Recession. Unemployment. Home foreclosures. It seems everywhere you turn these days, the news is filled with stories about how tough the economy is across all income levels, locations, and professions. And while there’s no doubt that it’s a terribly tough time for those who are out of work, a small glimmer of good news is coming out of the online dating industry.

Online dating is one of the few really strong growth industries around; by some estimates, it’s poised to expand as much as 20% to even 30% in the next one to two years. With all of this tremendous growth, then, it’s not too surprising that the online dating industry is one sector that has experienced (and continues to experience) steady job growth.

What most people don’t stop to think about is all of the “behind the scenes” stuff that goes on at an online dating website. From programmers to customer relations to marketing to web designers and more, there are lots and lots of jobs available for those who are interested in pursuing them. In most cases the jobs are clustered in whatever city or location is the headquarters (or major regional hub) of the dating site itself, but in some cases you may be able to work remotely.

For instance, Match.com and Chemistry.com have a number of jobs posted for their Dallas, Texas, location, while eHarmony.com lists several diverse types of jobs for their Pasadena, California, location. There are even a number of international online dating sites with plenty of job openings, including DatingDirect.com (France), Shaadi.com (India), Lavalife.com (Canada), and FriendScout24.com (Germany).

So if you’re looking for a job and feeling frustrated, it might be a good idea to check out job postings at a variety of online dating websites.

Dating Essentials Dating Business, Economy, Jobs

Oh, the money to be made from online dating!

You can be sure the business world is well aware of how much money can be made by operating an online dating service; that’s why there are so very many of them out there, all competing for your “dating dollar”. They put a great deal of effort into positioning themselves as your friend, your confidante, and your best choice for finding love, but never for a moment forget that none of that stuff is “real”.

Online dating is a business, first and foremost, and every paid dating service is going to do everything they can to squeeze every dollar possible out of you. Now, this is not necessarily a bad thing if they succeed in matching you with someone special. But you can never know at the beginning if you’re going to have this kind of success, so you have to go into it with your eyes wide open and with a budget in mind of what you’re willing to spend.

I don’t have anything against paid online dating sites; in fact, they can be quite good for many people. I do think, though, that it’s a good idea to use some of the free sites as well, especially those based on social networking concepts. Think of it as you would a financial investment; you wouldn’t put all of your money into just one kind of financial tool, and so you shouldn’t put all of your money (and effort) into just one online dating site.

Online dating may be big business and generate millions of dollars in profit each day, but it is still something very personal for you as the user. It pays to keep this in mind when you’re choosing which online service(s) to use and how much of your hard earned money to put into their offerings.

Dating Essentials Dating Business, Dating Websites, Free vs. Pay Dating, Money