by Allison Kapner
Photo courtesy david.nikonvscanon/David Blaikie. Flickr Creative Commons.
An interesting twist… how are house hunting, dating and interviewing the same?
This week I thought I would add an additional twist to the mix. Some of our readers may be able to relate to this blog and others may not be ready to consider this question.
The twist: Not only do dating and interviewing share common characteristics, so does house hunting.
And really, all life-changing events can apply to today’s lesson: Patience, timing and optimism are critical.
We’ve discussed some of the fundamentals between dating and interviewing. Let’s take a minute to reflect on the process of buying a house.
You come across many different options and have to somehow begin to target houses within your budget and experience level (already renovated or do you have the ability to fix it up) as well as just the idea of whether each option is overall the “right” house.
Sound familiar? Finding a job or mate that does not align with your needs will not do you any good and will only cause future frustration.
Just like Monster.com, Match.com, and other sites we have discussed, there are house hunting websites where you can opt to have listings sent to you each day. Similar to dating, you won’t be attracted to every house and similar to job searching, they won’t all fit into your desired future plans. With job hunting, you interview to find out if you and a company make a good match. With dating, well, you go on dates. And with housing hunting, you tour houses. And in each case, hopefully you’ll know when you’ve found your match.
Research: House hunting, like job hunting and spouse hunting, takes research. You need to research neighborhoods and figure out what you want out of a house, similar to knowing what type of culture you are looking for in a job and what qualities you want in a mate. Without research, you will spin your wheels because nothing can fits with qualifications that don’t exist.
As someone who is going through the house hunting process, I can attend that it is a rollercoaster. Job searching is a roller coaster. Dating is a rollercoaster. My advice to you, do not try to do all three at the same time!
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.
