Today's jobhunters must brush up on their interview skills, network and wear business suits.

During the heyday of the "new economy", when there was a massive skills shortage, job hunting took little effort. With unemployment at record lows and desperate firms wooing candidates with sky-high salaries and ridiculous perks, almost anyone could find a job. Now, with almost daily news of redundancies and layoffs, job-search basics - from pounding the pavement to wearing a business suit - are back in fashion.

If jobseekers want to get hired in the new climate where competition is a little stiffer, they better go back to the Interview Suit of the 1980s. When the dot-com bubble began to deflate last year, the moment seemed right for a return to formal business dress. The logic: Laid-off workers would be interviewing again, and those who had held on to their jobs would start dressing better, if only out of fear. Polls also claim that dressing up makes employees more motivated and productive.

With so many jobseekers competing for fewer opportunities, there has been a resurgent interest in job-hunting basics. Candidates are brushing up on interview skills, formal cover letter formats and their networking skills, according to Manchester Inc., a career management firm.

And candidates who think that mass emailing their CVs will be enough to get them hired had better think again. Recruiters report they are inundated with CVs and don't have time to pursue a candidates who doesn't follow up a CV submission with a phone call or even another, more personal email.

In the current economic climate, candidates also have to be open to career changes and investigating careers in industries different than the ones they are used to.

And even if your company appears sound and your job secure, a shaky economy could spur unexpected cuts. "Accept that your job may not be safe," says Nancy Collamer, author of The Layoff Survival Guide. "The reality is, very few people are indispensable."

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