A job search is just like dating...

If you think about it, it's really true. The process of applying, interviewing, and accepting or rejecting a job is eerily similar to dating. First, I will explain the similarities, then I will support them with my recent experience (in the job search, not dating).

Applying
Most people looking for a job, at least one worth pursuing, need to apply formally usually by filling out a form provided by the employer. The application includes things like marital status, education history, transcripts, work history, and some sort of personal statement depending on the field of employment.

It's not a huge jump to draw some parallels to dating. If you're being setup you can almost hear the conversation with your friend evaluating the unwritten application for your company "What does he do for a living? How long have you known him? What was his last relationship like? He better not be married!"

Interviewing
If the employer thinks you're worth hiring they'll invite you to a formal interview. These can often be intimate meetings with one or two individuals asking fiercely personal questions about your life philosophy in some attempt to assertain your competency, as if an hour long meeting can really tell you much no matter what the questions. At the end of the interview the employer will either offer you a position or invite you to another interview for further interrogation.

For dating, if you're courageous enough to approach a complete stranger, the application is the interview. This time you're applying for the privilege to buy her a drink or share her table. In a second she sizes up your clothes, demeanor, looks, fertility, agenda, estimated net worth and future earning potential. It's true! If she doesn't blow you off, you're in! You got the interview and the ensuing conversation decides whether you get to the next interview...the next date.

The same applies to the blind date situation except the application process takes place before the interview and the employer feels compelled to see the interview through to its completion for no other reason than to be respectful to the reference (in other words, the mutual friend that set you up). At the end of the first date she decides if you get another date or not.

The Offer
When you're offered a position the balance of power changes slightly. The employer presents a contract or formal offer indicating an acceptance of your potential and expresses a desire to continue the relationship. Of course, accepting the position is easy you feel the employer offers a valuable opportunity, or if you've been out of work for a while, just a paycheck. Everyone goes away smiles and you continue employment until such time as one party is unsatisfied with the arranged situation.

Though the process to this point clearly advantages the employer, the interviewee is also evaluating the employer. If, during the process, you feel the employer is impolite, excessively critical, or does not offer the compensation package you anticipated you may reject the offer. Given the face-to-face nature of the interview, this can be awkward. If you express reluctance in accepting the position on the spot, or if you're sure the job isn't a good fit and you refuse immediately following the interview, the employer will most likely not be pleased and perhaps get angry or hurt you felt the position was not good enough for you or worth your time and effort to further your career.

Again, this situation is familiar to those not far removed from the dating scene. You meet a blind date or pick up a girl at a coffee shop, convince her to go out with you, and at the end of the night you realize you have made perhaps the worst choice in human history. She casually refers to her seemingly endless string of militantly jealous, felonious boyfriends recently released from the state's accommodations, her recent crusade to end the exploitation of workers for a company whose jeans she is wearing, and her theories on why Einstein was smart but not cute enough to be important. No matter how bad it goes it's always uncomfortable to communicate you have no inclination to see this person...ever. So you say "Oh yeah, I'll give you a call." I'll get right on that.