TRANCHED: Competition for jobs is at fever pitch

I got a chilling reminder this week of just how competitive things are in the job market at the moment.

Although I'm in a short-term position, I'm still applying for roles that are better suited to my long-term career aims. A headhunter sent me a job spec for a role in the structured credit risk team of a bank. It matched my skill set and experience very closely, and I encouraged him to put my CV forward. He told me that the role had been advertised for a week or so, but that he'd give me some feedback as to developments.

The feedback was rather alarming. For this single role, the client was sent 150 CVs and took 30 candidates to second interview for the position. This was before I even added my CV to the list.

I thought I was well aware of how bad things are, but the sheer scale of these number still came as a surprise. It underlines the challenge faced by those who are out of the market at the moment.

The ratio of applicants to opportunities also highlights the importance of having and using a network. With the numbers stacked against the applicant, the sensible solution is to try to leverage your network of contacts in the most effective way possible. This is something that I have been continuing to press forward with and it seems to be by far the best source of leads.

Meanwhile, I am being deluged with change of address e-mails as people switch from their @xxxxbank.com addresses to the @hotmail.com variety. This suggests the list of people wounded during the crunch is lengthening at an accelerating pace.

I've also noticed an increasing number of friends who are leaving the UK. A few have gone chasing the dream in Dubai and the Middle East, hoping to reinvigorate their careers on the back of the Emirates boom. I suspect that they may be just rushing from one bust to the next.

The short-term consulting position I've taken has reinforced the importance of keeping your market and product knowledge up to date. Over the past couple of weeks I've scratched my head over product-related queries that six months ago would have got a quick-fire answer: it's amazing how easily these things slip.

As a result, I've spent any downtime dusting off my textbooks to re-educate myself on some of the basics that were worn away while I was out of the market. It's been a good exercise and something I wish I'd been more diligent about while I spent so much time at home over the summer. With the level of competition for jobs at fever pitch, it will definitely pay to keep your knowledge as sharp as possible. You may only get one shot at showing it off.