The Tinder-fication of Online Job Search

In the age of COVID-19, finding a romantic partner is no longer a niche activity. Starting with Tinder, dating apps gradually went from a novelty for digital natives, to a commonly accepted way to meet strangers, supercharged by various physical distancing guidelines during the pandemic that restricted changes for real-life encounters in physical events. While social desirability bias means precise data for prevalence remains unavailable, anecdotal evidence shows that many youngsters now see dating apps as the primary method to go beyond their immediate social circles in the quest for love.

With their increasing popularity, dating apps have induced their own sense of fatigue among both newcomers and long-time users. The ease of expressing affection and initiating conversations with new people means that the cost of acquiring new opportunities for dates is drastically reduced. As a result, the value of each opportunity is decreased in relative terms. After all, if it is so easy to meet a new person who might be better, then there is little reason to expend more effort on any particular person who does not seem to be a perfect match. 

A sense of all-encompassing fickleness, then, prevents anyone from deepening any one particular relationship. Dates can be had with multiple people on multiple days. And each person can now compare the pros and cons of hundreds of candidates across multiple platforms, with increasingly granular data points and background information related to likes and dislikes. Having so many choices might be good initially, but the endless options also provide pause for anyone to simply settle without entertaining the possibility of something better out there.

As the convenience of matching people online for romance becomes more mature, the same sense of convenience seems to be spreading to another area where matching individuals is particularly important: job search. The likes of LinkedIn, Seek, and Indeed have provided instant access to thousands of jobs to each job seeker. As with the case of Tinder and its competitors, users of job search platforms can now search using an ever-expanding set of criteria for the perfect job. As with swiping profiles, applying to jobs, with auto-formatted resumes and background information, is easier than ever before.

Unsurprisingly, the ease of job search, just as the ease of dating apps, has led to that all-encompassing sense of fickleness. Just as a single dating profile lets one access thousands of eligible bachelors and bachelorettes, a single resume is now simultaneously submittable to many types of jobs across multiple countries. Those dreaming of a big career change across industries or international borders no longer have to settle for local job posting boards, personal networks, and the odd chance. Just as one would not settle for the first person found on a dating app, the online job seeker is unlikely to accept the first job offer.

This fickleness is neither good for job seekers nor employers. Employers utilize the online job posting system with doubt about the loyalty of their own employees. With new jobs as easy to come by as browsing news articles on the internet, a few moments of free time during one's daily grind is all that's needed to do so job search on the side. With a mentality that the grass is always greener on the other side, exciting words of the average job posting are enough to drive down morale as employees imagine what else they can be doing while working their current jobs.

On the flip side, employees see their job application process elongated to intolerable lengths. Yes, applying with a resume is easier than ever on online job search sites, but that also means employers are inundated with applications from all over the world. Sifting through the deluge of resumes will take time, especially considering many with only an outside chance of ever getting in apply because there is practically no cost of trying. Just as people get tired of sifting through all the potential matches on their dating profiles, employers are exhausted from having to look through many irrelevant applicants.

The solution will be continuously tweaking the hurdles applicants need to go through when they are applying for jobs online. Employers can set their job posts so that applicants need to expend efforts in justifying their applications through personal statements and work samples beyond the standard resume. Do too much and many highly qualified applicants drop out of the application process before completion. Doing too little and manual filtering of applications can drive the HR department crazy. The Goldilocks of the perfectly hard but convenient online application process will need to be customized separately for each employer and each position.