(FORTUNE Magazine) – DEAR ANNIE: I recently went through the interview process for a job and then was asked, by E-mail, for references. I was not out looking, but this particular job really caught my interest. The E-mail said: "Please forward a list of references, including your current supervisor. Let me know if you have already informed her of your interest in this position, and if not, when we can contact her." So I spoke with my supervisor about it, and the prospective employer contacted her. Well, here is the problem: Since then, I've heard nothing from my would-be employer, and now, despite my supervisor's assurances that everything is fine, she's giving me dead-end assignments. Should I have given the other company her name? And if not, how could I have avoided doing so? DISILLUSIONED

DEAR DISILLUSIONED: Let's not waste time commenting on the astounding rudeness your would-be employer is showing by not following up. After all, even a "no" would be more welcome than this all-too-common (and all-too-callous) silence. Here's what Dave Morris, head of the Houston office of headhunting powerhouse Heidrick & Struggles, thinks you should do the next time this situation arises: "Call the job interviewer on the phone, or go and see him or her in person, and explain that you are not comfortable revealing to your boss that you've been looking into this new job. You have to take a positive approach. Say something like 'I am very excited about this opportunity.' But make it clear that, if things don't work out for whatever reason, your supervisor's thinking you were 'out looking' would make things awkward for you."

One strategy, Morris says, is to pave the way for a new employer to contact your current boss when a firm offer is in hand: "Only if it turns out your boss says negative things about you could the offer then be withdrawn." But do not go out on a limb only to be left hanging. Any prospective employer that insists on putting you in this position is probably not a company you'd want to work for anyway. If they're so cavalier about your welfare during the courtship, what on earth would the marriage be like?

DEAR ANNIE: I will graduate from law school in the spring, and I have learned a tremendous amount (no regrets), but I already know that I don't want to practice. What else can I do with a law degree? NO CLARENCE DARROW

DEAR N.C.D.: At least you needn't feel lonely. Several recent surveys reveal that 40% of attorneys in the U.S. would change careers if they saw a feasible alternative, 25% are actively looking for a way out at any given moment, and the average lawyer changes jobs (either within the profession or in flight from it) within 2 1/2 years of graduation from law school. The reason: People are increasingly reluctant to work the 110-hour weeks that may or may not lead to a law-firm partnership. (Apparently a general lack of respect for the profession plays a role too. Polls show that attorneys are even more unpopular than journalists. Can you believe it?)

Get hold of a copy of What Can You Do With a Law Degree?: A Lawyer's Guide to Career Alternatives Inside, Outside & Around the Law (Niche Press, $29.95), by attorney-cum-career-counselor Deborah Arron. The book has an appendix listing more than 700 jobs that lawyers do besides practicing law--and will give you a pretty good idea of how to get there from here. You might also call the American Bar Association in Chicago (800-285-2221) and ask for a copy of Changing Jobs for Lawyers ($59.95), wherein 50 experts talk about how to put your degree to work in nontraditional fields. And check out the Website of a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C., called the National Association for Law Placement: www.NALP.org. NALP offers a wealth of up-to-the-minute career-planning ideas and opportunities for attorneys (and for employers seeking to hire same). So do some research and find a job you can really get excited about--and just think, when somebody tells a lawyer joke at a party, you'll be able to laugh without wincing first.

DEAR ANNIE: This is probably too trivial a problem for you to bother with, but here goes. I became allergic to cameras about 30 pounds ago, and I hate, hate, hate having my picture taken. While it is easy to duck away or say no when family or friends pick up a camera, how do I stop my boss? He recently insisted on taking my picture at a vendors' meeting (this photo was later posted on our company's Website), and I was trapped by the furniture and could not escape. I think it is abusive to photograph a person against his will, and I would never do this to anyone else. How can I handle it next time? NO PHOTOS PLEASE

DEAR NO PHOTOS: Dear, I don't think this is a trivial problem. It is obviously making you very unhappy, and your poor sap of a boss evidently hasn't a clue that he is causing you such misery. Go and tell him, in private. Ian Gillies, a Toronto career coach who specializes in sticky wickets like this, recommends that you have this little talk in your boss' office, not yours, so that you can state your case very simply--"Please do not photograph me, because I really don't like it"--and then leave (smiling, if possible). This is a matter of territorial strategy. If the chat takes place in your own office, you are likely to end up trying to explain or justify your feelings. Don't. Says Gillies: "You need to make your wishes perfectly clear, but no one wants to hear your life story, and you shouldn't need to get into it. You don't owe your boss an explanation." Just say no.