You read that right. It’s not a typo. The digital dating service eHarmony will soon offer a job searching function.
Their line of thinking is simple. They have some 20 millions users, each with “in-depth” personality profiles. Today’s hiring trends (according to them) suggest that employers tend to pick people based on “four to five superficial traits” much like meeting someone in a bar. And since they’ve got the “meet up in a bar” method beat, why not beat this, too?
The details are sketchy (in every sense), but Inc. suggests that eHarmony will match supervisors with job-seekers based on personalities, work habits, hobbies, and “other quantifiables that go beyond the typical competency metrics.” They mysteriously mention being able to provide employers with 40 data points instead of the four or five they say are traditional through job board profile sites like Monster and professional networking tools like LinkedIn.
We reached out to their COO for some comments on this, as well as their corporate media inquiries person, because we’re filled with questions about this. How does it work? And, for that matter, does it work? Will current users be ticked? Why does your spokesman look like Orville Redenbacher? Questions along those lines are certainly justifiable. But the best question, and most pressing, is the one that came instantly from all our guts when we read this: Really? Really?
I know cultural fit is a huge trend in hiring right now, and I have to admit that I’m kind of a sucker for stories about unique methodologies and approaches for it. But this? Wherever the line is between cultural fit and professional qualifications, eHarmony has crossed it. Hell, they’ve crossed it, did some sight-seeing, and grabbed souvenirs. Here’s yours: it’s a business suit for your workday that’s also reversible into sexy lingerie for your date tonight.
Needless to say, no one responded to our queries. (Probably because of that Orville Redenbacher question.) So without eHarmony to defend itself, tell us truthfully what you think of this.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Ok if eHarmony can move into staffing, maybe us moving into hooking people up isn’t such a big stretch.
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Why would it not work is the question? I believe it still takes a human being with a real BS meter to interview people and make hiring decisions. I would have to say the two most frequent times people lie in their lives are when they are looking to get a date and a job. This is why it won’t work, but it will make it easier to only have to lie once I guess.
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Good idea to move out of staffing and to the hook up business. I am just afraid of the contract.
What kind of service level agreement would the clients expect?
What kind of insurance do I need? Does my broker sell dating practices insurance with a stalker clause?
The contingency model is out of the question, I imagine this is more of a retained search agreement business….
And what about the guarantee? If you get dumped within the first ninety days of the relationship do I have to find you another?
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Hmm. Sort of like LinkedIn, Kinda like Facebook, even a bit like jobtweets. I think it’s time for someone to try to round them up all together (for the 1,000 time).
I apologize for the sarcasm, but this is getting old. Actually, heaven would include one giant, easily-searchable, up-to-date database with mock interview videos.
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Their matching will go beyond cultural fit, but actually predicting whether or not the job candidate will be able to work well with the manager in question.
Our startup, jobFig.com does something similar, but we look at the team that the person will work with and not just the manager. Research shows (and also our own evidence from screening candidates for companies) that even solid behavioral interviewing techniques will still miss a lot of the cues of whether or not the person will work out with the team that they are going into.
With the number 1 cause of new-hire failure being personality/attitudinal mismatch, the more companies that offer services to alleviate that problem, the better their companies will do and the faster our economy will get back to sub 4% unemployment.
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what if it works too well, and everyone starts dating their manager! oh wait, that’s against HR rules.
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