There was a time when Sangu J. Delle ’10 seemed to have the job market in the palm of his hand.

The high-profile Delle, who serves as president of the Black Men’s Forum, spent his first two summers as a college student working at prominent financial firms. As a freshman, Bear Stearns came calling. Goldman Sachs took him on as a sophomore. And those were not his only choices.

But in the face of the most disastrous financial downturn since the Great Depression, times have changed, Delle said, and so has his grip on the job market.

“Last year I had offers from everywhere, from Merrill Lynch to Bear Stearns to Morgan Stanley, he said. “Half these firms don’t exist anymore—the offer letters I have now are historical documents.”

Delle’s plight is hardly unique. This year, hundreds of Harvard students hoping to enter the finance industry are facing the most difficult career and internship marketplace in decades, as the firms remaining on Wall St. are shrinking their workforce and turning away even the most qualified applicants.

Signs of the new crunch are not hard to come by, especially for young job-hunters immersed in the recruiting process.

Kayley E. Laren ’09, the chief investment officer for Smart Women Securities—a student group dedicated to investment education—said that many firms are not looking to hire much beyond the size of their summer class.

“There are far fewer firms that are in the career pool because of bankruptcies and acquisitions,” she said. “Frankly, if you’re just looking at a numbers game, it’s frightening.”

While she was applying through the Office of Career Services’s e-Recruiting system, Laren noted far fewer interview slots this year. She also said that offers were coming much later than in previous years because of market volatility and uncertainty about government intervention.

Judging the student concerns about the job market, she said that most student groups related to finance and consulting have “taken a hit” in recent months.

According to Laren, Smart Woman Securities had experienced a drop in both new and returning membership relative to previous years.

Students and career counselors have both been looking for ways to cope with the financial landscape’s sharp new contours.

After three major investment banks folded in the last year, students have expressed increased interest in smaller boutique firms, that have suffered less in the face of market volatility.

Harvard’s Office of Career Services began offering special information sessions called “Boutique Nights,” in response to increased student demand.

Stephen M. Marks ‘06, an analyst at the New York boutique firm Greenhill & Company who has interviewed students at Harvard and Princeton, said that summer applications to his company from Harvard students had nearly doubled this year.

Marks, who is also a former Crimson managing editor, added that part of the uptick could have been due simply to increased recruiting efforts by the firm.

Besides looking at smaller companies, students also appear to be more receptive to far-flung locales in their job searches.

Elena D. Butler ’10 said that traditionally unpalatable cities were coming into play more than in times past.

“I definitely have been surprised at how many of my friends who were focused on staying in New York or Boston are now willing to take a job elsewhere after graduation,” she said.

Butler, who has interviewed with companies in both finance and consulting, said that although she thinks of herself as a calm person, the process of finding a summer internship has caused her to be “much more stressed out than she has been in a long time.”

But Delle, despite his difficulties this year, said he saw the situation somewhat differently, offering an optimistic perspective on the current job market.

“For people who were following the crowd into finance, it’s time to follow your passions,” Delle said. “In these markets where job security is almost an oxymoron, you want to do what you love.”

—Staff writer Victor W. Yang can be reached at vyang@fas.harvard.edu.