This study reviews the „extreme” pace of civil service legislation in recent years primarily through the legislative interpretation of the concept of civil service career, that is the regulation of promotion and salary systems. This study’s starting point is that the legal policy goals behind the civil service laws often interpret the concept of a civil service career in a simplistic way and the introduction of a new career is considered primarily as a tool of some wage policy measure. Firstly, it examines the concept of career from a scientific point of view and then moves on to its legislative approach. The study deals with the international personnel policy tendencies and finally it compares the promotion and salary systems of the Hungarian civil service. The main research questions can be summarized as follows. Which system solution is “better” in line with international trends in civil service legislation? What solutions characterize one or another legal status? Finally, can differentiation contribute to the modernization of civil service careers? At all, can we talk about solutions in this case or are we currently witnessing some “post-bureaucratic” search in a way?