These are challenging times for people here and everywhere. Across most trades and professions, people have lost their jobs, are looking for new ones, or are new entrants into the employment market. Few people are wise enough to live seriously within their means, so hardship is inevitable.

We have not yet hit the bottom of the cycle in Bulgaria, so expect recessionary conditions a long way into 2010. Global economics and fierce competition from China and elsewhere mean we aren’t in full control, but our new Government is already showing good intentions to contain the downside.

We have several positive features working for us. The work ethic here is strong and not yet debased by the over-generous social security net in many developed countries which makes people lazy and   unmotivated. Entrepreneurship is strong and widely distributed, even if sometimes exercised within the grey economy. Few Bulgarians are highly borrowed in relation to income or assets, most own their houses outright, and periods of hardship have been the norm rather than a totally new experience as has happened in America. Typically, Bulgarians (and other East Europeans) working abroad are far more committed to their jobs and to customer service than local contemporaries in their host country.

Even without the present crisis it’s amazing how Bulgarians get along on earnings of about a fifth of Western European levels, while the cost of day to day living is already about half that in Britain, Germany or the US. Worse still, most capital goods including cars are about the same price as in developed countries. And I’m talking here about the normal people you and I know, not the "mutri" or the "lucky" few who have stashed away assets obtained dishonestly.

There are some confusing contradictions. The demographic time-bomb we face has been softened but not eliminated by the strong flow of Bulgarians returning from abroad. A proportion of young people, often from families with a hitherto excellent record of education, professional qualifications and job success, are alarmingly laid back about getting through university with good results and buckling down to the world of work. The old order of people like me who worked diligently for one company for 30 or more years hardly exists now.

Despite these mixed signals, my present job in HR tells me that there are enormous grounds for optimism. As confidence returns to the economy and the market place, and if our new PM shows that his single-minded policies are turning rapidly into decisive and measurable actions, there is going to be very strong demand for good people and a shortage in supply of the right candidates. This will be at all levels, in most sectors and industries. Don’t be complacent, but believe me, a well presented case, a rigorously prepared CV and a breadth of relevant experience will let you choose between several excellent job offers.

I am old enough to have been round this cycle several times. This time I’ll use that experience to help devise, for client companies, a new generation of employee assessment, recruitment, training and development programmes that will add true value and help ensure a vigorous exit from today’s recession. I will also be working on our counseling programmes for job-seekers, helping them prepare good CVs, present their case, and perform well at interviews. It will be hard work and very challenging, but will help Bulgaria and its ambitious reserves of "human capital" to earn their rightful place, and a new level of respect, in "the European family".