Why I Quit Online Dating

Online dating is just as murky and full of lemons as finding a used car in the classifieds. Once you learn the lingo, it's easier to spot the models with high mileage and no warranty.

Laurie Perry

I’ve officially quit online dating. My profile is now deleted, never again to be resurrected. I know that online dating does work for some people, but I’m not one of those. My friends will no doubt be quite dismayed at my decision; not because they wouldn’t support it but because they’ll no longer be regaled by my online dating escapades. Amusement at life’s foibles will have to come from other sources.

Einstein’s definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. This sums up how I feel about online dating. I used to find the fake profiles, scammers and people lying about their ages, hobbies, interests and professions mildly entertaining, but no longer. Amusement has given way to annoyance and irritation. And so, it's time to go. I’ll leave online dating to those who are still hopeful that their Mr. or Ms Right is on Match, OKCupid, Plenty of Fish or the like.

In case you’ve bought into the hype that the only way people meet anymore is online, you couldn’t be more wrong. According to Pew Research, only 5% of Americans who are in a marriage or committed relationship say they met their significant other online. The overwhelming majority of relationships begin offline. According to Google Consumer Surveys the 3 most common ways that people meet are:

1. Through friends in common

2. Out in a social setting

3. Through work

The online dating chapter of my life is now closed. Instead of approaching dating as a mission, I’m just going to live my life and see what the universe has in store with me.

Nothing defines humans better than their willingness to do irrational things in the pursuit of phenomenally unlikely payoffs. This is the principle behind lotteries, dating, and religion.

Scott Adams

Make someone smile today.

Geri 

Job Hunting’s A Lot Like Online Dating

Sometime I think “Screw this job. I’ll just quit and be a stripper”. Then I remember I’m fat and can’t dance.

The funtab.com

I’ve been self-employed for quite a long time now. At the end of every contract the inevitable job search begins. I’m now in job search mode and it occurred to me that job hunting’s a lot like online dating. A resume (or CV if you prefer the more highbrow approach) is no different than an online dating profile. And it appears that job candidates lie almost as often as online daters.

A recent survey from CareerBuilder of more than 2,500 hiring managers found that 56% have caught job candidates lying on their resumes. This jives with The Society of Human Resource Managers who reported that 53% of the resumes and job applications that they reviewed contained falsifications such as misleading statements, fraudulent degrees, altered employment dates, inflated salary claims, inaccurate job descriptions and falsified references. These lies are not unlike those told by online daters. I once had coffee with a lawyer who on his profile said that he was a golfer. When I asked him where he played, he said that he had taken his son to play mini-golf on one occasion. But, this fine legal mind thought that this one outing to mini-golf was adequate for him to misrepresent himself as a golfer. Breathtaking isn’t it?

The job hunting world is really like the online dating world where people create fantasy personas with fake photos and made up histories. One would think that job hunters would strive for more authenticity, but clearly that doesn’t seem to be the case. My legitimate and truthful resume is being compared to others that are highly inflated or outright lies. In both cases the only thing I have to say to online daters and hiring managers is Caveat emptor! Buyer beware!

Why do you say “entry level” and then require a Masters Degree, 8 – 20 years of experience, every certification known to mankind and the blood of my first born child?

Wann-joke.com

Make someone smile today.

Geri