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Job Seekers Turn to Dating Apps for Referrals, Interviews and Offers

Rising unemployment with AI screening pushes applicants to seek human referrals on dating platforms.

Overview

  • An October ResumeBuilder.com survey of about 2,200 U.S. dating-app users found 34% used the apps for job or career purposes in the past year.
  • Among those users, reported outcomes included mentorship or advice for roughly 43%, interviews for 39%, referrals or leads for 37% and job offers for 37%, with about 88% making at least one meaningful professional connection.
  • Late-December coverage ties the trend to a softer labor market and automated hiring filters, with U.S. unemployment at 4.6% in November, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
  • Platforms are split: Bumble discourages using its dating products primarily for jobs, while Grindr says about a quarter of its 15 million monthly users engage in networking; Match Group apps reiterate relationship-focused guidelines.
  • Use spans ages and incomes, with higher earners reporting greater professional use, and experts and users describe both practical wins and boundary risks in mixing dating and career outreach.