7 Reasons Why Recruiting is Just Like Dating

Recruiting.  Dating.  I’m sure you can see the similarities.  As a recruiter, I’m searching for the best possible person to do a job.  As an eligible female (who in reality isn’t exactly eligible, I’m married), I’m searching for a companion that will fill the bill.  Except that not many recruiters can honestly say they treated their matchmaking in the same way they interview and fill jobs.  I can.

• They Meet Certain Minimum Qualifications. 

  Your potential mate or your potential employee must meet minimum criteria.  This minimum criterion is open to discussion and depends on the company or individual.  For me I wanted someone who had a college degree, was financially responsible, a non-smoker, unmarried or unattached, funny, handsome, and could keep up with me.  Your job seeker qualifications also has a short list, depending on the corporate role and specific job responsibilities.

• We Have to Like These People. 

  When it comes to the workplace, we spend more time at work than with our families, and yet we spend more time dating and courting our perfect guy or girl than we do our employee.  And depending on the role, a candidate can be responsible for millions or billions of dollars managing or running a division or production line.

• We Google Them and Background Check Them Too. 

  As I mentioned I treated my love match like I did the job search.  I qualified the boyfriend material, Googled them, and even went so far as to conduct a background check.  I believe in due diligence and really, a girl can never be too careful.

• We Interview Them. 

  In dating you call it dating or maybe lunch.  In corporate America, we call this the interview.  We meet and chat sometimes informally and sometimes not to determine if there is chemistry whether it’s love or for work.

• Our Friends Set Us Up. 

  I went on a blind date once.  It didn’t work out well.  Thank goodness I don’t worry about that now as I’ve been happily married going on 6 plus years.  Your company calls this employee referrals, and for many company’s they serve as one of their top candidate sources.  Hopefully, these referral employees turnover less and lead more productive corporate lives.  The difference is as an individual looking for love I have one job opening.  Your company might have hundreds or even thousands. 

• We’re Nervous. 

  And for the right reasons.  Choosing our spouse or mate is the single most important personal decision we make in our lives.  We hedge our bets on one person or job; we can open ourselves up to great risk, especially if we’re aren’t that great in making good decisions.  Believe me I know.  I’ve made my share of less than stellar employment and romantic decisions.

• We Use Social Recruiting and Internet Job Boards. 
  Just like job boards and other social recruiting and online search tools, I know you have your favorite.  The same holds true for dating websites and social networks that you prefer in finding eligible candidates for the position of companion or employee.

Employment, like dating, is a relationship where two parties spend a significant part of their lives with one another.  It’s a mutual contract that started with a connection with the idea of benefiting both parties either personally, financially or both.

Jessica Miller-Merrell, SPHR is a workplace and technology strategist specializing in social media.  She’s an author who writes at Blogging4Jobs.  Also, connect with her on Pinterest @blogging4jobs. Photo Credit TechFresh.