Many of the students preparing to sit the national civil service examination next month are in the middle of studying for a master's degree but are prepared to quit their studies should they pass.

A proportion of the students sitting the exam will be breaking the rules that state you cannot take the test if you have not yet graduated. Up to last Tuesday, a total of 1,415,138 candidates have registered for the exam.

The Global Times found that these students are either seeking to accumulate exam experience for a next time, or are in the hunt for a stable job, and ready to quit their studies due to the harsh employment situation.

"I treat it as a trial experience to warm up for the real one next time," said Li Hui, a second-year international relation graduate student at China Foreign Affairs University. "Having a look at the exam in advance gives me some reassurance about it and I know better what to expect when I sit it in the future," she added.

Li first took the civil service exam a year ago. She told the Global Times that she was reluctant to do it, but felt she had to due to the pressure of the job situation. Li said that, two years ago, she hadn't struggled to find work as a senior and had declined to take the civil service exam as the work didn't appeal to her.

She preferred to take the national graduate school entrance exam instead and go for a higher degree. But the financial crisis has urged her to change her mind.

"I had originally hoped to work in a foreign enterprise, but during the financial crisis, many small and medium-sized companies have suffered, and even some of my friends lost their jobs as companies downsized," Li said. "I realized that civil service work would be a stable job," she said.

Zhou Weiping, a teacher at China Foreign Affairs University, said that whatever choice students make, at least, ultimately, they are showing their willingness to tackle the employment situation.

"With more people enrolling for to be graduate students every year, master's degrees may be losing their value," he said. "That a graduate student cannot wait to apply for the civil service exam before their graduation year reflects their anxiety on the employment issue."