Swipe Left, Swipe Right: Online Dating and the Job Market
By: Amy Rossi
Online dating, much like online job-hunting, seems like it should be simpler than it actually is. Rather than getting dressed up, going out, and gearing up for potentially awkward small talk, finding a match online provides a level of distance from the whole dating process. You can create your profile in your pajamas while eating
takeout on the couch. You can select a picture that shows you at your best, and you only have so many characters to describe yourself—which limits the amount of baggage you can cover.
When you upload your profile, no matter which site you use, you know that the odds might not be in your favor but good things could still happen. After all, your friend met her husband on a dating site, and she never would’ve guessed that her love story would start with a profile picture.
Once the flurry of profile-posting activity is over, the waiting begins, and you find that you no longer have a script for what you’re supposed to do. Should you browse profiles and send a few messages yourself? If, after a week, you haven’t received the kinds of responses you’re looking for, should you tweak your profile to attract a different crowd? If you do receive a message from someone, how should you go about making a date? Suddenly,
online dating doesn’t seem quite so simple. Instead of berating yourself for that stupid thing you said over dinner, you’re waging a siege against a battery of “what-ifs.”
If you aren’t looking for love but are looking for a job, chances are these steps and lingering questions sound familiar. When you upload your résumé to LinkedIn®, you know you may not find yourself fielding job offers left and right, but part of you hopes that you will. When you give your application and résumé a final once-over before sending them to HR, you wonder how long it will take before you hear anything… and after a few days, you wonder how long you should wait before
contacting HR, just to make sure they don’t need anything.
On a good day, applying for jobs online feels like a boon. You can work on multiple applications on your own time (on your couch, with takeout, in your pajamas). But no matter how many applications you fill out, you still end up in the