 In 1806, Qishan obtained the position of a "yinsheng" (蔭生; or "shengyuan" 生員) in the entry-level imperial examination and was recruited into the civil service as a "yuanwailang" (員外郎; assistant director) in the Ministry of Justice.In 1819, he was promoted to "xunfu" (provincial governor) of Henan Province but was later demoted to "zhushi" () and put in charge of river works.Since then, he served in a number of appointments, including Viceroy of Liangjiang (1825–1827), Sichuan (1829–1831) and Zhili (1831–1840), and Grand Scholar of Wenyuan Cabinet ().