The American job market is now like its dating scene

By Andy


Today's American job market is now like the American dating game. It is frustrating, discouraging, and a joke. The eerie similarities are rather alarming. Just like too many men are competing for too few women, more job seekers are applying for increasingly fewer jobs than ever before. This is a sad, and quite pathetic reality to face.



It is bad enough that the dating scene in the U.S. is abysmal to the point where it's irreparable, but it is worse to learn of a job market that has staggered, and has shown little signs of recovery. The fact that more and more people in America can't get a date OR a job just pours salt on the metaphorical wound. This, readers, is a double whammy. A slap across the face, followed by a backhand smack to the other cheek. If you are one of those people who is able to get a job and a date in the U.S., then congratulations, you are one of the lucky few.

For the rest of those unfortunate souls, especially men, a challenging and demoralizing experience awaits. It doesn't matter if one has just graduated from college or quit that job they had and loved for so long but had to leave for various reasons, the job search is unforgiving. It also doesn't matter that a man in America holds down a job, even in tough times, and takes care of himself, and still can't get a decent woman, much less a date. Because of the scarcity of decent jobs and women in America, a good man or a nice guy is in unfamiliar territory. Competing with not only other good men, but a**holes, dickheads and losers for that coveted prize.


It is shocking and maddening to learn that the same problems and games that have f*cked up the American dating scene beyond repair are now plaguing the professional world. This is an area I would least expect to have such passive-aggressive and childish behavior. Nonetheless, it is happening. Things have changed in the work world over the years, and not all of them have been for the better. I will provide some disturbing examples and comparisons to dating, based on simple observations from the job searches of the past few months.

Forget job offers; it is a challenge to even get an interview these days. Your polished resume and that error-free application you submitted do not guarantee an interview. Despite your experience, skills and qualifications; the companies, or in this case, the representatives for the companies (HR) treat you like you are an expendable nothing. So, trying to get an interview is like approaching a woman and trying to get her attention, getting a conversation started, and a phone number. Good luck with both as the company and the woman are bombarded with attention in the form of hundreds of applications and men, respectively. 

So, let's say you get an interview. That's like getting a woman's phone number after meeting her. An interview does not guarantee a job offer just like that first phone call doesn't guarantee a date. Think about it. When a chick tells you she’ll call you back later and never does, that is when the games begin. 

That is just like at the conclusion of the interview, where you are told, you'll get a call or e-mail on a certain day, regardless of the result. When there is no call or notification on the promised day, you start to wonder, so you can get closure. Soon, there is no word, so you start calling the company to get an answer. So, every time you call and try to get a hold of the manager, you somehow get bounced around between departments or get voice mail. Just like when you call a woman whose number you got however many days ago, you get some bullshit excuse for her to get off the phone with you. 

At best, you get a hold of someone from human resources, and we all know the nearly universal disdain for human resources. Human resources is like voice mail, except they will be short and rude with you. Just try explaining your situation to them as clearly as possible and they will not only see you as a waste of time, but they will give you an unclear explanation as to the status of your application and interview. Not only will they constantly interrupt you, they will try to end the conversation as soon as possible. Sound familiar? 

Even job offers are not guaranteed. A job offer is like getting a date. The hiring manager contacts you, extends to you an offer and congratulates you upon you accepting. Everything seems great and confirmed, and then you get some bullshit excuse in the middle of the pre-employment screening process. “We decided to choose someone else” without any explanation is like “I’ve decided to go out on a date with someone else.” 

So, a rather premature job offer is comparable to a woman accepting a date from a man, only to cancel or stand him up at the last minute. Talk about immature and unprofessional. If there is anything good that comes out of a situation like that, it is that you know their immature behavior and lack of professionalism in advance rather than later, to avoid more painful and damaging scenarios later on down the line. It makes it easy to cut losses rather than be with someone who is pretending to be somebody they’re not. Such a situation makes it easy to identify who you should work for and who you should date and associate with in your life. 

But even if you get a job and the offer is not rescinded, that is similar to a rare chance with a woman the whole town has been chasing. Things have progressed to a relationship because there was enough convincing and impressing during the date and interview that deemed the candidate worthy. One has to tread lightly in the job and the relationship because of the numerous options that the woman and company have. The new hire and new main squeeze is expendable, because there are various others chomping at the bit. It's a cutthroat environment where one slight mistake and the guy is getting dumped, just like the boss or HR are giving the new hire their pink slip.

Another problem with Human Resources is that, in reality, it exists as a black hole. They exist to be childish and condescending assholes that protect the image and reputation of the company, while treating employees and job applicants like shit. It is just like the woman's needs, wants and happiness coming first in a relationship. Rest assured if you are a male in a female-dominated office, passive-aggressive or blatant efforts will be made to make you quit or get fired. If those efforts fail, all extensive efforts will be made to make male employees feel miserable.

The other problem is that a job seeker who is qualified for a job they apply for, and have all the right references and background checks, is subjected to competing with hundreds of other applications not only for the company but just for one of its jobs. Many of those resumes and applications are from people who are not even qualified to begin with. So, this is great for the qualified job seeker, right? Wrong. Because of the shortage of quality women in America and the shortage of good jobs, too many men are competing for too few women and too many applicants are competing for too few jobs.  

A good worker and a good man have to compete with real, actual losers. The attractive and well-rounded woman is like HR and the company in that she is overwhelmed with the process of having to eliminate several losers that the good guy usually gets lost in the shuffle. Or she could reject most suitors to boost her already inflated ego, just like HR likes to capitalize on a bad job market by playing their little trivial and rejection-based games. The rejection letters that get sent out are like the usual 'nos'. Thank you for your interest, but you were not selected.

Of course, the outmoded mantra of "keep trying" resonates heavily after this. Such results are discouraging and only lower one’s morale. At some point, defeatism and uncertainty start to creep in to one’s psyche. This is unheard of for those who never had such a mentality or never had to get out into such a job hunt. No doubt that one starts to question their own progress and qualifications. 

Any time one does get an interview, if all of the prior interviews have been failures and there have been not too many interviews resulting from the hundreds of other applications submitted, it is easy for one to assume that they won’t get the job, regardless of their qualifications, or what they say or do. Also, getting out of a relationship is like leaving a job. Ideally, it is best to have another job lined up before quitting, but sometimes things get so bad, that it is counterproductive to stay. When it comes to getting in and out of relationships, one can take their time and be more selective. Not so much with jobs, and when people find themselves out of work or out of a relationship, it may very well be unknown territory.

For those who despise unemployment just as much as they despise the friend zone, there are other ways for a job seeker to find a job, just like there are other ways for American men to get dates, but it is not necessarily the best route. There is the option of being self-employed, which is challenging and might take time, and then there is entering into the world of blue collar jobs, which are male-dominated. This is a result of the corporate world becoming increasingly female-dominated, and shunning or systematically expelling men for the sake of having an all-female work force. This is not always the best option because more often than not, the female employee and boss seek micromanagement, drama and someone to blame for their lack of accountability. They don’t realize this until the last man has quit for been fired. Just like most women don’t realize their mistake of passing up the nice guy for the asshole after the fact. 

Let it be known that productive female employees and good female bosses do exist, but are few in numbers, just like good American women. They are out there, but are rare and always taken. The few productive female employees and managers that stick around after brain drain or after the last male employee has quit or been fired, are working towards getting out. This is because they are the few who “get it” and won’t tolerate an environment that panders to unqualified imbeciles or misandry. This is the equivalent of a woman getting out of a bad relationship that has turned sour.

Some other ways of going about finding a job or a mate are job agencies and international marriage agencies. There are several and they require research as there will be different opinions, different results, different vibes, different price ranges and different women. The other route is connections with friends, (former) co-workers and bosses. With today's increasingly competitive job market and the great difficulty in finding quality partners for relationships, it is not necessarily what you know, but who you know, that will get you a job or a romantic partner. Hey, if ass kissers can get jobs they aren’t even qualified for and douchebags are getting the ladies, the best and brightest can kiss a little ass every now and then.

The difficulties in finding a decent job in the current job climate put into perspective how bad things have become in generating any income. This difficulty has already been exposed in the American dating scene, for finding partners, and I wouldn't be surprised if more Americans, especially men, went abroad to not only find jobs, but girlfriends and wives. I'm sensing more of a dismissal of the traditional route and more alternatives to finding both in the near future. Tough times in the dating scene, and especially the job search, will eventually expose to an individual, who is shallow and who is unconditionally supportive in tough times. In other words, hard times will show who your true friends are. 

If there is any hope for recovery and improvement, it is in the professional world, the job market. Jobs are what allow people to live and survive. Dating and relationships are being exposed as unnecessary, especially in the age of feminism. If anything, the American job market and economy have the potential to rebound sooner than the dysfunctional dating scene, despite the similarities. I'm not going to necessarily hold my breath for either, but I'm going to be continually aware of the situation, conscious of all available options, and be willing to utilize any and all of them. 

Hey, just because the job market and dating scene are in a crummy state, doesn't mean anybody has to just accept the resulting mediocrity.