Best Online Dating For Professionals
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If you are running around from meetings to lunch to conference calls to more meetings, the last thing you have time to squeeze into your busy schedule is swiping through a dating app, much less going on actual dates. But if you are hell-bent on finding someone special, what are the best dating apps for young professionals? Though Tinder, OkCupid, Hitch, Hinge, Bumble and the like are usually my go-to recommendations for dating apps, they hold far too large a cross-section of the general public for the professional subset. If you're working 80-hour weeks and want someone who maintains a similarly breakneck pace, you have to steer clear of the usual suspects, dating app–wise, and branch out to alternate ground.
BeLinked is an obvious choice, as it uses your LinkedIn account the way Tinder uses your Facebook profile, but this is not your only option. I found a lot of lesser-known possibilities for professionals, such as Raya, Dapper, and The Dating Lounge, and though they all vary in theme and content, they have one thing in common: A high yield of professionals who log into the apps on the regs. Here are the top 10 dating apps for professionals.
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1. BeLinked
As the name might tell you, BeLinked dating app uses not your Facebook profile but your LinkedIn account to log in, which is a good signifier of how the app functions in general. BeLinked is for professionals, so if you're chillin' on your mom's couch and plan on staying there for a long time, more power to you, but this app may not be the best fit. If you're a driven, ambitious and motivated career gal, this is the dating app for you.
2. The League
The League dating app is highly selective, and profiles pull in your Linkedin and Facebook info. There is a waiting list to get on the app, but if you have a friend who's on there — they can give you a VIP ticket which lets you cut the line. But there's nothing stopping you from applying if you so desire, especially if you're looking for other career-minded folks.
3. Dapper
If you're working all the time, you probably don't have an extra second to schedule dates. Dapper handles this for you; if you have a match, the app will suggest a time and place for an 'awesome first date.' When you're booked bumper-to-bumper with meetings all day, the last thing you have mental energy for is dreaming up the perfect first date, so this app will be super helpful to over scheduled professionals.
4. The Dating Lounge
As with Hitch, where you get to play matchmaker, and Hinge, where you date friends of Facebook friends, The Dating Lounge connects people that are friends of friends on Facebook, and mutual pals can play cupid and introduce friends via the app. It's also an invite-only app, which promises to weed out scammers and randos, and present you with a more curated selection of dates. Perfect for those of us profesh enough to need date curation.
5. Suitr
Best Online Dating Service For Professionals
Dating app Suitr is specifically for professionals, so it wins a stamp of approval from white-collars right there. Also, their 'team of dating experts' review everyone who signs up, and if you're not actually a professional, you're weeded out. A word of advice: Critics of the app complain that you can never delete your profile, so be sure you really want to, uh, suit up before you join.
6. Whim
Once again, this app caters to those who have no extra time — just pop in the dates and times you're free in any given week, and this app will schedule some dates for you. Whim is not totally willy-nilly — you browse people's profiles and flag the ones you're interested in meeting; if they flag you back, the app does the scheduling for you.
7. Raya
Like The League, Raya dating app is application-based. If you're accepted, the app — 'for people in creative industries' — will link you with other special chosen ones. The membership-only dating app design is like Soho House for the online world of love-searching (or date-searching, whatever), and has a monthly fee, so this generally appeals mostly to those who are creative professionals — aka celebrities.
8. Teased
Dating app Teased is less about profile photos and more about experiential data — what is this potential date really like? What do they like to do, and where do they like to go? The app is populated with your Instagram photos, and places deep emphasis on getting to know someone inside and out, as opposed to the Tinder hot-or-not sensibility. Professionals who have lived exciting lives would probably do well here.
Private Dating Sites For Professionals
9. Match
Of course, I have to include Match's dating app, which is the premier app for finding an actual relationship. If you've got it all — high-level career, beautiful home, great friends, amazing family — but you want to stop checking the 'single' box on forms, Match is probably your best bet for finding something serious.
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