????毋庸置疑，對于剛剛走出大學校門的人來說，當前的就業市場不容樂觀。美國大學和雇主協會（National Association of Colleges and Employers）表示，公司今年計劃招聘的畢業生僅比去年多出2%，與去年秋季雇主們13%的增幅預測相差很大。而且，今年剛剛畢業的大學生們還得與40%就業不足或失業的2012屆師兄師姐們展開競爭。

????即便如此，喬?埃切瓦里亞認為，只要有足夠強烈的成功欲望，任何人都能做到。這都是他的經驗之談：埃切瓦里亞是波多黎各人，在紐約市南布朗克斯區一個貧窮的單親家庭里長大，他的經歷比大多數人都要艱難。到了2011年，他已經成為全球咨詢與審計巨頭德勤會計師事務所（Deloitte）的CEO。這家公司在《財富》雜志（Fortune）最適宜工作的100家公司（Best Companies to Work For）排行中位列第47位。今年，它將聘用約9,000名應屆畢業生。埃切瓦里亞在最近的一次和我們的對話中回憶了自己職業發展的早期經歷，同時還為求職者們支招，如何在勝算很小的情況下取得成功。

????《財富》：您畢業之后的第一份工作是什么？您是怎樣得到這份工作的？

????埃切瓦里亞：我先是利用暑假在布朗克斯區做汽車修理工。從邁阿密大學（University of Miami）畢業后，我被哈斯金斯?塞爾斯會計師事務所（Haskins & Sells，后被德勤兼并）聘用，成為一名審計師。大學期間，我獲得了獎學金。當時，如果想參加八大會計事務所——如今已經變成四大——的面試，在學校的平均分不能低于3.5分。但由于我上的大學算不上一流（學校曾被冠以“曬太陽大學”的綽號），所以我的平均分必須達到3.8分，我做到了。因此，我有幸參加了面試。雖然我也存在許多不足之處，但我的會計成績在全班名列前茅，他們沒有任何理由不讓我參加面試。

????不足之處？

????我長著濃密的胡子，發型也非常糟糕。而且，我只有兩套衣服，一套是褐色的，另外一套是滌綸料子的綠色西服。我也不懂什么社交禮儀，比如我不知道在餐桌上該怎么擺放面包盤，也從沒用帶茶托的杯子喝過咖啡。我花了很長時間才意識到，在職場上，這些事情同樣都是非常重要的。但沒有人會跟我講這些。

????最后，我注意到其他人都有不止兩套西裝，沒有人會穿棕色的西服或者滌綸料子的衣服。然而正是由于這些因素，我得到的評價總是說我“潛力有限”，雖然這些事情看起來或許非常膚淺。沒有人認為我應該得到升職。而且，我的收入也比（審計師培訓課程的）其他人低。但我最終還是趕了上來。

????您是如何做到的呢？

????首先，我會研究公司里成功的人在做什么。我觀察他們，分析他們是怎么做到的，然后盡最大努力去模仿。再者，我工作非常非常努力。比其他任何人都要努力。第三，我的上司，一位西班牙女性，給了我很好的建議。我去休假之前，她對我說：“你休假回來的時候，不要再留胡子了。如果你總是像福里特?班第托（長著長胡子的卡通人物——譯注）一樣，那你永遠也別想進入管理層。”我從沒想過胡子會成為我發展的障礙。現在，她仍是我的導師。我在公司已有35年，而她在公司的時間已經有40年。在公司里，我總是稱呼她“媽媽”。

????No doubt about it, the current job market is no walk on the beach for anyone just graduating from college. Companies plan to hire just 2% more grads than last year, says the National Association of Colleges and Employers, a startling drop from the 13% increase those same employers projected last fall. And this year's fresh crop of degree holders will have to compete with the roughly 40% of the class of 2012 who are still underemployed or out of work.

????Even so, Joe Echevarria believes success is within reach of anyone who wants it badly enough. He speaks from experience: After growing up poor in a single-parent home in New York City's South Bronx, Echevarria, who is Puerto Rican, faced a tougher struggle than most. Since 2011, he has been CEO of global consulting and audit giant Deloitte, No. 47 on Fortune's list of the Best Companies to Work For. This year the company will hire about 9,000 new grads. In a recent conversation, Echevarria recalled the early years of his career and offered advice on getting ahead against long odds.

????Fortune: What was your first job out of college, and how did you get it?

????Echevarria: I went from being an auto mechanic during the summers in the Bronx to getting hired as an auditor at Haskins & Sells [which later merged with Deloitte] when I graduated from the University of Miami, where I had gone on a scholarship. Back then, to get an interview with a Big 8 firm — it's now the Big 4 — you were supposed to have a 3.5 GPA. But, because I went to a not-so-great school — it was nicknamed Suntan U. — I had to have a 3.8. So I did that. I was at the top of my class in accounting, so they couldn't find a reason not to interview me, in spite of my rough edges.

????What rough edges?

????I had a big mustache and bad hair. Also, I had two suits, one brown and the other green polyester. I had no social graces, either — I didn't know where the bread plate goes on a table, had never drunk coffee out of a cup with a saucer. It took me a long time to realize that these things matter in the corporate world. No one was willing to tell me.

????Eventually I noticed that everybody else had more than two suits, and nobody wore brown or polyester. But because of these things, however superficial they might seem, I kept getting evaluations that said I had "low potential." Nobody thought I would ever get promoted. Also, I was paid less than anybody else in the [auditor training program]. But I caught up.

????How did you do that?

????Well, first, I figured out what successful people in the firm were doing. I looked at them and analyzed how they got there, and I tried my best to do the same. Then, I worked very, very hard. I worked harder than everybody else. And third, I had a boss, a Hispanic woman, who gave me good advice. Right before I left on vacation, she said to me, "You're coming back without that mustache. You will never make it into management if you look like the Frito Bandito." I had never realized that was holding me back. She is still my mentor to this day. I've been at the firm 35 years, she's been here 40. I call her my "mom" in the company.