Finding a fulfiling relationship isn't much easier.

Finding love or a successful relationship is a lot like finding a job. If your single or unemployed, you know how tough it is right now. Like I’ve said before, I try to stay away from advice posts, but I think I can offer multifaceted advice that can help you in your life one way or another. So for the purpose of this post, try to imagine the relationship between finding a job and finding a significant other. Each can be gratifying on a multitude of levels.

Career Fair/Networking Events

If you want to network and meet people that are good looking, you gotta go to the places where you know people are openly doing exactly that. It’s no different than going to a career fair where you know employers will be there actively promoting. And while you’re there, share a little information about yourself with each company and learn about them as well. A lot of people forget that the hunt is a “2-way street”. Even if you find what appears to be the company of your dreams, be easy. Coming across as liking a company too much and trying to close the deal at the booth will make you look sort of desperate and sorta sketchy. Nobody wants an overly aggressive or desperate person, except for maybe 1 night.

Submitting your resume

Since we all love to talk about our standards and deal breakers so much, I know that those seeking opportunities won’t just apply any and everywhere. You need to really know what will make YOU happy and not those around you telling you where you should work or what you’ll do for a living or what they heard about the company on some random message board. And when you do submit your resume somewhere, remember that there are a lot of other qualified people submitting their resumes there as well. So basically, you’re not the only applicant and there’s nothing you can do to speed up the process or make the company call. So once you’ve shown interest, don’t start tripping or get frustrated. Be optimistic, but keep it moving.

Phone Screen

Success! Sorta. The company has expressed interest in learning more about you aside from what’s in dem jeans on paper. Be excited, but don’t OD. Now that you’re talking, you’re going to be on your best behavior. The company knows this too. You need to remember at this point it’s still a 2-way street. Obvious you want to sell yourself (not like that), but you don’t want to mislead and convey interest just for the sake of conveying interest. When you do that, you’re wasting everybody’s time. The objective when you’re initially talking is to get to know each other better than you did at the networking event or wherever you became aware of each other.

Face to Face Interview

It’s pretty serious at this point. You have both agreed that you want to pursue things further, but you need to remember that there are other candidates interviewing. They should also expect that you’re interviewing elsewhere as well. At this point, you’re really talking about your background and giving the company an idea of how you’d handle a lot of situations, what you believe in, and how that aligns with their strategy. In reviewing your resume at this time, you’re going to have to explain your past and whatever is in it. Don’t make excuses. Be honest and be assertive. If you’ve worked for 6 companies in the last 2 years, you’ll probably leave some things off your resume to begin with which will come back to bite you in the a$$. But if you don’t, just be truthful.

They’ll also probably introduce you to other people in the group to get their thoughts on you and of course you will still be on your best behavior. I’d suggest you try your hardest to be you without overdoing it. Everybody you meet probably won’t like you and if they do that’s just icing on the cake. Assess the environment and see if it’s a place where you can be happy and productive. Make sure it fits into your plans as well. Talk about the pay and benefits (physical, emotional, and mental gratification). You may also find some additional perks you didn’t know about before. You should feel good when you’re there and feel better once you leave. If you don’t, it probably isn’t for you. You have to accept and be okay with that.

The Offer

Just because you don’t have anything on the table elsewhere doesn’t mean you should take it. And if you do have other options on the table, the employer should have been aware of that up front. After all, it’ll just make you seem all the hotter. If you’ve done everything right up to this point, the decision should be obvious. It’s okay to politely decline and not burn the bridge. You never know who they know that might also be hiring that’ll be a much better fit (not like that) for you. But if you do accept, make sure you give it all that you can. If you don’t, you’ll just end up getting canned and having to explain why you got terminated. Now that’s not fun with a company or with a new potential boo is it?

I know. This post is easier said than done, particularly in this economy. There’s a lot of people vying for a few positions. Unlike the economy though, this will never change when it comes to finding love.

So what do you think of this approach? Any looming questions you’d like to see covered in a future post? Other random thoughts that came to mind? Let us know.

I’m a writer not a blogger,