????不久之前，拿到法律學位絕對意味著手捧鐵飯碗，肯定會找到一份高枕無憂、收入豐厚的工作。然而，如今的法學院學生已是風光不再。

????哈佛法學院（Harvard Law）畢業生、資深律師薩納?布萊斯發現：“問題在于，沒有人會想到經濟衰退會持續這么長時間。希望憑借法律學位平安度過經濟低迷期的那些人發現，他們還沒畢業，律師就業市場卻已經越來越糟糕。”目前，布萊斯的第二職業是為身處困境的律師們提供職業咨詢。

????2011年畢業的40,000名律師，只有不到一半在律師事務所找到了全職工作。據美國國家法律就業協會（National Association for Law Placement）公布的信息顯示，在新晉律師中，只有不到65%的人在需要法律學位的工作崗位就職，而在四年前，這一比例高達75%。

????造成這種情況的原因有很多。首先，公司紛紛下定決心削減開支，于是，聘用法務專員來代替要價高昂的律師，將之前由律師負責的大部分工作都交給法務專員來處理。或者，公司會尋求更便宜的在線服務，比如法律服務網站LegalZoom.com。與此同時，布萊斯還注意到，新晉律師還面臨著來自前輩們的激烈競爭，因為那些失業的律師擁有更加豐富的實戰經驗。除此之外，“近幾年，并購收購活動大幅減少，導致對律師的需求也在不斷下降，而且剩下的工作也輪不到一年級律師，而是掌握在資深律師甚至合伙人手里。對于律師事務所而言，一年級律師通常是一筆財政損失，因為他們的時間并不能轉化成利潤。所以，由于客戶紛紛緊縮開支，律師事務所也不再需要招聘大批新人。”

????布萊斯將這些糟糕的境況統稱為“完美風暴”，而已經債臺高筑的2013屆學生只能眼睜睜地看著風暴襲來。此外，推遲求職的法學院學生最終陷入困境的可能性最大。她說：“法學院校園招聘季通常是從九月底或十月初開始。但今年，招聘企業少于往年，而且，他們現在就已經開始對求職者進行面試。”

????布萊斯出版了一本新書——《新晉律師與法學院學生求職指南》（How to Get a Legal Job: A Guide for New Attorneys and Law School Students），并在最近成立了一家網站howtogetalegaljob.com，旨在為焦慮不安的職場新丁們提供咨詢服務。她認為，有一件最重要的事情，許多學生都沒有去做，那就是建立關系網。布萊斯在為新書做調查過程中曾對在公司和律師事務所中任職的150多位資深律師進行過訪問，受訪者大部分同時還兼任招聘經理。她說：“幾乎所有人都表示，他們通過建立關系網得到了自己想要的東西。但大部分法學院學生并沒有在這方面下功夫。”

????她補充說：“并不是因為他們沒有時間。而是他們并不理解建立關系網的真正含義。建立關系網并不是貿然給對方打電話，要求得到一份工作。而是建立一種長期的關系，幫你得到一些隱藏的機會。”布萊斯還表示，雖然許多法學院學生確實忙著在律師協會活動中推銷自己，也在商務社交網站LinkedIn上與潛在雇主保持著聯系，但大部分人都犯了一個同樣的錯誤：“他們的目標定的不夠高。”

????要想得到關注，并最終獲得聘用，她的建議是：“不能害怕被拒絕。調查一下你所就讀法學院那些出色的校友，以及你實踐領域內的明星律師，然后可以通過LinkedIn與他們取得聯系，或者親自前去拜訪，兩種方式都可以。其實，這樣做最糟糕的結果能是什么呢？他們對你的請求視而不見？那又如何？畢竟，你很有可能從中獲得巨大的好處。比如，就算你聯系了100位業內杰出人物，只要有一個人給予了回應，并最終成為你的導師，你所得到的回報也是不可估量的。所以，還猶豫什么呢？”

????想想看吧，這確實是一條非常明智的建議，即便是對于不做律師的求職者來說，也同樣有用。

????譯者：劉進龍/汪皓

????Not so long ago, a law degree was a surefire ticket to a secure, and often highly lucrative, career. Those days are gone.

????"Part of the problem is that the recession wasn't supposed to drag on this long," observes Harvard Law grad and longtime lawyer Shauna Bryce, who has launched a second career as a career counselor to beleaguered attorneys. "All the people who got law degrees as a way of riding out the economic downturn are finding that, while they were in school, the job market for lawyers has only gotten worse."

????Fewer than half of the 40,000 attorneys who graduated in 2011 have found full-time jobs in law firms. Just under 65% of newly minted attorneys hold positions that even require a law degree, the National Association for Law Placement reports, down from 75% four years ago.

????The reasons are many. For one thing, companies bent on cost cutting have been hiring paralegals to do much of the work high-priced lawyers used to do, or they've migrated to cheaper online services like LegalZoom.com. At the same time, Bryce notes, novice attorneys face stiff competition from more seasoned legal eagles who have been laid off.

????And that's not all. "The dip in merger-and-acquisition activity in recent years has reduced demand for lawyers, and much of the work that remains has moved up from the first-year associate level to more senior attorneys or even partners. First-year associates were always a financial loss to law firms, because their time can't be billed out at a profit. So now, with clients tightening the purse strings, there are no legions of junior minions anymore."

????Bryce calls this combination of woes "a perfect storm," and sees the heavily debt-laden class of 2013 sailing straight into it. Moreover, law students who put off job hunting are even more likely than most to be left high and dry. "Recruiting season on law school campuses used to start in late September or early October," she says. "This year, there are far fewer recruiters out there than there used to be -- and they are interviewing candidates right now."

????The author of a new book called How to Get a Legal Job: A Guide for New Attorneys and Law School Students, Bryce recently launched howtogetalegaljob.com, aimed at advising nervous neophytes. The most important thing students aren't doing, she says, is networking. In researching her book, Bryce interviewed more than 150 senior-level lawyers in corporations and law firms, most of whom are also hiring managers, and "almost every one of them said they had gotten where they are by networking," she says. "Yet most law students don't do it.

????"It isn't that they don't have the time," she adds. "It's that they don't understand what it is." Done right, networking "isn't cold calling people to ask for a job. It's building long-term relationships that can lead you to opportunities that aren't advertised anywhere."

????Even when they do get busy working the room at bar association events and connecting with potential employers on LinkedIn, Bryce says, most lawyers-to-be make one common mistake: "They don't aim high enough."

????To get noticed, and ultimately hired, "you have to overcome your fear of rejection. Research illustrious alumni of your law school and stars in your field of practice, and reach out to them, either on LinkedIn or in person, or both," she suggests. "What's the worst that can happen? They ignore your invitation to connect? So what? Meanwhile the upside is potentially huge. If you contact, say, 100 distinguished people and even one of them responds, and ends up being a mentor to you, the payoff can be enormous. So don't hesitate."

????Come to think of it, that's smart advice even for job hunters who aren't lawyers.