Job hunting vs. Dating – a comparison of two of the most painful processes in life… ;)

OK, here’s a little something that I wrote a few years ago (April 2005), while I was still unemployed and running around doing job interviews every other day… Thank God I found the most amazing job (and a man too for that!) and won’t have to go through either of for a very long – if ever again… :DWhen I first came back from Khao Lak, I wasn’t exactly thrilled as I didn’t really want to leave Thailand, the diving and all of my cool friends, but after December 26 there wasn’t a whole lot of divers coming – which of course meant there wasn’t a whole lot of diving instructors needed… A good opportunity to go back to the rat race in Sweden and try to figure out whether I should do the “career thing” or the “hippy thing”! So I went to see some mates and some family, got my apartment back after a couple of weeks and then started running all over the place, like a blue-arsed fly, in-between interviews. Stockholm being buried under 30 cms of snow and a temperature of -10 didn’t make things better… But after a while I kind of started enjoying the thrill and the challenge. That sensation didn’t last very long though and when coming back from the third interview with the same company, preparing to sit by the phone and wait for a job offer, it struck me: “Job hunting” is like “man hunting” and “interviewing” is very similar to “dating”… I mean, think about it:

You go on a first interview (or a date) at a company (with a guy) that you don’t really know that much about. Either your skin starts crawling after only a few minutes and you start looking desperately around you for the nearest emergency exit, or, you instantly hit it off and get along really well and you walk out of there high as a kite, full of confidence and thinking to yourself: “Yepp! I sure got this baby in the bag!”

Then the waiting starts, right? They’re going to call you within the next few days, that’s the last thing they tell you before you leave the room. So for a couple of days you are still on that natural high, feeling like you own the world. You feel good! You look good! Damn, you are good! On the third day or so you are starting to think that today they will definitely call, because if they don’t call today… They will never call. Ever! And they don’t…

By now, you are starting to turn into yourself, the way you were 15 years ago: Totally insecure about yourself and your abilities. You are starting to think along the lines of “I’ll never find another job” (except maybe a really shitty one that nobody else wants). Before you know it, you are starting to pick the receiver up every few minutes, just to make sure that the phone lines aren’t down and that the phone is working properly.

When you reach the stage where you are actually considering bringing the phone with you into the bathroom when washing your hair – that’s when it’s time to get all dressed up, get out of the (by now) grotty flat and go have some drinks with some friends! You need to ruthlessly flirt with any poor guy who is within reach and looks like he might be willing to buy you a drink (since you can’t afford to buy your own anyway, being unemployed and all…)!

After a night on the town your confidence is restored – at least for a few days until you go for the next interview, which sets the whole circus off again…

The actual interview is a bit like a date as well, isn’t it? You make an extra effort to look good and make a good impression, right?! And you do try to be honest and straight forward but at the same time you emphasize certain aspects, while trying to quiet other ones down a bit, so that they’ll just find you that little bit more interesting than the competition.

And whatever you do: Never be completely honest!!! ;D