Overview
The Chinese military recruits civilian personnel (军队文职人员) each year through a unified open examination run by the Central Military Commission's political work department. It covers management-type and professional technical posts. Applications go through the military talent website (军队人才网). The details below come from the 2026 announcement.
Who can apply
Graduates of regular universities, including 2026 graduates and 2024 and 2025 graduates still within their two-year job-seeking window, and other qualified members of society.
Age 18 to 35 for management posts below grade 9 and entry-level technical posts, born November 1989 to November 2007. Age 18 to 45 for grade 8 and 7 management posts and mid-level technical posts, born November 1979 to November 2007.
Education, title and qualifications as the post requires. Degrees and titles must be held by 31 July 2026. Posts that skip the written test may accept the date of hiring, up to 31 December 2026.
Height meets the military medical standard, which may be relaxed, but not below 160 cm for men and 155 cm for women.
Political screening is required. People barred from applying include those with a criminal punishment, those expelled from the Party or from public service, serving soldiers, those on the dishonest-person joint-punishment list, and those dismissed by a military unit or a government or public-institution employer less than five years ago.
Applicants with an existing job need their employer's consent. A graduate of 2026 who is a directed or commissioned trainee, and serving civilian personnel, generally cannot apply. Relatives of leaders in the employing unit are barred from certain posts.
Exam pattern
For the 2026 recruitment, the unified written test was held on 14 December 2025 in major cities. The syllabus page (last dated 2023) lists a public subject and 26 professional subjects, including social science theory, accounting, auditing, economics, law, education, sports, journalism, English, mathematics with physics or chemistry, clinical medicine, nursing, management and others. Some posts, such as master's-level science, engineering and medicine posts that require a degree from a Double First-Class university or discipline, go straight to interview without a written test.
Important dates
For the 2026 recruitment, online registration ran from 3 November 2025 at 08:00 to 9 November at 18:00. The written test was on 14 December 2025, and approval and hiring were planned to start from May 2026.
How to apply
Register online at the military talent website (81rc). Interviews require extra documents, such as an employer's consent letter for people already employed, and a degree certification report from the education ministry's body for people who studied abroad.
Preparation tips
Check the post table first and match your degree, major, title and age to a specific post.
Download the syllabus for the public subject and your professional subject from the military talent website.