Graduates from universities outside Beijing are for the first time being given the chance to enter the race to win a job with the capital's government.

The civil servants examination, which opened to applications on Monday, will this year accept people with bachelor degrees or above from 39 selected colleges across China.

"We want graduates from leading universities who can improve our structure, especially at the grassroots level, since most of the job vacancies are in districts or counties," said Wei Xiufeng, director of examination and recruitment for Beijing Human Resource and Social Security Bureau.

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Applicants from non-local colleges who throw their hats into the ring before Friday will vie for 542 vacancies, accounting for 40 percent of all posts up for grabs. Results of the exam will be released in August.

"It's definitely good news," said Zhang, a postgraduate student at Xi'an Jiaotong University in Shaanxi province who did not want his full name used. He complained it is difficult for students like him to find work in the capital. "The exam offers more opportunities," he said. "I hope the policy will be the same next year when I graduate."

However, not all graduates are so enthused. "We don't care about the policy. It's too late," said Wang Xiaoguang, a graduate from Northwestern Polytechnic University in Xi'an. Most of his classmates have already got jobs, with some starting work in April.

Of the 4,189 vacancies, 183 will be reserved for the 305 outgoing cunguan, who are college-educated village cadres. "About 70 percent of village cadres pick civil service as their first choice," said Yang Gang, deputy director of graduate employment for the human resources bureau.

The city will this year cut the number of civil servant exam from two to just one.