'Mature student" - it sounds like a contradiction in terms, right? Not so here at Insead, writes Niall Dunne

Don't get me wrong - there's an excellent social life on campus, a host of extracurricular activities to choose from and more dinner parties to attend than there are hours in the day. So "mature students" really do live up to the cliche of playing hard - and working occasionally.

Yet our collective maturity has come to the fore in recent weeks, as our collective career search has begun in earnest. Undergraduates tend to leave university relatively debt-free, but the average MBA student graduates owing tens of thousands of euros.

Hence the "mature" (ie focused, intense and slightly panicked) manner in which the job search is now being undertaken - overdraft interest rates are starting to mount, and time is running out.

Theoretically, it's not that difficult to find a job. Insead's reputation thankfully ensures that a steady stream of top-tier graduate employers pass through the campus to advertise their vacancies once the recruitment season begins.

It's an annual autumn ritual colloquially known as the "milk round", during which corporate recruiters take to the road to deliver their pitches to all the top graduate schools.

Right now, the hottest tickets on campus are for private equity milk-round presentations, since most students still believe in the private equity model (and the riches it promises), despite the recent downturn in credit markets.

Investment bank presentations are also a perennial draw, since most students firmly believe that Wall Street is paved with gold.

Some of the firms even host games and simulations to give students a taste of potential careers.

Investment managers, for example, organise stock-picking games to give a flavour of the life of a fund manager, while investment banks run workshops on techniques such as valuation methods, a key tool for any aspirant financier.

Management consultancy presentations are another popular attraction for those students who want to use the skills acquired during the MBA to become advisers.

Students can also learn a great deal about the interview process through these milk-round presentations. Consultants, for example, have developed an interview technique called the "case study" method to assess a candidate's suitability as an adviser.

The case study format attempts to simulate a real-world advisory situation during an interview and requires a candidate to present a solution to a given problem in less than 30 minutes.

Bank interviewers are not content to test students' knowledge of the stock market and recent acquisitions; candidates will often be asked during an interview to conduct a back-of-the-envelope calculation of a company's value.

Gone are the days when interviewers were happy to inquire about strengths and weaknesses. No longer can we claim that our only weakness is "perfectionism". An MBA interview is more like a probationary period: prove you can do the job during the interview and you get hired.

In fairness, these interview techniques are about as meritocratic as possible, since hiring decisions are theoretically based on competencies, not contacts.

Those students not applying for financial and consultancy interviews tend to fall into two camps. First of all, there are the traditionalists - those who remember that the "M" in MBA stands for management.

Strange as it may seem, these radicals actually want to work in industry and manage real resources and cannot understand why three-quarters of the class are content to assume non- managerial roles in the services industries.

For the management purist, the challenge of running a factory is simply too appealing while the thoughts of a desk job are terrifying. Secretly I suspect they're on to something - "old economy" roles may offer a sense of satisfaction that desk-jockeys will never appreciate.

Then we come to the 5 per cent of students who have no patience whatsoever: the entrepreneurs. These non- conformists are already presenting to the venture capital community in a bid to attract funding for entrepreneurial schemes they hope to launch upon graduation.

Personally, I think we're all envious of these risk-takers, since every business student dreams of (a) inventing a better mouse trap, (b) making millions and (c), being lauded as one of the school's great success stories and being invited back to address the 10-year reunion, much to the envy of classmates.

The statistics, however, are sobering: only three out of 10 first-time entrepreneurs succeed, even with a world-class education and an MBA support network. That's why so few risk rolling the dice immediately after graduation.

So as you can see, in theory it is easy to find a job - or have a job find you. What's difficult is finding the right job, the dream role that aligns with your values, fulfils your development objectives, allows you to practise the skills acquired during the MBA and fulfils all the other criteria our career counsellors have advised us to search for.

Luckily, we've three more months to make our decisions. I can't help but feel they'll be the fastest three months of our lives.

niall.s.dunne@gmail.com