Insead:Summertime . . . and we're all feeling . . . queasy . . .

Now, before you jump to predictable conclusions, we didn't overindulge at the end-of-term party, nor have we been exposed to too much sun during our summer break.

Instead, we're spending our well-earned holiday glued to the television, as global financial markets threaten to collapse before our very eyes.

Last month I wrote that many students seemed blissfully unaware of the direct correlation between stock-market direction and the job prospects after graduation, but after the events of the past few weeks, everyone now understands fully how Wall Street affects Main Street.

Who knew ninjas would attack our job market? The "no income, no job, no assets" mortgage holders of US, affectionately known as "subprime borrowers", haven't reacted well to repossession. Instead, they've wreaked revenge on the market.

Some of my classmates, who chose to spend their holidays working as interns in banks, have enjoyed ringside seats to the show, and have only been able to watch in shock as irrational fear has replaced irrational exuberance.

An internship is often an integral part of a full-time MBA, particularly for those who wish to change career direction. A student with, say, an engineering background who wants to become an investment banker often hopes to test the waters over the traditionally quiet summer period by securing an internship.

It's a mutually beneficial arrangement: the student gets practical experience and an insight into often-secretive industries, while employers use it as six-week long job interview to assess thoroughly a candidate's ability.

During bull markets, these placements often lead to a full-time job offer - the holy grail of the indebted student.

Little wonder, then, that almost half the class of 2007 chose to pursue a summer placement rather than head for the beach. Maybe we are "mature" students after all.

Internships, however, can prove a sobering experience, especially if they coincide with the current stock volatility.

Market turmoil aside, some students, particularly those who get internships in the financial world, quickly give up their dreams of becoming masters of the universe when they realise it requires a commitment to work 80 hours a week.

Yet even the most dedicated might see their dreams shattered this year by the untimely re-emergence of the most feared phrase in human resources lexicon: "headcount freeze".

The timing of the class of 2007 is uncanny. Of those who chose to pursue finance internships, most began in mid-July, which means their internships coincided perfectly with the worst period of market volatility in the last decade.

One traumatised group of students, working for a leading US investment bank, have watched the share price of their employer fall by 30 per cent over the course of their internship.

Thankfully, the interns aren't being paid in stock, but plummeting share prices and aggressive graduate recruitment don't go hand in hand. In fact, many temporary recruits are probably at risk of being viewed as a jinx.

Inopportune timing aside, internships are a key learning component of the MBA.

Anybody who has spent the last few weeks in the eye of the storm will have learned things about finance that can never be taught in a classroom.

Internships are also available in the fields of management consultancy, multinational corporations and hedge funds. Some charitable students even found it in themselves to give something back, by pursuing voluntary activities in developing countries.

The class of 2007 will therefore be both older and wiser when it reassembles in the forest of Fontainebleau in September.

The experience should help contextualise classroom theories for previously unacquainted students, and the realisation that an MBA does not automatically guarantee admission to the corporate world should help bring an air of reality to our cossetted environment.

An inside look at the real world should also focus students' minds on all-important career decisions.

Some will find the adrenaline of high-powered roles in London or New York addictive, and will resent having to return to college for another four months.

Others, previously blinded by bright lights/big city hype, will no doubt start to reconsider their options. After all, it's only a dream job if you're passionate about it.

Either way, the internship is integral to the MBA experience, since it reminds students that re-entry into the real world is only weeks away.

Unless, of course, we all decide to stay on and pursue PhDs. Honestly, it's an option many of us might explore - especially if those nasty ninjas continue to attack the markets.