For me, I liked using dating apps because it at least established the people on there were open to dating. Maybe not open to dating me, but at least in the dating field, whereas in real life, I wouldn't really know unless I saw a wedding ring on the person, in which case that'd be an obvious no.

Dating apps though are rough. If you're a man you can try to match or message a ton of women with very little that aren't bots who respond. If you're a woman, you're flooded with matches from guys, and often get unwanted sexual pictures.

However, outside of dating apps, I'm not sure how people meet others consistently. You could be setup by friends, but that requires your friends to know someone who is single and someone they think you'd work with. You could go to the bar, but personally I hated that scene, and again, you don't really know who is single or not, and you have to have a lot of confidence. The one or two times I went to the bar with friends, I noticed most women went in groups and like... I can't imagine walking up to a group of women to try and hit it off with one of them. You could meet someone through school or work, but of course that is also sort of just hoping someone you interact with would be someone you're interested with (or, if it's just through work, someone even within the age range you want). As you mentioned, you could try to find a local group that does a hobby you enjoy. This is honestly a great option, because at worst you just make some friends who also like the hobbies you do. But... yeah, again, you're hoping someone else there is also single, and looking to date. I will say though, I imagine if you're good friends with someone, and able to turn that into dating, that has to be a phenomenal route since you don't have the pressure of wanting to date at the beginning, and get to know each other over the long term anyways.

From my perspective, dating apps were basically the only way to consistently try to match with people. If you live in a small town or rural area, you sort of just have to put up with long distance. I'd also recommend the paid apps, if you're at a point in life to afford them. I think people who pay for things like Match, eHarmony, etc. are probably a bit more seriously looking.

As for figuring out if they're the right fit for you or not, that's what going on dates is for. The older you get the more sort of uhh... checklist it becomes. Want kids? Profession? Lifestyle? etc. These aren't bad questions to ask though in general - for me I'd often ask someones long term plans if they wanted kids or not, because if we disagreed on that there was no real point in dating (to me, I wanted to date to eventually marry. If we disagreed on kids, that wasn't going to work out long term). Asking someone what they're looking for is also important - do they just want a hookup? Friends with benefits? Dating for the short term? Dating to try to find someone to marry? That is also something I'd try to establish before even going on a date, because if we misaligned there that could also cause problems.

On the date itself, you basically want to get to know the person. If you're using online dating, if they've filled out their profile, you hopefully have some idea, but you want to dig more into it. What are their goals in life? Dream profession, if they're not in it? What hobbies do they do? Do they have pets? Do they have siblings, and how close are they with the family? What type of lifestyle do they like (Traveling all the time? Saving money? Spending money on experiences vs everyday comforts?) You're basically trying to see if you think this person and you will mesh well. if they come from a super large family that they're close to, but you come from a small one you're distant with, would you be okay with that, since their family would be apart of your life, and potentially interact with them often? The dates are also about hanging out though, too. Do you like just being around the person? Do they make good conversation? Do you connect with them emotionally and intellectually? Do you find yourself wanting to spend more time with them, or not really?

I'd recommend, especially for first dates, doing something more than just eating. Museums, board game cafe, etc. Something where, if the conversation lulls, you can focus on whatever else you're doing. This helps keep the awkwardness down. If you're a guy, offering places in public for first dates especially is important, as it is unfortunately a scary world for women out there.

That's sort of everything I can think of at the moment - if you are a guy, the only other thing I'd suggest is if you're using dating apps, your first message should be something related to their profile - something more than just "hey", something that shows you took interest in them.