Editing Reality television (section)

==== Job search ====
[[File:Guy Fieri (cropped).jpg|thumb|Chef and restaurateur [[Guy Fieri]] won the second season of [[Food Network]]'s ''[[Food Network Star]]'' in 2006, and by 2010 had become "the face of the network".<ref>{{cite news |last=Moskin |first=Julia |date=August 10, 2010 |orig-year=updated August 18, 2010 |title=Guy Fieri, Chef-Dude, Is in the House |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/11/dining/11Fieri.html |page=D1 |access-date=November 27, 2012 |archive-date=November 24, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121124012323/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/11/dining/11Fieri.html |url-status=live }}</ref>]]
In this category, the competition revolves around a skill that contestants were pre-screened for. Competitors perform a variety of tasks based on that skill, are judged, and are then kept or removed by a single expert or a panel of experts. The show is usually presented as a job search of some kind, in which the prize for the winner includes a contract to perform that kind of work and an undisclosed salary, although the award can simply be a sum of money and ancillary prizes, like a cover article in a magazine. The show also features judges who act as counselors, mediators and sometimes mentors to help contestants develop their skills further or perhaps decide their future position in the competition. ''Popstars'', which debuted in 1999, may have been the first such show, while the ''Idol'' series has been the longest-running and, for most of its run, the most popular such franchise. The first job-search show which showed dramatic, unscripted situations may have been ''[[America's Next Top Model]]'', which premiered in May 2003. Other examples include ''[[The Apprentice (TV series)|The Apprentice]]'' (which judges business skills); ''[[Hell's Kitchen (American TV series)|Hell's Kitchen]]'', ''MasterChef'' and ''[[Top Chef]]'' (for chefs), ''[[The Great British Bake Off]]'' (for bakers), ''[[Shear Genius]]'' (for hair styling), ''[[Project Runway]]'' (for clothing design), ''[[Top Design]]'' and ''[[The Great Interior Design Challenge]]'' (for interior design), ''[[American Dream Builders]]'' (for home builders), ''[[Stylista]]'' (for fashion editors), ''[[Last Comic Standing]]'' (for comedians), ''[[I Know My Kid's a Star]]'' (for child performers), ''[[On the Lot]]'' (for filmmakers), ''[[RuPaul's Drag Race]]'' (for drag queens), ''[[The Shot (TV series)|The Shot]]'' (for fashion photographers), ''[[So You Think You Can Dance]]'' (for dancers), ''[[MuchMusic VJ Search]]'' and ''[[Food Network Star]]'' (for television hosts), ''[[Dream Job]]'' (for sportscasters), ''[[American Candidate]]'' (for aspiring politicians), ''[[Work of Art: The Next Great Artist|Work of Art]]'' (for artists), ''[[Face Off (American TV series)|Face Off]]'' (for [[prosthetic makeup]] artists), ''[[Ink Master]]'' and ''[[Best Ink]]'' (for tattoo artists), ''[[Platinum Hit]]'' (for songwriters), ''[[Top Shot]]'' (for marksmen) and ''[[The Tester]]'' (for game testers).

One notable subset, popular from approximately 2005 to 2012, consisted of shows in which the winner gets a specific part in a known film, television show, [[musical theatre|musical]] or performing group. Examples include ''[[Scream Queens (2008 TV series)|Scream Queens]]'' (where the prize was a role in the ''[[Saw (franchise)|Saw]]'' film series), ''[[The Glee Project]]'' (for a role on the television show ''[[Glee (TV series)|Glee]]'') and ''[[How Do You Solve a Problem like Maria?]]'' (the lead role in a revival of the musical ''[[The Sound of Music]]''). The most extreme prize for such a show may have been for one of the first such shows, 2005's ''[[Rock Star: INXS]]'', where the winner became the lead singer of the rock band [[INXS]]. [[J.D. Fortune]], who won the show, went on to be INXS's lead singer until 2011.

Some shows use the same format with celebrities: in this case, there is no expectation that the winner will continue this line of work, and prize winnings often go to charity. The most popular such shows have been the ''Dancing with the Stars'' and ''[[Dancing on Ice around the world|Dancing on Ice]]'' franchises. Other examples of celebrity competition programs include ''[[Deadline (2007 TV series)|Deadline]]'', ''[[Celebracadabra]]'' and ''[[Celebrity Apprentice]]''.