by Allison Kapner
I’m the girl that all of her friends – married, single and everything in-between – live vicariously through. Why? It’s not because I am a trust fund baby or a supermodel. It’s because somehow, for some reason, I have the most bizarre dating stories. To my friends, my bizarre experiences are a game; to me, it’s a battle of conquering the first few dates so I can get that big diamond ring that’s a sign of commitment.
I’m also the girl who gets multiple job offers, each one incredibly different than the last. And because of that, I spend hours coaching friends before interviews, giving promotion advice and being the go-to person for any and all professional-related questions.
All of these experiences have led me to believe that dating and interviewing are synonymous in a lot of ways, and if you’re good at one, you can teach yourself to be good at the other.
Welcome to Date to Interview!
I’ve recruited in NYC through a recession and currently work in Career Services. It’s my job to know what I’m talking about and understand what it takes to secure employment. The best interviewing advice I’ve given that has actually stuck with clients has been to compare interviewing to dating. Clients find they can relate to these little cliché’s and soundbites. They also find them humorous. It not only helps them see the interviewing situation from a different perspective, it often helps them land their dream job.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/the-o/ / CC BY 2.0
Dating and Job Interviewing are synonymous. A first date mirrors a first round interview. So you need to follow the same rules:
- Don’t reveal too much about yourself.
- Hide the fact that you were once arrested (okay, just kidding on this one, well, at least, on the job side).
- Make them fall in love with your personality.
- And closing the deal – whichever deal you choose – is a dance, a very strategic and delicate dance that must be played the right way in both cases.
To those who are reading this and saying, “I don’t play games. I’m very direct in dating,” well, I hate to break it to you, but there is still a dance at the beginning. There is no way around it.
My blog posts are meant as entertainment with a moral to each story… however not a moral that has been written about in books like He’s Just Not into You, The Rules, and Why Men Marry Bitches.
Through my entries, you will learn another technique, or hear a different perspective, on how to – or how not to – successfully interview for your dream job… or find your mate.
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.
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Posted in Allison Kapner, Dating, Interviewing, Job Search, WhatsNextGenY | 2 Comments »
