Are Job Boards the New Tinder?

I am sure that there are a few hundred analogies for the recruitment process and how job seekers should approach their job search. Personally and whether this is more indicative of my background in psychology, or whether too many variations of ‘The Bachelor’ and other social dating apps have finally gotten to me, the process of finding a job is not dissimilar to finding a partner or significant other. Hear me out.

Let’s use good old Tinder as the catalyst for my analogy. A Tinder profile, which includes pictures, a short blurb about ‘you’ and other choice information acts as your ‘dating resume’. Swiping left and right (depending on the time of year, how much pressure your family is putting on you to find a partner and how available you want to be) dictates how ‘out there’ you are. For the more available and less inhibited love seeker, let’s call these people Tinder aficionados , the swipe right becomes almost a reflex.

Quantity versus quality. These people tend not to read the bios of who they match with, may not find the profile picture to their typical liking, however it’s a numbers game people! The more you say yes, the more likely someone will say yes back. In much the same way, job seekers these days can find (with the click of a mouse) pages upon pages of jobs listed on job boards and you can narrow the search by location too! The mentality of “the more roles I apply to, the more likely I am to get one” has somehow permeated the job seeker market. Quantity versus quality.

These people do not read the job requirements, may not find the job they are applying to particularly appealing or ‘passion’ inducing, however it’s a numbers game people! So what happens now you have made all these ‘love connections’? You have matched with all these potential roles and you are getting calls from recruitment consultants…