eFinancialCareers

I watched Alistair Darling give his pre-budget report this week and couldn’t help feeling it was all a bit futile. The saving of 2.5% on VAT will make absolutely no difference to the level of spending, especially as the cost of implementing the change for firms will probably drive up the cost of goods sold. The real announcement was the 5% tax hike for those earning over £150k. It’s a paltry sum in terms of revenues, but the message is clear: the government is taxing the higher earners who make excellent scapegoats for this entire mess, namely City bankers.

The truth is, however, that the City has no need of being bashed by the government – it’s quite happy to do all the bashing itself. It’s become a form of blood sport for ex-bankers to entertain each other with tales of woe concerning former colleagues.

The most brutal of these tales concern the many ex-bankers who thought bonuses would go on forever, borrowed to the hilt, and now face ruin. I guess the intention behind telling the stories is to make the audience feel a little better about their own situation. I, for example, am in a moderately perilous position myself, but the crunch isn’t having truly devastating consequences – yet.

In the meantime, there are jobs going. The consultancy I’m working for is scouting for candidates in anticipation of new business in the New Year. The roles are interesting, but there’s a high degree of uncertainty regarding the level of compensation.

Given this uncertainty, the calibre of candidates coming through the door has been something of a shock. I’ve seen senior people from bulge-bracket banks throwing their hats into the ring for what is, in reality, a risky start-up consultancy.

It speaks volumes about the huge overhang of candidates in the market and the level at which people are now pitching themselves. But when there are bills to be paid and school fees to cover, those out of work have to consider any option available.

It seems like fate that, every time I sit down to write this column, an e-mail from an inept recruitment firm pings into my inbox. This is the firm which tried to extract data from candidates about interviews they’ve had so that it can contact the interviewer to suggest alternative candidates. This time they’re asking if I know any suitable candidates for a role they’re recruiting for.

Dear XXXXX

I just wanted to get in touch as I am currently working on an active mandate and wanted to see if you know of anyone who may be interested in the position.

I understand that this is not suitable for yourself however from time to time when we have an active mandate and they are holding first round interviews quickly we like to get in touch via email.

In this case, the manager will not consider new applicants once first round talks have begun which will be next week and advertisements can often take a couple of days to be posted on the job sites/Bloomberg. In light of markets conditions with limited hiring I wanted to bring this vacancy to your attention, in the case that you may know someone who may be looking for such as role.

Ordinarily I might try to assist if I knew of anyone. In this case, I think I’ll give it a miss.