Job Searching as Dating

Like many job searchers, staying home everyday in front of the computer worrying about when I'll find a job can be tiresome. Many people have advised me to take some time off from job searching and to take a few short trips to get out of my normal routine (which can be depressing). Earlier this month, I decided to do that and spent a few days in Blacksburg visiting old friends and re-energizing myself so that I could press forward in my quest once I returned to Richmond. I also took the opportunity to visit several of my Blacksburgian professors and mentors to ask for advice. One professor, a particularly wise one, told me: "Consider your relationship to job hunting as two puzzles that are in desperate need to match and complete each other." So true - the trick is to find a job for which you are neither underqualified nor overqualified...a job that when you read the description, it's as if the employer is describing you. It also got me thinking about how job searching is like dating....

I've never used an online dating service, but I'd imagine that the process is pretty similar to job searching online. You sift through hundreds of profiles (job descriptions), mostly duds and losers, only to find a handful that seem worth pursuing. Then you develop a personal profile (resume and cover letter)designed to convince the selected few potential winners that you're a great catch. You click send and wait to see if they think enough of you to contact you back. Weeks pass and you begin to worry that somehow your message to the potential match was somehow lost in the black abyss of the internet. You wonder if you should email again, or better yet call, but ultimately you just sit by the phone and wait.

Once months pass and you still don't get a response, you decide to test out those dating sites that promise that their patented compatibility matching systems will pre-screen candidates and find the perfect match for you based on a survey and a few clicks indicating your personal preferences. Funny how the language used by e-Harmony to attract clients is almost exactly the same as what CareerBuilder uses: "Based on your activity we used our patent-pending recommendation engine to find jobs (matches) for you." So, you give it a try and spend hours carefully thinking through responses to their series of questions, because the system won't work unless you're completely honest. You click finish and eagerly anticipate what jobs are considered your "top matches".....loading.....still loading...."WOW! They must be finding a ton of great options!".....the results? Delivery Driver, Warehouse Associate, Pest Control Technician. I kid you not...those were my results on CareerBuilder. I have officially lost all faith in online job matching systems.

I guess I'll have to keep searching through other means for that puzzle piece that completes me....it must be out there somewhere!