When it comes to using the personals to find a mate, there is all kinds of advice and tips on how you should go about it. Is this another one of those articles? Maybe, but hopefully one with better advice that will help you make the most of your experience and let you come out of it with a partner or at the very least some great and even funny experiences that will help you become a better dater and person as well as give you some really awesome material for you friends, jokes, blogs and stand-up comedy routine.

The worst possible advice I have come across regarding the use of personals for dating was that you should see the whole thing as you would a job search and pursue it with the exact same seriousness that you would a career opportunity! WTF? Seriously?? When did dating become a job? I’m offended by the comparison because in reality more than half the population is unhappy or unsatisfied at their job and have also reported feeling un-motivated! That’s the way you should be approaching dating?? Ummm…NO!

Dating is not a chore or even something that you should take so seriously. Yes, you wanna find someone great and yes, it’s not always easy, but by taking dating—or yourself—too seriously, you are not doing yourself or your dates a favor by any means. Not all dates are going to work out and you’ll have to kiss a lot of frogs and even jackasses before you find your prince or princess which can prove a tad frustrating when you get to about the twentieth dud date, but being serious and up tight about it won’t help! The best thing that you can do is go into dating with an open mind, a positive attitude and expectations that don’t go beyond enjoying yourself and getting to know someone. If dating is supposed to feel like a job, then I would guess that people would stop doing it all together, especially since they’d have no boss to have to deal with afterwards!

I also read someplace that your personals ad should read like a resume. Double WTF?? Why on Earth would anyone ever want to date someone whose personals ad looked and read like a resume? I don’t know about you, but my resume—colorful as my work history is—certainly doesn’t classify as an upbeat or witty little ditty! Personals should be a short, sweet and honest reflection of yourself and your personality. Not once have I ever come across a resume that included references to someone’s love of Ferris wheels and puppies or their desire for having their toes sucked by someone who is smart, sexy and confident. Have you?

Personals allow you the opportunity to meet other singles who you hope you will hit it off with. Unless what you crave is someone who is boring, dry and void of any personality, then I suggest NOT approaching dating as a job and NOT creating and ad or profile that reads like a resume. You want to find the best match for you, so if wild, crazy and unconventional is what you are, then that is precisely what your personals ad should relflect.