Recruiters' Top 10 Complaints

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It helps if the student uses the question as an opportunity to have a genuine conversation with the recruiter, says Jeff Vijungco, Adobe's recruiting director (ADBE): "At some point, it feels like the conversation evolves organically…. The best interviews I've found are the ones that don't even feel like an interview."

7. Keep Your Ego in Check
The temptation to impress a recruiter can sometimes get the best of students—and come back to haunt them later in the interview. If quantitative math is not your strong suit, don't pretend that it's your best subject. You could be sitting across from a derivatives trader who might want to put you on the spot, says Citigroup's McLaughlin. "Instead of making broad characterizations about your skill set, be more humble about your abilities," she says.

8. Don't Walk in Unprepared
Learn as much as you can about the person who is interviewing you and the company before the interview. Recruiters say they are sometimes surprised when they see a student has done little to no research on the company before the interview. "We've seen students that may not know the company or firm. Some may not have visited the Web site or attended a briefing on campus," said Angela Marchesi, MBA recruiting program manager at Deloitte.

In most cases, students know the name of the recruiter interviewing them in advance. Make every attempt to find out as much as you can about the person before you meet them, says Thanasoulis. Students should conduct Internet searches on the recruiter and try to find out anything they can about them from contacts they have at the recruiter's company. People who work at the company or spent a summer internship there can also prove to be valuable resources, notes Thanasoulis.

"They should exhaust every information source they can get to so they can know who they are interviewing with," Thanasoulis says.

9. Don't Talk in Absolutes
Students should avoid the temptation to tell a recruiter that their firm is the candidate's No.1 choice.

"A recruiter will hear that as 'I will accept your offer,' and it is understood that the company is your No.1 choice,' McLaughlin says. If the company later extends a job offer that the student rejects, the candidate may have damaged his credibility, she said. A safer approach might be to tell the recruiter that the firm is one of their top choices. This allows the student to express interest, but also leaves a little wiggle room, she says. "Saying something like that is a hundred times better than saying you are my No.1 choice and not being prepared to act on that."

10. Never Bring Up Salary
One mistake that can immediately take you out of the running is bringing up salary during an initial meeting with a recruiter. Adobe's Vijungco has seen several students this year who have used this year's strong job market as an excuse to ask him what they can make at the company.

"Sometimes there is a tendency for candidates to overemphasize the compensation piece," he says. "They talk less about 'how can I contribute to the company?' and more about "what can I make here?'" Students should equate an initial meeting with a recruiter with a first date, Vijungco says: "On a first date, you don't want to talk about marriage."

A recruiter can be drained at the end of a long day interviewing MBA students on campus. In most cases, they have been meeting with people from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., seeing 13 or more candidates over a nine-hour period.

Citigroup's McLaughlin says that performing at the top of your game is essential in such an intense interviewing environment. "There is guaranteed to be somebody else, maybe several people, who did more than you did to get ready and shine during the interview," she says.

With those odds stacked against you, you'll want to do everything you can to come out on top. Avoiding these mistakes will help you keep in the running.

Damast is a reporter for BusinessWeek.com.