TV Shows as Sources of Career Information and Inspiration
When I first started teaching my college career planning courses over six years ago, it seemed like each class had at least a couple students who indicated that they were inspired to pursue a particular career because of what they had seen on various television shows.
The most cited television shows were Law & Order and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Thanks to these TV shows, students shared how they were interested in becoming either a lawyer, police detective, a crime scene investigator, or other occupation. To this day, I still have students, though less than before, who cite a particular television show as their main source for choosing a career.
I grew up watching a lot of TV and loving it, but I recently took a very long break from watching TV. Upon returning to watching TV, I’ve noticed that there are a growing number of TV programs now that look to be great sources for not only career inspiration but also for career information.
Most of these programs are on cable television networks and specifically on channels like the Discovery Channel, A&E, Bravo and TLC. The shows themselves often revolve around various occupations and are presented in documentary or reality TV format.
Here are some TV shows and their corresponding industry that reflect what I’m referring to:
- Inside the Actors Studio on Bravo (Acting, Entertainment)
- Undercover Boss on CBS (Business, Management)
- What Not to Wear on TLC; Say Yes to the Dress on TLC; Project Runway on Lifetime (Used to be on Bravo) (Fashion)
- Top Chef on Bravo; any Food Network show; No Reservations on Travel Channel; Bizarre Foods on Travel Channel (Food, Restaurant)
- Samantha Brown on Travel Channel (Travel)
- Intervention on A&E; The Dr. Oz Show on various networks (Healthcare, Medical)