It starts simply: two people look at profiles. X is a person looking at a job description, she decides to apply. Y reviews the résumé, the detailed profile, listing traits, with a cover letter talking about all their good points. The exchange can be a biased, since there is a lot of history on a résumé and often less in a job description, but an industrious X can go online and search out the company "creep their Facebook", finding all kinds of un/interesting things. Y might be checking out X's online profiles too. How much of what they find is true? How many people lie on their resumes? How many people make a company seem more impressive through a fancy website? There is only so much you can learn from these profiles.
A meeting is agreed upon. X "dresses to impress". We hope Y would do the same. If they don't, won't they also be judged by the person coming to meet them? Like a blind date, clothing can be crucial. Does X want to work somewhere, be with someone, that doesn't look put together, that doesn't look like they know what they're doing? Also, don't be late.
After that first impression, X and Y have a chat. They talk about their histories. X talks about her previous employers, past relationships. Y gives a history of the company, may talk about previous employees. Are X and Y getting along? Y might start talking about what will be expected of X. X might ask questions of Y, trying to figure out what she would be getting into and if it is worth her time.
After they part, it's left of to Y to call. Is X the right fit? Y might need a second date. If Y decides against pursuing a relationship with X, there's often disappointment and sadness. If Y offers, then there is joy and a new relationship. However, X does have the option to decline. What if, after meeting Y, X knows she'd never be happy there? What if X gets a better offer? After that first meeting, that first date, there's more than one possibility.
My job search has been going on for a while. I've been on a lot of interviews in the past few weeks. It was maybe two weeks ago that I started comparing job interviews to blind dates. The interviews are so often the same conversations, just had with different people in different locations. Which got me thinking about dating (something I honestly haven't done in a very long time), then thinking about blind dating, since I'm not actually meeting anyone until after the exchange of information. Like blind dates, I'm hoping one of these meetings works out for me.
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