The business of dating in business
RAEGAN HEDLEY, LIFESTYLE COLUMNIST
Imagine meeting someone you really respect at an event. You take their card. Months go by, and a job opens up with their company. You send in your resume and cover letter, and hope this person remembers you. You get your hopes up. You get an email from the person, saying your resume is impressive and they want you to come in for an interview.
Everything seems to go fine, but then… silence. You never hear from them again, and you wonder where you went wrong.
The sad part is while this situation is fictional, this sort of thing happens all the time for people who are single and dating. It’s called ‘ghosting.’
Dating in the digital world can be about as scary and vulnerable as going out and trying to get a job. Millennials might soon be professionals in our respective industries, but we arguably have a lot of growing up to do in the dating department.
In the situation I described above, you’d probably want a courtesy call or email so you know the employer went with another candidate, right? I’ve been in the situation above —in terms of dating and jobs — and I can definitely say it’s nice to know where you stand.
In some cases, the two realms intersect when we date people in the same industry. I have some experience with this, and like all experiences, what good are they if you can’t learn from them and give advice about them in your college newspaper?
Tip 1: Keep dates and meetings separate
I’ve walked into what I believed was a meeting and asked what the topic of discussion was. Dating. It was dating. You really don’t want to assume anything if you’re getting mixed vibes. It’s going to be really awkward if you make the wrong assumption. Just stay professional until you have a clear picture of what’s going on.
Tip 2: Keep it clean
So you casually dated someone in the same program or industry. You know you’re going to see them around. No matter what side of things you are on, try to make the break up as respectful as possible. On Monday, they will go back to being one of your peers.
Tip 3: Keep it to yourself
Again, this is a respect thing. Don’t say anything about the person you wouldn’t want them saying about you. You never know where you’ll end up, and you never know if you’ll end up working with or for that person.
Raegan Hedley is a sassy millennial who aspires to someday become a kick-ass business professional. In the meantime, she writes on her blog at raegjules.com and tweets way too much (@raegjules).
