Valentine’s Day is almost upon us. I know this because of all the infographics and slideshows on Mashable, Forbes and Pinterest instructing me on “how to woo a nerd”, “how NOT to celebrate Valentine’s Day in the office”, and “How to make healthy raw-vegan substitutions for V-Day treats!”.

Personally I want none of this. I wooed my nerd a long time ago, and I work from home, cafes, occasionally bars (it’s a European thing [don’t tell my boss!]), and personally I think the term V-Day should be reserved for remembering veterans and that raw-vegan treats should be reserved only for mortal enemies.

Not that I’m not into Valentines Day — any excuse for chocolate is a good one! It’s just that I don’t think it has much to do with social recruiting, work, or finding cool talent. The only exception I could think of is how weirdly similar dating is to recruitment. Recruiters play Millionaire Matchmaker to their employer clients, while trying to convince eager young candidates to brush their hair and put on a collared shirt. So, what better time to drop some links with helpful tips about finding the right candidate?!

We often have a list of qualities we are looking for in a date, but so often those lists just get in the way of finding love. Refusing to give someone a shot, just because they don’t like cake, have a cool bike, or look like Bruce Willis circa The Fifth Element, is a great way to stay single. Lou Adler argues that over-reliance on job descriptions can do exactly the same thing. As unconventional as this may seem, he advocates banning traditional skill and experience-based job descriptions in order to find the right candidate.

Now, just because you should avoid ruling out potential hires based on their lack of Bruce Willisesque biceps doesn’t mean you shouldn’t keep some desired characteristics in mind. Here are 5 key traits to look for in potential candidates.

Of course, we have to include this : It’s both an Infographic and a reference to speed-dating — two birds, one stone. This Infographic gives the lowdown on finding awesome candidates quickly.

Bosses are from Mars, employees are from Venus… at least when communication is concerned. Now that you’ve found an awesome employee, you’ll need to actual talk to them. Scary, I know! Thankfully Blogging4Jobs has some great advice on how to better communicate with employees.

That’s all for this, aptly-titled, Link Love!

I need to figure out which running shoes to wear on tomorrow’s hot Valentine’s Day date (ie. drinking tea and watching The Ultimate Fighter)  — marriage for the win!