First off, I kind of forgot it was Valentine’s Day. Olympics coverage has taken over my life and apparently none of the sponsors made spots telling me to go buy flowers and chocolates (or they did and I was busy playing with my phone during the commercial breaks).

So, what did I do today? I got dressed up. I dried my hair (with something other than a towel) – all without realizing it was Valentine’s Day.

I went on an “informational” meeting. For those not in this position, an informational meeting is basically when you meet someone that works in your field to talk about potential opportunities.

Today’s was great, and the more I thought about it – the more this seemed like the perfect Valentine’s Day activity.

So:

If you’re unemployed and single on Valentine’s day, why not go on some informational meetings…

It’s just like a first date:

– without Googling you don’t know what the person looks like

– you start off with a mention of the weather (or the traffic, or the subway)

– you spend a lot of time discussing, “So what is it you do?”

– and then sometime discussing, “What is it you want to do?”

– finally, you segue into common interests

Like most first dates, it may lead to nothing, you may end up parting with the common, “let’s keep in touch,” but you will at the very least have gotten a cup of coffee and had a pleasant conversation.

More importantly, just like most first dates, there is always hope that it may lead to something.