If Job Seeking Is Like Dating, Can Recruiting Apps Be Like Tinder?
Dating is probably the most overused vehicle of comparison these days. Let me just do a quick Google search to prove my point:
To be quite frank, even I used the dating analogy in one of the posts in this blog. The truth is, everything that is in any way related to interpersonal relationships can in some way be compared to finding the right person and wooing them.
Taking things a bit further, in a Forbes interview a New York career counselor Roy Cohen even suggests the best printed resource to look for career advice is a 1995 dating manual The Rules: Time Tested Secrets for Capturing the Heart of Mr. Right.
It’s basically a 192-page volume on all the different ways to play hard to get. Whereas the book does not resonate well with feminists and just about everyone else who’s not into turning human relationships into competitive games, apparently it sits quite well with career counselors.
Cohen noted that it’s all about about developing a strategy that creates desirability, and you have to admit he kind of has a point there, at least when it comes to job hunting. You don’t want to seem too eager, or to desperate, right? You want to let the recruiters know your skills are in demand and any company would be lucky to have you.
Swipe For A Job
But we’re talking about dating of more traditional variety here – how do you translate this analogy into the digital era of dating apps like Tinder?
One startup used a very straightforward approach and actually went ahead to create the Tinder of job seeking – superresu.me.
If you’re unfamiliar with Tinder itself, it’s a dating app that creates your very basic profile, containing your first name, several images and an optional short description. It then lists eligible people from your vicinity and you can “swipe” them to the left if you’re not interested or to the right if you’d like to hook up with them.
If the other person swipes your profile to the right as well, the app matches the two of you and you can start a conversation. Tinder owes part of its ppulariti to the fact that it takes away fear or shame that go hand in hand with rejection, because the other person never sees you “liked” them unless they “liked” you back.
Well, India-based Super Resume is taking this principle to the word of recruiting – the startup has an iOS and Android app that generate a short resume for you and the app suggests companies and job postings you might be interested in.
The principle is the same – swipe right to like a company or swipe left to dislike a company. If the company likes you back, well, I guess you set up a date. I can only assume this takes of some of the pressure in the whole process of seeking a job, the same way Tinder “cushions” rejection in personal life.
It’ll be interesting to see how this works out – for now, the app has around 9000 reviews and a 4,2 average on Google Play Store – maybe the future of recruiting really does lie in swiping?
