5 top professions for getting noticed

If you’re tired of spending your evenings alone watching Star Trek and playing Halo, maybe its time to get a new career. Not for the money, or course, but for the action it will get you with the ladies! Accounting may earn big bucks, and teaching may help change the world for the better, but their just not as cool as these professions:

1. Fire breather: Seriously, imagine how many dates you could get with a pickup line like "Hey baby, you’re hotter than the flame that spews from my mouth at the Renaissance Festival every day. Wanna go get some chicken?". Sure, firemen are cool, but they only put fires out. Fire breathers make the fires--inside their mouths! Every girl in town will think you're sizzlin' hot (especially the girls dressed as fair maidens and who frequent Renaissance festivals)!
2. Limo driver: Its a known fact that women love a man in uniform and sweet cars. Put those two together, and you’ve got a free pass straight to Girls Girls Girls Land! And as an added bonus, limo drivers are always meeting tons of famous rich people. What's cooler than showing off your MySpace pics of you and Russell Crow? Nothing!
3. Ex convict: No, this isn't exactly a profession, but it does bring in the ladies! Land yourself a spot in prison, get a few tattoos and beat up the biggest inmate you can find. Once you’re back on the streets, girls will find the story of your past compelling and strangely sexy. Wear an eye patch for added measure, and you're sure to spend nary an evening alone!
4. Mortician: You drive a Cadillac, you were fine suits, and you're paid to be a professional consoler. You'll have to beat the women off with a stick!
5. Zookeeper: Women love animals. Women also love nature. Take her for a surprise date in the rhino pen, and its sure to be an experience she won’t soon forget! Bring along exotic snakes to the bar and everyone will notice! Teach a monkey to drive your car, and have a cute and fuzzy chauffeur drive you and your date around town! The possibilities are endless when you have the keys to the zoo.

But if you're not willing to get a new job:

Dating can be hard -- not just hard, but grueling. There are so many factors to consider: where to meet someone, how to strike up a conversation, the awkward asking the person on a date, the date location, the date activities, the expectations on the first date, wardrobe, hair, etc. But the good news is that, chances are, if the person that you are chatting up at Starbucks is single, then most likely they are looking for a date. Now, there are some that disagree that being single equals being interested in a relationship. Their argument might be based on the idea of being independent or the importance of the time to get to know one’s self intimately, and of course those things are crucial. But people naturally like other people, and even more so people like being romantically involved with other people. Its a fact of nature, if you will.

So, knowing that the chances are in your favor for your single acquaintance to be an interested single acquaintance puts the ball in your court to decide on a move--in other words, it is decision time. And the first and foremost decision to make is to relax. There is nothing new to that piece of advice, but consider this: once you have determined if the person you find interest in is reciprocating the same "come hither" vibe, then you have already made some leeway. Because he or she is positively reacting to the conversation you both are engaging in or with appropriate body language that gives good signals, then they are in agreement with what is happening. You can relax, then, because they are okay with where things are going. When you decide to pop the question and ask that person out on a date, they are already ready for the question and most likely they already have an answer. Thus, the beauty of small-talk and body language is that it gives us a chance to feel someone out and to test their reactions.

Once you are quite sure that he or she is interested in a date, the next step is simple: ask! Although this part seems as if it should be fraught with complications and minute details, it is definitely not. The exact opposite of what you should do is to over think the question. Because the person is more than likely expecting it, much of the pressure, then, is released; the anticipation of the question is good because there is no fear for catching them off guard.

The question itself should be simple as well. Remember, this should not be treated as a life-or-death situation--although this is a commitment of sorts, asking someone on a date is not asking for their hand in marriage. This is not to say that it is unimportant (especially if you have not been on a date in quite a while!), but that the situation should be accurately sized up.

And finally, when the question is asked is as almost as important as how it is asked. The smoothest move is to usually pop the question towards the end of the meeting. Even if everything feels right, asking too soon could make things a little awkward, especially if there is a few hours left before you both part. It is always in your best interest to keep things casual, and then within that thirty-minute window before the goodbyes, ask. Then, the evening will have ended on a high note, and you will both part with anticipations of the big date.