I don't think that's as shallow as you make it sound. I'd rather have respect for being a successful adult who exercises a skill to create value, for doing something difficult and being good at it, than for my taste in music or something.

Taking the “more dates” comment with justification at face value and assuming it to be true, the additional dates are primarily attracted to your job, as stated.

It is reasonable to infer that these additional dates are actually interested in dating your job, and your essential self and body are just along for the ride. Your job goes, you go.

The problem is you will forget this at some point and start thinking a particular date actually cares about you personally.

Do yourself a favor to save your future self some pain. Take your CV, in paper form, roll it up into a cylinder, and dip it into latex. You should have a latex wand of about 8 inches in length. Wrap it with a few hundred dollar bills, gift this to your date and run away as fast as your feet will take you. You’re welcome...you’ve just saved yourself 10s to 100s of thousands of dollars and many hours of misery.

Details may vary depending on gender, economic status and the local currency.

I would wager that less than 10% of first dates are based on the "essential self" rather than some superficial quality. You don't get to know peoples' essential selves that quickly.

Those things are independent of status, though. You can be a successful plumber who exercises your skill to create value, but status-conscious types would still consider you low-status.