"We're just not that into you"

After being dragged by my girlfriend to He’s Just Not That Into You…ok, I wasn’t dragged. After watching the sneak preview on HBO last night, I admit I wanted to see this movie. I had high expectations that it could be a relationship cult classic. While I was way off base – overall, it was a good, entertaining move – I couldn’t help but observe the similarities that relationships have with the experience of searching for a job.

[By the way, if the movie was written in a more objective view; from both the man and woman’s perspective, it could have reached that cult status…but that is up for debate]

If you haven’t seen the movie and want to be entertained, I certainly recommend it. Here is a short example of how relationships share similarities with searching for a job.

Let's first focus on Gigi Haim. She is the main character who often misinterprets the signs that men give her about their level of actual interest in her. She comes across as desperate, always holding out hope that a guy likes and wants to be with her. She even misses some obvious clues that well, "he is just not into you." I compare this to when a candidate that has interviewed for a job and doesn’t receive an offer continues to badger the company about why he/she is right for the position. Thinking about it, I may have been guilty of doing this once or twice. In the past though, I was successful in getting an interview because of my persistence so maybe I feel that it is acceptable with every company. Obviously that is not the case and it is important to understand that all companies are different and may react poorly toward a nagging candidate. It’s about finding that medium where you don’t come across as obnoxious but you also don't become forgotten.

I am interested to hear your take. Are relationships similar to searching for a job?