"The offer you receive the summer after your second year at law school is most likely where you will work and that adds to the pressure," he said. "I'll be glad when it's all over."

The pressures are somewhat different for students interested in spending a summer working with the Legal Aid Society or the American Civil Liberties Union.

Public interest and government jobs rarely translate into a job offer, said Nicholas J. Walsh, a second-year law student and present of HLS's Student Public Interest Network.

"Most people interested in public interest law will still apply to firms to have a fail-safe option," said Walsh, who spent last summer working in the criminal division at the Department of Justice. "But once you have a job that's paying you $1,800 a week versus a job that doesn't pay at all, there's some pressure for you to leave behind public interest."

Other law students like Joe S. Patt, a third-year law student interested in a career in finances, says the real pressure in the job search is felt by students not pursuing legal careers.

"As far as law firms go, it's a piece of cake to get a job," said Patt, after attending the Goldman Sachs information session. "It's ridiculously easy. The non-legal tracks are much harder to pursue."

Nothing to Fear

But for all the different tracks the law students pursue, several law students who have survived the job search and directors of career resources at HLS who organize the annual job search say all students share one common trait.

They worry too much.

"Most of our students get the job of their dreams," said Alexa Shabecoff, director of the Office of Public Interest Advising at HLS. "Searching for a job is not where the stress comes from. Most of them are still trying to decide what they want to do, and we just try to help them make those choices."

Donahue says the chances of a student not getting the summer job of their choice is "very slim," adding that the law firms that recruit at HLS are often the most prestigious in the country.

"Our students are so sought after," she said. "There's far too much anxiety. If students just focused on picking where they wanted to interview, the would be a lot calmer."

According to information published by HLS's office of career services, their students have even more success post-graduation.

Graduates pursuing careers in legal services receive about $32,000-a-year in terms of their median salary while the median salary for graduates interested in government positions, including judicial clerkships, is about $36,000.

Pursuing a career in a private sector law firm is even more lucrative with $72,000 as the median salary.