For many students, the concept of finding a job is one to be put off for as long as possible. In an increasingly difficult job market, things are certainly looking tough for graduates. However, for those in need of a bright idea and some helpful tips, Doug Monro, Cambridge alumnus and entrepreneur, has the answer.

Doug, who grew up in West London, says he always had an entrepreneurial streak. At the age of only nine he started a newspaper at his school and sold it to other pupils for 10p a copy. He ended up studying English at Cambridge, a time he looks back on fondly.

“I thought I was a proper poet,” he tells me. “I remember smoking these horrible menthol cigarettes called Consulates and at one stage a pipe – and some of the most fun I had was directing and acting in various plays.

“I was always a moderniser and very against some of the more old-fashioned parts of university culture like gowns, Latin, garden parties and private members clubs, as I believed (and I guess I still do) that these public school stereotypes get in the way of attracting the best and brightest to the university.”

Despite his love for writing and acting, Doug always found business interesting. He applied for many graduate schemes and gained a summer internship at Unilever, which turned into a permanent job. “I had little idea what I wanted to do beyond ‘learn about business’, so it seemed a good place to start,” he explained.

He also shared with me some job-hunting advice for graduates: “Don’t pick a job based on the salary, pick what you find interesting.  Also, don’t assume that because a company has a big, shiny, milk-round presence – or because your friends are applying there - that they are a great employer.  Consulting firms and investment banks are full of smart, well-paid people, but do they actually do something you feel passionate about or will be proud of?  Do something you enjoy and you’ll be good at it.”

In the late 1990s, Doug started getting excited about the internet and did an MBA in the US, before achieving a series of managerial roles in internet corporations; starting as the Head of Strategy at eBay, he moved on to being Managing Director of Gumtree.com, followed by a role as Chief Operating Officer of Zoopla.

Earlier this year, Doug quit Zoopla in order to found his own company, Adzuna.co.uk, a move which he is proud of; he explained: “Believing in the next big idea and making it happen from the ground up takes some bravery, when it’s easy to rest on your laurels.”

Adzuna, a new search engine for classified ads, searches thousands of sites (so you don’t have to) and brings them all together in one place. It currently includes ads for jobs, but will soon expand to include properties and cars too.

Since launching the UK job search site in July, Adzuna lists 500,000 live job ads from over 120 different job boards – almost every open job vacancy in the UK.

Doug told me what it’s like running his own business: “It’s a rollercoaster. One day you think you are the next Richard Branson. The next you think it will never work and you will go bankrupt and your family will be evicted from their home. Not for the faint-hearted or the stress-prone, but it makes you feel alive.  I pity those people I see in their grey suits on the underground every morning.

“I love helping to start new businesses and building them up – like Gumtree, Zoopla and Adzuna.  Working for a larger, mature business just pales in comparison.  There is something amazing about finding a new idea and nurturing it, and the focus you can achieve with a small team that believes in something that nobody else does, and then make it happen against the odds.”

He also had some tips for graduates considering starting their own business: “Do something you know and are passionate about.  You need the skills and often the support of others to make it work and not to be afraid of failing. Contrary to what you see on TV, start-up life is not glamorous.  That being said, I wish I had started my own business earlier in my career.”

Doug Monro is certainly a man who knows how to turn bright ideas into functioning, profitable realities. And he has some reassuring words for Cambridge students: “Almost everyone I knew at Cambridge has been successful in their field, and many of them in ways I would never have predicted – including government ministers!  Nearly all of them zig-zagged a bit along the way.

“Don’t over analyse things or be easily led by the opinions of others: do what you enjoy, try things that sound interesting, and remain open-minded along the way.”

Check out Doug’s website at www.adzuna.co.uk and the adzuna blog, http://jobs.adzuna.co.uk/blog/, for some useful tips on the job market