By late 2025, professionals are exploring unconventional paths to career connections. Frustration with oversaturated job portals, automated hiring systems, and slow responses on traditional professional networks
has prompted job seekers to look elsewhere sometimes in unexpected spaces. 1 in 3 dating app users (34%) report using platforms like Tinder, Bumble, or Facebook Dating for professional purposes in the past year, and nearly 1 in 10 say career networking was their primary reason for being on these apps.
According to a 2025 survey by ResumeBuilder.com, among those using apps professionally, 63% aimed to expand their network, 42% sought job leads or referrals, 40% pursued job offers, and 38% hoped for mentorship or career advice. Three in four users (75%) intentionally match with people in specific roles, and two in three (66%) target connections at prestigious or desirable companies. The trend spans age groups, 35% of users aged 18–28, 34% of those 29–44, and 33% of users 45–55 have leveraged dating apps for job-related purposes. Men (37%) are slightly more likely than women (30%) to do so, and usage rises with income with 27% of those earning under $50,000 compared with 47% of those earning over $200,000.
Why Are People Turning to Dating Apps to Find Work?
Dating apps have long been places to flirt and find companionship but in a fractured hiring landscape, many users now treat them as informal professional networks. According to the survey, of 2,225 dating app users, 34% said they had used these apps for job or career purposes in the past year.
There are a few reasons for this transformation. First, traditional job portals and professional networks like LinkedIn can feel saturated. Automated screening tools, often powered by AI, filter out large swathes of applicants before a human ever looks at a CV. Employers increasingly rely on machine algorithms to handle high volumes of applications but that can make human connection scarce.
Dating apps, by contrast, are designed for connection. They foreground profiles, interests and conversation. Users deliberately seek out matches who work in specific roles or companies they admire; 75% of those swiping for careers said they targeted people in desirable positions. In that environment, a simple message about mutual interests can lead to mentorship, guidance or even referrals interactions that feel more organic than cold outreach on a professional platform.
Are These Connections Actually Leading to Career Results?
The idea of swiping right for a job might sound absurd at first glance but the early evidence suggests real outcomes. Among those using dating apps professionally, 88% reported at least one meaningful career connection. Nearly 43% gained mentorship or career advice, 39% landed interviews, and around 37% received job leads or offers.
The data complicates the notion that dating apps are merely social spaces. Instead, they are functioning as informal networks, a human-centred alternative to highly automated job boards and professional networks where messages often go unanswered.
There is also demographic nuance. Men in the survey were slightly more likely than women to use dating apps for career purposes (37% vs 30%), and usage rose sharply among higher earners. Almost half of those earning over $200,000 admitted to leveraging dating apps for professional connections.
Yet while these numbers show potential, the underlying motivations tell a larger story about dissatisfaction with the job search status quo.
What Does This Trend Reveal About Traditional Job-Search Platforms?
LinkedIn and other professional job portals were once the go-to spaces for career development. Today, many job seekers feel those networks are overwhelmed. A wealth of anecdotal feedback from Indian users suggests similar frustration: difficult algorithms, generic automated responses and a sense that many applications disappear into a “black hole” without human interaction.
In India, too, the employment landscape is growing more competitive. Job applications have increased by nearly 29% year-on-year in 2025, as more women and early-career professionals enter the workforce. As applications surge, so do frustrations with formal channels that fail to deliver personalised engagement.
This vacuum creates space for alternative approaches. Dating apps, with their emphasis on profile narratives and conversational interaction, offer an environment where people can present themselves as whole individuals blending professional interests with personality.
Is This a Sustainable Networking Strategy?
Before celebrating swiping as the future of networking, there are clear risks. Mixing personal and professional intentions can blur boundaries, and not everyone on a dating app is receptive to career enquiries. Experts caution that using platforms designed for romantic connection to pursue work can lead to miscommunication, inappropriate approaches and ethical grey zones.
It’s also worth asking whether this trend speaks to a deeper issue: if job seekers must resort to social or dating platforms to find work, what does that say about the health of professional networking spaces? The answer lies in the balance between creativity and practicality. Dating apps may yield results for some especially early-career professionals and freelancers but they are not a reliable or risk-free replacement for established channels.
India’s career landscape shares many pressures seen in global markets. Competition is intense, formal networks often feel impersonal, and the rise of AI in recruitment has heightened anxiety about access and visibility but it would be a leap to suggest that Indians will adopt dating apps wholesale as career platforms.
In India, networking often happens through community connections, referrals and in-person events. Yet there is evidence of digital experimentation too. Anecdotal reports from dating app users in the country suggest that indeed some match discussions shift towards career support or advice though often awkwardly.
The trend may not be as pronounced as in the West, but the underlying driver is shared, frustration with traditional job search channels and a desire for more human-centred networking. Professional social spaces that combine environment, context and clear intent may eventually fill this gap especially tools that feel safer than a dating app but more personal than a job board.
How Can Indian Job Seekers Build Real-Time Connections Without the Risk?
If swiping right for a job feels like too much of a gamble, here are strategies that preserve immediacy without blurring boundaries:
- Attend real-world meetups and industry events. Face-to-face interaction builds rapport faster than online messages.
- Participate in industry-specific communities and forums. Spaces like Discord channels, WhatsApp groups and niche Slack communities can be fertile ground for genuine professional exchange.
- Tap into alumni networks. Collegiate connections remain one of the most effective ways to meet decision-makers and mentors.
- Contribute to collaborative projects. Open-source work, hackathons or writing collaborations expose skills and facilitate mutual discovery.
- Be strategic on LinkedIn. A personalised message referencing shared interests or mutual contacts can work better than a generic connection request.
These strategies reinforce that networking is still fundamentally about building trust and relevance whether it happens at an event, through a shared project or across a carefully crafted profile.
Ultimately, the trend of using dating apps for careers is less about the platforms themselves and more about where people feel heard. When job portals and professional networks become crowded or impersonal, individuals seek out spaces where conversations can feel real and direct.
