Few investment-bank careers today begin like that of Michael Lewis, as he described it two decades ago in his book "Liar's Poker." Most graduate business school students today need to run a gantlet of interviews with recruiters, a process that has not gotten easier over the years.

Much of a business student's life is consumed with networking at cocktail parties, poring over the histories and specialties of the different banks and visiting scores of headquarters to observe the daily rituals of each firm. But the focus for students remains the interview, generally a 45-minute session with a recruiter that has been known to provoke a few anxiety attacks.