单选题
Career With a Uniform
Want to be the next Xu Sanduo? The TV drama Soldiers' Sortie (Shibing Tuji) might have caused millions of young people to dream idly of putting on an army uniform and going off to boot camp.
In fact, a large number of students graduating might consider doing just that. Last month, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) announced that there will be 120,000 job openings this year for college grads. So, one out of every 50 grads has a chance if he or she would like to march down to the local recruiting office. Anyone enlisting will get preferential treatment in tuition compensation and in job opportunities.
This decision comes against a backdrop of bad employment news and a cooling economy. This year's recruitment quota outnumbers last year's 39,000 by about three-fold.
"It's important to pull in fresh, talented people who can deal with the new equipment and a high-tech military to modernize the nation's defense," said Bai Zixing, a senior officer in the PLA General Staff Department.
The age limit for college recruits has been raised to 24, and there's one more important policy change: Crads who have already volunteered to sign up can quit if they change their minds after finding another job before November, the deadline for enlistment. This gives grads an extra choice in starting a career.
The following is a list of preferential things that college grads qualify for if they join the army:
A one-time recruitment payment of up to 24,000 yuan, to cover four years of college tuition and loans (this has to be returned if the person is forced to leave the army before completing the service contract).
Priority in promotions and in getting admitted to military academies.
Anyone with a bachelor's degree or above and a good performance record can be promoted to the rank of officer directly, if they meet certain other criteria. An ordinary soldier may need a couple of years longer to get there.
Anyone with a junior college5 degree can go on for a bachelor's degree without having to take the entrance exams.
Anyone wanting to take the grad school entrance exam after completing their service can add 10 points to the exam results.
Anyone getting a merit citation second class can enter grad school without taking the exam after completion of the service obligation.
There are no restrictions on things like going abroad after the service period, unless one deals with confidential work in the army.