Spain's exam-or-bust generation: fleeing the private sector for civil service jobs

From IT technician to street sweeper: why a vocational IT degree ends in civil service exams

He is 32 years old, holds a Higher Vocational Qualification in Networked Computer Systems Administration (ASIR), and has a diagnosis: "A profession completely swallowed up by AI." His answer is to sit the oposiciones, Spain's competitive public sector exams, even if it is for a street sweeper job. He is not an isolated case. He is the snapshot of a generation that, faced with the volatility of the private tech sector, is looking to the public sector as a lifeline.

The path, according to those who have already walked it, is not impossible. The C1 group exams of the AGE (Spain's central state administration) can be passed with one hour of daily study for a year or two. Method: multiple-choice tests and outlines. "A bit like getting a driving licence." But geography matters. For someone from the Canary Islands, the rational option is not to move to Madrid, but to go for local vacancies: municipal or port street sweeper. Decent wages for the difficulty of the exam.

The irony does not hide the resolve. Someone with a technical profile is now considering a job unrelated to his training. "Anything will do," the protagonist sums up. And the situation is critical. The dilemma is not whether sitting the exams is worth it, but whether there is any other way out. The expectation is that more people will trinc this route. The problem will come when vacancies dry up.