Marshall Reviews The Job on CBS TV

Several people asked me if I was going to watch the premiere of the reality TV show The Job on CBS and I thought my career counselor perspective may be a different take on the show. The premise of The Job is that five people will be taken through an interview process by a large corporation and one will be selected for a top position. Only one of the participants was unemployed, while the rest were successful with their current positions, but all wanted the opportunity for a top position with The Palm Restaurant.

Actually, The Job is about 99% entertainment and 1% education. If you were looking for useful advice on how to get a job or change jobs, there were a few 10 second snippets at the commercial break – Don’t bad mouth your former employer – but that is not what the show was about. It was about someone scaling this television show contrived hiring process and getting an offer.

The show started off with the candidates giving their 60 elevator speeches/sales pitches. All of the candidates gave their strengths, but strangely, several brought up potential weaknesses and negatives. Just not something that I would recommend people do, but there is a time and a place for everything, I suppose.

This hiring process was akin to putting the candidates into the fire before making them walk over the hot coals. The candidates actually had to cold work a shift at the NY The Palm and were observed. Rare, but a trial by fire could happen and you may not just go through a conversational interview process.

The interview process came next and it was sheer subject matter expertise on food and wine preparation service knowledge. Also, just to expect the unexpected, the candidates had to name three people they worked with in their shift, as The Palm is a family business. Note to all you job hunters, make sure you get the names.

There was a twist factor as three other restaurant establishments representatives could make on offer to any of the candidates and the Westville did make an offer to Anthony, which he accepted. Anthony had little or no chance with The Palm and facing potential elimination, a sure thing was a bird in hand.

In the end, Jann, the Smiler, got the job offer. I have seen job postings that specify, “Smilers only need apply.” Ryan got the unexpected consolation prize of a GM position when The Palm’s new restaurant opens in another location. Five job hunters and three job offers. Ah, Hollywood . . .

Bottomline: The clear goal of The Job was entertainment and if you are a television reality show watcher, this may appeal to you. If you are looking for interesting and realistic insights into the real world of career changing and job hunting read my Job Search Tip of the Day. I give more of that in two or three sentences than this show did in an hour.

I give The Job **