully went through the question bank she found online several times and also bought a lot of mock papers.

when yang liu got unsatisfactory results from the mock exams, she would feel anxious. at first, she would watch short videos to relieve stress. later, in order to improve efficiency, she simply uninstalled all the short video software. when she wanted to watch short videos, she would open the online course videos. when she was tired, she would complain to netizens who had returned from overseas and were also taking the exam. as a result, she also got to know many international students with similar experiences as herself.

● the picture shows the books yang liu is studying

the final result lived up to her efforts. after the written test results were announced, yang liu ranked second, and the interview, physical examination and political review also went smoothly. in order to prepare for the interview, she watched all the interview skills videos of up hosts on bilibili, such as being cheerful and speaking loudly during the interview, pausing for a few seconds when answering questions, and first drawing a general idea in her mind.

● yang liu often reads secrets for exams online. image source: b station up host @凡一来啦‍

“many of my friends took the exam for a long time but failed to get the interview, but i passed it in just one year.” yang liu said with a smile.

compared with the salary in beijing, the income from working in the system is now even lower, only a little over 4,000 yuan.

but she goes to work at 8:30 every day and gets off work at 5:00, with two days off, so her workload is significantly reduced. in addition, she also has all the benefits such as heatstroke prevention and cooling subsidies, heating fees, and housing provident funds.

after joining the company, yang liu also found that in a small city like her hometown, there were also g5 british masters from imperial college london in the same batch. she was not surprised.“returnees now have no advantages, especially those with a business or liberal arts degree.”

with a monthly salary of more than 4,000 yuan, yang liu cannot make back the money she spent on studying abroad. however, she said she has no regrets. the past few years studying abroad have broadened her horizons and she will have a stable place to go in the future. she is already luckier than most of her peers. "if we can work hard to achieve stability, it may be the best outcome for our generation."

"sell the house to study abroad,

now i am employed in the township system"

(@威森, studied in the united states after work, now works in the township system)

among the international students who are taking the exam to study in the system, there are those like yang liu who have been attending international schools early on as candidates for studying abroad, and there are also those who have been in the workplace for several years and after encountering a career bottleneck, they thought of studying abroad.

after graduating from college, weisen joined a 4a advertising company in china as a designer. in his fourth year of work, he had health problems due to staying up late and working overtime. a big project he had been following for a long time was cut off. he was disappointed and had the idea of ​​studying abroad. he sold the only house his parents bought for him in chengdu, and with the savings from working for several years, he went to the university of southern california in los angeles to study architecture in 2018.

wisen chose to study abroad in los angeles because of his favorite movie "city of angels", which was set in los angeles. his first love also went to the university of southern california. he felt that he had an indissoluble bond with this city and this school.

during his time in los angeles, he often watched street performers singing, went to the beach to watch the sunset, and flew to new york's times square to wait for the new year countdown with strangers of different skin colors and races. it was a completely different state from the tense time at work.

● street artist, picture provided by the interviewee

after returning from studying abroad in 2020, weisen planned to join a large company or design institute to restart his career and earn money to return the money he spent on selling the house to his parents. however, not long after he returned to china, the real estate industry began to decline, affecting the construction industry. during his job search, weisen not only had to compete with fresh graduates from prestigious domestic universities, but was also criticized by hr for not meeting the age requirements. the popular situation of "a bunch of offers to choose from" before going abroad is gone forever.

weisen is from sichuan. chengdu has developed well in recent years, and he also thought about returning to the provincial capital chengdu for development. while he was hesitating, his mother was diagnosed with early bone cancer and needed someone to take care of her. weisen's next stop changed from chengdu to his hometown mianyang. he felt a little regretful after retreating again and again.

it was not cost-effective to sell the house for studying abroad. he always thought that going abroad could broaden his horizons, but now the internet is well developed and information barriers are gradually being eliminated. to put it another way, even if he wants to go abroad to see the world, traveling can also meet his needs.

● the los angeles coast, photo provided by the interviewee

after returning to his hometown in mianyang, there was a lack of suitable job opportunities for weisen. his parents were both working people in the system. the family was not rich, but they lived a worry-free life. if he could enter the system like his parents, it would become his best choice to stay in mianyang.

after experiencing the turmoil of layoffs, the difficulty of finding a job, and the call from his parents, he had to give up most social activities and entertainment, slept only six hours a day, and spent the rest of his time reading books and doing exercises, or taking care of his mother.

"it will be fine if you pass the exam"this idea continued to take root in his mind and became an obsession that he could not shake off.

"taking the civil service exam is like being besieged, isolating yourself from the outside world." during the preparation period, he felt that he was exhausted every day. as he got older, he had fewer opportunities to make mistakes.

● the picture shows the books that wesson read while preparing for the exam

weisen prepared for the exam for two years, and specifically applied for a township unit, as the competition pressure in townships was less than that in cities. in the third year of preparation, he entered a public institution in a township under the jurisdiction of mianyang city, which is a non-profit organization with a monthly salary of around 5,000 yuan. the unit would provide subsidies or gifts during the new year and other holidays.

luck was also a factor in his being able to enter his current unit. originally, wison's total score ranked fourth, but the position only recruited three people. the third one gave up, so he was admitted as a replacement.

now, every day, weisen has to sort out the materials of the leaders' speeches and write them into reports. although colleagues get along well with each other on the surface, everyone greets each other with a smile, but they don't open up to each other. weisen is not interested in the content of this job, but he doesn't hate it either. he just occasionally feels that the income is not proportional to the past efforts.

fortunately, work within the system is relatively leisurely, so weisen can also do a side job, writing planning copy for a friend's media company. he plans to save money and buy another house while housing prices are low.

he often thought that it would have been better if he had not studied abroad. if he could start over again, he might open a studio after working in his original industry for a few years, or he might seize the opportunity and devote himself to the video industry... it seemed that either path would be better than the current one.

he missed the joy he felt when he was just a graduate and the projects he was responsible for were implemented. in the institutional unit, weisen had not heard recognition from his superiors for a long time. now he has lost his passion for work. although he has landed physically, his heart is still drifting in the sea of ​​suffering.

"g5 graduates and ends up being 'sea waste',

i just hope i can get ashore before i turn 35."

(@卢潇, a master’s degree graduate from a prestigious british university, failed the civil service exam several times)

students who have already landed a job sometimes feel a little unbalanced when they think of the high price they paid to see the world. those who have not yet landed a job are still in the exhausting cycle of preparing for exams, and don’t even have enough energy to think about whether it’s all worth it.

this is lu xiao's third year of taking the civil service exam. he has tried hard every time but failed every time. this is something he never expected in his smooth 30 years of life. lu xiao originally studied finance at nankai university and worked as a broker at a local investment bank after graduation. the performance pressure in investment banks is very high. lu xiao, who has never suffered setbacks since he was a child, is often reprimanded by his superiors for failing to meet performance standards.

while taking advantage of the annual holiday to relax in the uk, he thought that if he wanted to engage in the financial industry in depth, his current knowledge reserves and work experience would not be enough, and he needed to further his studies abroad.

● the photo was taken by lu xiao in the uk

after thinking it through, lu xiao decided to resign and applied to university college london, one of the uk's g5 prestigious universities, to pursue a master's degree in finance. he stayed in the uk for two years.

during the two years in the uk, the life he imagined as a gifted child did not come true. he found that the employment prospects in the uk were not as good as he expected. in addition, lu xiao was introverted and not good at speaking, so he had few friends and was sometimes even discriminated against by local people. the colorful study abroad life on the internet had nothing to do with him, and he spent most of his time alone.

after completing his studies in 2019, he did not plan to stay in the uk, but to work in shanghai, still wanting to try his hand in the financial market. however, his proud resume in the past seemed to be nothing in shanghai, as the job seekers he met were all international students ranked within the qs 50 and masters from fudan university and shanghai university of finance and economics.

after a while, he finally found a job as a bond sales trader at a private equity fund company. with the impact of the epidemic and the wave of salary cuts in the financial industry, lu xiao was "optimized" not long after working in this company.

in 2021, when lu xiao returned to tianjin, he found that the number of local jobs was also decreasing sharply. both large state-owned enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises were shrinking in scale. he took a gap for a while and invested his few savings in the stock market, losing 400,000 yuan.

his parents tried to persuade him in vain, and could no longer tolerate it and scolded him, "how did you become like this today?" he said that he was no better than his cousin who had an ordinary non-key undergraduate degree. his cousin's academic qualifications were not impressive, but he had now passed the local civil service exam, had a decent job, was married, and had a harmonious family.

lu xiao is not opposed to taking the civil service exam. the financial industry he wants to work in has generally seen salary cuts and performance pressure is increasing. he cannot bear to ask his retired parents to lose face and find a job for him. at least if he works within the system, he does not have to consider internal competition and customer relationship maintenance. at most, he can talk less and do more. there is no kpi pressure, and his parents will also have face when they tell others about it.

at first, he planned to take the exams in the six districts of the city. he would take part in both the national and civil service examinations. due to the epidemic, the examination time was postponed, giving him more time to prepare for the exams.

lu xiao gets up at 8 o'clock every morning, reads a book, and listens to online classes at 9 o'clock. after class, he makes adjustments based on his weaknesses. in the first month, he focuses on learning basic knowledge, in the middle month, he practices questions to consolidate knowledge, and in the last month, he takes mock exams, strictly controlling the time and order of answering questions.

● the picture shows lu xiao’s mind map when preparing for the exam

he was good at taking exams since he was young, and thought that the civil service exam and the civil service exam should not be difficult for him. however, after three attempts, his written test scores were not satisfactory, and he did not even make it to the interview stage. lu xiao attributed the reason to the overheating of the civil service exam and the civil service exam. tianjin's in-system exam attracted top students from surrounding provinces with large exam populations to participate.

he squeezed out more time to prepare for the exam. due to the excessive pressure of preparing for the exam, lu xiao suffered from mild shingles and was always in a tense state. he said that if he failed the exam again this year, his body would not be able to bear it.

he plans to expand the scope of his application, and try positions in the four suburbs of tianjin, and even choose positions with ordinary salaries and lower recruitment ratios. for example, an accountant in a museum, which has almost no tourists, only earns 2,800 yuan. even with the year-end performance bonus and 13th salary, he only gets a little over 4,000 yuan a month, but it is a formal job.

lu xiao used to look down on such jobs, but he still applied this time and even made it to the interview stage. that was the closest he had ever been to getting a regular job, but he was rejected at the interview stage.

later, he placed his hope on the recruitment of library and veterans affairs bureau staff and took exams every once in a while, hoping to seize the opportunity and get a job as soon as possible.

during the years of preparing for the exam, lu xiao became less and less confident, and felt that he was the most unsuccessful among his peers in the extended family. others had already made it, but he had no social life, had invested his money in the stock market, and was still living off his parents in his thirties.

‍

sometimes he would open social media and look at the overseas returnees who had similar experiences to himself. many of them had annual salaries of hundreds of thousands or even millions, which made him doubt his own abilities. when chatting with female netizens on dating apps, he carefully introduced his current status:

in my thirties, unemployed, preparing for exams.

after chatting for a few sentences, the girls stopped replying without exception.

● the picture shows the conversation between lu xiao and the girl who rejected him

lu xiao's biggest wish at present is to get a job before the age of 35. he advises the international students who have not yet returned to prepare themselves mentally and practice stress resistance. the difficulties encountered during studying abroad are not comparable to the pressure of future employment.

as for those young people who plan to study abroad, lu xiao also advises them to carefully consider this decision.

he lamented that people often joked online that "the end of a career is employment", and people around him also said that taking the civil service exams were good ways out, but this seemingly bright future was right ahead, and he could not find the entrance.

● to protect privacy, all names in this article are pseudonyms.