It's like dating...sort of.

I realized yesterday as I checked my email for the 4,009,993rd time that searching for a job is a lot like dating.

I've been out of the dating pool for two years now, but when I was there I was in neck-deep.

Sending out resumes and contacting employers is just like going out on a first date with a potential suitor. After it's sent, it's very similar to the morning after--in more ways than one.

If you felt that what you submitted was exceptionally great, you're sitting around waiting for that employer to call. It consumes you a bit. You try to pretend that you're distracting yourself, but really in the back of your mind it's still there.

Then you begin over thinking: "I think my cover letter contained a comma splice!", "I shouldn't have listed my time spent as a cat wrangler under 'Relevant Experience'.", "Crap. Did I give them the right contact information?", "Maybe their email and phone system is down.", "Maybe MY email and phone system is down."

It's a ruthless, never ending cycle.

Or perhaps you pushed the envelope. Perhaps you decided to try and blow away the competition with some wacky, off-the-wall approach. It's akin to a one-night-stand in the way that in both situations, once you realized that perhaps it wasn't the best idea, the next morning you're doing a red-faced walk of shame. (Okay, maybe not a "walk" per say, but your mind is backtracking to the point when you decided that sending a life-sized cardboard cutout of yourself to a potential boss was a good way to get his or her attention. Unfortunately, at that moment your perceived brilliance masked the fact that there are two types of attention: good and bad.)

It's been a week since I sent out the first onslaught of resumes and cover letters and I still haven't heard from anyone--besides the MLM scams and "Entry-level Marketing Management" opportunities that require you go door-to-door selling knick-knacks and pens...for no base pay.

So here I am, just like back in my dating days, constantly placing blame on myself for what I MUST be doing wrong to not get any callbacks.

Was it my hair? Perhaps I misused a semicolon? Did I come on too strong?

I suppose my only saving grace is the fact that I spent a lot of time in the dating pool, was met with a lot of rejection (although, I did some rejecting myself...), and learned quite a bit about not blaming myself for circumstances beyond my control. And eventually I was able to climb out of those murky waters with a really great guy , my confidence in tact, and a deeper understanding of who I truly was and what I deserved.

I'm hoping that the outcome of my job search will be similar...but without the awkward silences and broccoli stuck between my teeth.