www.fastcompany.com: Job searching is like dating: Each side involved is trying to find the perfect fit. You’re sizing up an employer to see if they’ve got what it takes to make you happy. The employer is evaluating whether you can make their proverbial dreams come true as a productive, successful team member.
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Unfortunately, a lot of these things are easy traps to fall into. I’ve definitely been guilty of some of these. For example, it’s quite easy, at least for internships, to want to apply to for numerous positions especially when you do not know a lot about the company. It is somewhat of a logical conclusion to come to by submitting more applications the greater your chance is to getting an interview. However, the article has a valid point that the applicant may not know what they want. It is a common step for a younger college student to apply to many positions simply because they do not know what they want to do yet. Additionally, I think that it can be somewhat difficult to be extremely consistent in your interview performance. People can come across very differently on the phone compared to in person. I think this something that is coming up more and more with our generation as we increase our online communication.
For the most part I found these fairly obvious. People are going to be less likely to hire you if you keep rescheduling, send an absurd amount of follow up emails, or are unprofessional on social media. I didn’t expect the one about not applying for too many positions, though I do see how that makes sense. I don’t understand what inconsistent performance in interviews means though? Being tired during one interview but more energetic during another? I feel like that is still better than being tired for both. Obviously answering the questions inconsistently is a red flag (ex: if you are asked why you want to work at the company in two different interviews for the some position and give wildly different answers). I mean sure, it is best if you are performing consistently, but I feel like that is more because you want to be performing as well as possible and not have any off interviews.
This article is pretty interesting because unlike every other article that tries to tell you all of the things that you should do to get hired, this article explains some things that you should avoid doing. I think relating finding a job to dating is pretty interesting and a scary similarity but helpful similarity to draw from. All of the tips mentioned in this article seem to me to be a result of trying to hard to be the perfect candidate for any job. For example, the first tip to focus in your resume is something that a lot of applicants think could hurt them but makes perfect sense as to why it can be a good thing to show only the skills that pertain to the job you are applying for. The other tips like not sending too many applications or calling too much are also related to an applicant trying to hard. I can see how easy it is to fall into this trap, but if one thinks of applying for a job like dating, the perspective changes.
When ever I see an article with a title like this one or something like "these 5 facts about resumes with BLOW your mind" I'm immediately jaded towards it since it's such clickbait trash. And when I read the article...yeah it's pretty clickbaity. Most of these listed things seem obvious if you have ever been in a social situation and can understand other's social cues. Really, all of these things can just be clumped and stored together under a blanket statement: "be professional". Duh, don't crap talk your old job or boss on a public social media site. Duh, don't pester your interviewer to make contact with you again. Duh, don't be a flake when it comes to an interview, whether that interview is in person, over Skype, or over the phone. Set an interview time and then rearrange your schedule to accommodate that interview. It's only a job that's saving you from unemployment after all.
I have to admit, the first paragraph of this article turned me off. "Job searching is like dating: Each side involved is trying to find the perfect fit. You’re sizing up an employer to see if they’ve got what it takes to make you happy. The employer is evaluating whether you can make their proverbial dreams come true as a productive, successful team member." I really don't like the parallel. Hopefully you like your job and the work makes both you and them happy, but I feel like this is a dangerous way to describe this.
That said, I do think they offer some solid advice, especially regarding resumes. "Your resume should clearly convey why you are a good fit for the specific role, as opposed to being a catch-all document for all the jobs you’ve worked in your life." You can keep a running list as the catch-all, but before you apply to a job, you should really look at your resume and see if you need to make adjustments based off the specifics of the job you are applying for. Rescheduling interviews seems like a common sense no-no, and doing so multiple times seems ridiculous to even consider. If you can't make time for them, why should they make time for you?
This is a pretty mediocre analysis of what may potentially put off the recruiters throughout your application process from submitting a resume, choosing which position to apply for, interviews and follow ups. It does sound weird to compare applying for a job with dating. It’s not like dating but I’ve seen other articles make this statement. Evaluating whether the other side if your perfect fit for both applicants and recruiters does sound like dating BUT it’s very weird to put things this way and I feel like depending on what kind of personalities the recruiters have if you make this “joke” during your application process it will be a huge turn off for some companies.
Every other article would talk about roughly the same thing and what makes this analysis stand out a little bit is the social media part. No one likes a whiner. Bashing former companies/employers on social media or even during interviews will definitely reflect poorly on you. There is a much more professional and objective way to let the current employer know why you chose to leave your last job.
While it isn't that great of an article, it does mention a couple of points we don't always hear that are worth noting. I thought, in particular, the one about submitting too many applications was very important to note. I have a friend who submitted applications to practically every job opening for a company she liked, and she never heard back from them on anything. She was confused about why, if she applied for so many things, including the ones that she was overqualified for, she wasn't getting any positive response. I have another friend who works in HR for that company who gave me the exact answer she was looking for: she looked way too scattered, like she didn't know what to do with her life. You can enjoy as many things as you'd like, but when it comes to getting a job you had better be determined to follow a very specific path or you're going to look like you do not really care about what you are doing.
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