Using Probability to Find Your Ideal Job, Friend, or Partner
Have you ever thought about how the most important turning points in life often come down to who you meet? Finding a great job, meeting a partner, making genuine friends, or even becoming happier all share a common pattern: you need to meet a certain number of people before that meaningful outcome happens.
Research and data show that this is not luck but probability. When you understand how many people you typically need to meet before finding love, a true friend, or a life-changing opportunity, you start to realize that every encounter, every meeting, every new face you see along the way is far more meaningful than you ever imagined.
At WKND CLUB, every weekend we bring together new friends from all walks of life to enjoy brunch together. Both single and non-single guests join in—not for dating, but simply to connect. Many participants have just moved to the city, want to meet new people, or are looking for fresh opportunities.
This year, over 8,500 people have already joined our brunch gatherings! Below are six research-based and data-backed insights that reveal how many people you need to meet to find your ideal job, true friends, or a perfect partner.
Finding Your Ideal Job
On average, you need to meet people from 12 different companies before landing a single interview. According to U.S. recruitment data from Jobvite, the average resume-to-interview conversion rate is around 8.4%—meaning you’ll typically need to send out about 12 resumes before you actually sit down for an interview. From there, you’ll usually meet 4–6 interviewers before receiving one offer. Coursera’s hiring insights show that most roles involve 3–5 interview rounds, with more than one interviewer in each stage.
(Side note: This assumes you’re applying within a realistic range—submitting resumes for positions that don’t match your qualifications doesn’t count!)
At The Weekend Club, you meet 5 new people every week. In just 3 weeks, you’ll have connected with 15 professionals—which means that within a month, you could meet someone who might refer you to your next job opportunity.
What’s more, The Weekend Club’s AI matching model curates your brunch table based on your background and goals, helping you meet people who truly fit your needs. You’re not just meeting random strangers—you’re increasing the odds of connecting with someone who can genuinely help you move forward in your career.
The Probability of Finding Love or a Partner
You need to meet around 6 to 8 people to get one mutual “Yes” in a speed-dating setting. Analyses of multiple speed-dating studies show that the mutual selection rate where both people express interest is about 13% to 18%, meaning you’ll typically need to meet 6 to 8 people before one successful match occurs.
(Side note: That’s just mutual interest, not necessarily a relationship or marriage!)
If you’re using dating apps, the odds drop dramatically. According to a large-scale data study by Hinge in the United States, which analyzed over 421 million potential matches, the average rate of a meaningful match where both people express interest and continue interacting is only 0.12%. In other words, you’d need to swipe through around 833 people just to get one real connection.
At The Weekend Club, you meet 5 new people every week, and our AI matching model filters out clearly incompatible personalities while prioritizing those with high similarity or complementarity. This means every encounter you have is statistically more likely to form a genuine connection.
As a result, within just one year at The Weekend Club, you could very well meet someone who truly fits you.
(Side note: Online chatting might just be a huge waste of time compared to this!)
Finding Your Ideal Friends
You need to meet around 600 people to make 3 true friends. According to Jeffrey Hall’s research on how friendships form, it takes over 200 hours of interaction to develop a close friendship. Combining this with social compatibility assumptions (about 5% compatibility, and 10% of those becoming actual friends), it’s estimated that you’d need to meet around 600 people to end up with 3 genuine friends within about 3 years.
At The Weekend Club, you meet 5 new people every week. After roughly 120 weeks a little over 2 years you’ll have met around 600 unique individuals. This means that a few of the people you share a brunch table with today could become your lifelong friends in the future.
And because The Weekend Club’s AI model continuously learns from your interaction feedback, it gradually understands what kinds of people help you feel more comfortable and engaged in conversation. As the system refines your matches, you might not even need to meet all 600 people you could find your 3 most compatible friends within just 300 to 400 connections.
Receiving Positive Energy
You need to meet around 30 to 50 people to truly “catch happiness” from others. Research by Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler at Harvard Medical School found that happiness spreads through up to three degrees of connection meaning that your friend’s friend’s friend can still influence how happy you feel.
At The Weekend Club, you’ll meet enough people to reach this level of connection in just 6 to 10 weeks. In other words, within three months, you could already begin to experience the ripple effects of happiness from your new social circle.
Moreover, The Weekend Club’s AI model can intentionally place you next to people with high happiness scores those who consistently receive positive feedback for their uplifting energy. By being seated with these “sources of happiness,” you might start feeling that contagious joy in as little as one month.
If you’ve started hearing that quiet little voice inside
“I think I want to meet people who are different from me.”
“I want to bring some new possibilities into my life.”
“I’m tired of having the same conversations over and over.”
Then maybe The Weekend Club is the small step worth taking.
Just once a week, six people at one table this time, let the odds be in your favor.
Want to hear other people’s stories?
Share your own perspectives?
Or maybe even change the course of your life or someone else’s?
If you’re free this weekend, come and give it a try!
The Weekend Club — where interesting people meet other interesting people.
