How Is an Interview Like a Date?

I think job interviews are like first dates. You’re on your best behavior, you make sure to look presentable and you laugh at the jokes – no matter how trite. Then when it’s over you either think you’ve found what you’ve been looking for, or you’re sorry you bothered to leave the house.

After those first interviews (or dates) there’s the honeymoon period. The new manager is attentive, the coworkers invite you to lunch, you don’t know enough to be stuck working extra hours. No pressure. You get your new cube, your new pc and if you’re lucky, office supplies. Then one day the honeymoon ends.

The attentive manager becomes a micromanaging mad person, you get stuck working on the project from hell that no one wants to work on, and the rumored layoffs become reality.

After all the interviewing and searching, things don’t look so good once you get to know what’s really going on. On the other hand, there are those situations where what you get is even better than you expected. I’ve had those types of jobs too. The opportunities are open, the manager doesn’t have a Jekyll/Hyde thing going on and you feel comfortable in your working environment.

I wonder if I could’ve seen the bad situations coming – did I miss the signs? Did I ask the right questions about the job and the company? I’m not sure what the answer is, but maybe being more honest about what I really wanted might have helped. Come to think of it, that could work for dates too.