The Government announced today that it will expand the pool of eligible candidates for civil service jobs requiring at least an undergraduate degree to undergraduates or postgraduate students in their penultimate year of study.
 
In the past, government departments or grades would generally consider only final year students or those who have already obtained the relevant qualifications during recruitment.
 
Under the new initiative, departments or 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.
 
Successful candidates with conditional offers can join the civil service upon graduation, subject to their fulfilment of specified conditions, including the completion of the relevant academic qualification within a stipulated period of time.
 
At a media session this morning, Secretary for the Civil Service Ingrid Yeung explained that as part of the Government’s goal of encouraging people to join the civil service, the new measure aims to attract those with aspirations to serve the community.

“This initiative (on expanding civil service recruitment to undergraduate students in their third year of study) is not (intended) to snatch people from the private sector, but (rather) to give greater certainty to those university undergraduates who, before their final year, have already made up their minds that they want a career in the civil service.

“It is to give greater certainty for them. It is to enable them to prepare themselves better for civil service jobs.
 
“And this is also a measure that has been in practice in the private sector for (a) long (time), so we are simply doing what the private sector is doing as well.”
 
In a four-year curriculum, students in their third year of undergraduate studies in the new academic year or those currently in their third year of undergraduate studies are eligible to apply for civil service jobs requiring an undergraduate degree.
 
Mrs Yeung met representatives of eight University Grants Committee-funded universities at the Central Government Offices this morning before the media session to exchange views on how to encourage more university students with aspirations to serve the community to join the civil service on campuses.
 
In light of the initiative, the Civil Service Bureau will adjust the arrangements of the relevant civil service recruitment examinations.
 
The Common Recruitment Examination and the Basic Law & National Security Law Test tentatively scheduled for October in Hong Kong and December in cities outside Hong Kong, and the Joint Recruitment Examination (JRE) scheduled for December will be open to people holding a bachelor's degree, undergraduate students graduating in the 2023-24 academic year or the 2024-25 academic year.
 
The JRE requirement applies to posts including Administrative Officer, Executive Officer II, Assistant Labour Officer II, Assistant Trade Officer II, Management Services Officer II and Transport Officer II.