How are dating and searching for a job the same?

by Allison Kapner

Let’s examine Step 1: Sourcing your date or job lead through the internet.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kodomut/ / CC BY 2.0

Step 1: Finding the date, finding the Job….What’s the Difference? NOTHING!

So how do you go about finding a new job and a new mate? This post could really go on for days. In fact, I could probably do a PhD on the topic, but I’m trying to keep this fairly concise.

Back in the day you would pick up the newspaper every day, circle the classified ads that looked appealing, fax in your resume and hope for the best. (Believe it or not, in 2004, I actually got my first job this way!) Nowadays there are endless job search engines, job boards, recruiting agencies and other ways to find jobs using the internet. Talk about information overload!

Back in the day, parents set up arranged marriages, or maybe you and the neighbor across the street were stuck with each other because there were so few options for meeting new people. Dating wasn’t socially accepted the way it is today. Nowadays, there singles events, meet-ups, speed dating, online dating… and the world of online dating is segmented out for every type of person: fitness singles, eHarmony, Jdate, etc. The list goes on and one. Seeing a theme? Information overload!

The Internet: Broken out by effort level, where do you look?

Least amount of work – job search: The most common sites are obviously Monster, Yahoo! HotJobs, CareerBuilder, etc. You scroll, search around and stalk these boards and assume every single job that’s available in life will be posted there. (Hint: They’re not.) LinkedIn has become an obvious tool, and over the past few years, LinkedIn has really grown and been a huge asset when used correctly. Twitter and Facebook are now jumping on the job search bandwagon. My point? The jobs that are blasted to the public result in thousands of applicants for each job, and for some reason people apply to jobs no matter whether they meet the qualifications or not.

Least amount of work – dating: Post on Match.com. I used Match.com once in my life while in NY. The result? People of all shapes and sizes banging down my door. Why? Because it’s easy. You post a quick profile and picture and that’s that. People can contact you as long as you pay and you don’t have to do much work other than throw up a profile.

Large amount of work and focus – job search: If you are really focused – and truly want to be successful – you will go to specific companies’ websites, register (if needed), and stalk properly until they post your dream job, then wait for days, weeks, sometimes months until you watch the job disappear or you get that magical call. You’ll be targeted and strategic and put a lot of work and research into finding the “right” companies.

Large amount of work and focus – dating: Sign up for eHarmony or other sites that make you actually do work. I’ve used it, and wow do they put you through the ringer. If you think someone is attractive, chances are they are too “shy” to use the fast-track way of communicating, which means you go through about a 10-step process just to get to writing emails to each other. But eHarmony is more targeted. They send you matches based on a values profile you fill out. You hope that the system matches people who share similar beliefs and values….and I do have to say the work may be worth it sometimes.

Feeling lucky?
If you are feeling lucky with your job search, check out Craigslist. I’ve randomly heard people that have had found a great job posted there. (It is free after all, a lot of smaller companies tend to use it as a tool.) But watch out for sleazy sales jobs. They try to hit the masses with them. One small piece of advice: I’ve know someone who has tried to date through Craigslist. You probably won’t have the same good luck. I recommend staying away from the single classifieds.

To be continued…

Allison Kapner is a Relationship Manager in Career Services at the Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School where she is responsible for building partnerships with employers to ultimately create job and internship opportunities for students and alumni. She also advises and coaches students on job search techniques and brings a unique corporate expertise to assist candidates, as her past experience was as an Executive Recruiter in financial services in New York City.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 15th, 2010 at 10:05 am and is filed under Allison Kapner, Dating, Job Search, WhatsNextGenY. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.


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