A website offering village-level official assistant posts was shut down yesterday after tens of thousands of college graduates clicked on it.

They were also too early, as an official said the recruitment policy was still awaiting final approval from the city's top authority. "It is not clear yet when applications will begin," the official, surnamed Peng, said.

Universities and local media had revealed that the city had set aside 279 official assistant openings for graduates this year and those who managed to land such a job would be granted the same benefits as civil servants.

Notices on the Website of the Shanghai Career Guidance Center for Graduates and local universities' Websites said applicants who met basic qualifications should apply from 10am yesterday to Sunday 12pm on shjcdj.cn and confirm their applications at their schools' career centers.

Some local print media reported the news yesterday, with a view to reminding applicants not to miss the deadline.

But when students clicked on the Website yesterday morning, they saw a notice saying applications had been postponed. From noon, clicking on the Website brought no response.

An official with the Website, who declined to be named, said too many people had clicked on the site and it had frozen.

The Website was back to normal in the afternoon, with a new notice saying applications were not yet being accepted and applicants should turn to the Website for information only.

News about the jobs had been mistakenly made public too early, Peng said. "So far we haven't received final approval from the top authority to begin the application process."

Last year there were 200 village-level official assistant posts on offer in Shanghai's 10 counties, attracting 4,549 online applicants, said the city organization department.

As part of a national policy, 1,857 villages in Shanghai's rural areas will have at least one graduate employed in each in 2010.

(Shanghai Daily March 12, 2009)