Sure, American Idol just returned to our screen and Simon Cowell is still deciding who he wants to head up the U.S. version of the X Factor, but it’s also a time for new reality shows. And no, we’re not talking about the newest season of Jersey Shore.
BetaNews reports that Microsoft last week launched a website for a social media endeavour called the Career Factor. The aim of the show it to document the experiences of nine IT professionals. Each of the candidates has set a career goal for him or herself, and will be posting videos, blog posts, and tips for the rest of the world to follow along on their journey. So far there's not a lot of content from the entrants. However, most of them have posted introductory videos already. Check out this submission from Neil, one of the candidates involved in the program.
Check out the full list of candidates below:
- Steve, an unemployed job seeker from Brisbane, Australia. His career goal: "Update skills and certifications to find a new job." More on Steve here.
- Tim, a senior IT architect from New York City. His career goal: "Transition skills to Exchange and Active Directory." More on Tim here.
- Kevin, a student from Dallas, Texas. His career goal: "Find a job after graduating from college." More on Kevin here.
- Bojan. an "aspiring Microsoft Certified Master" from London. His career goal: "Complete the MCM: Exchange Server 2010 course." More on Bojan here.
- Eddie, a barista from San Diego. His career goal: "Transition back into the IT industry and obtain TS and PRO level certifications." More on Eddie here.
- Rabeb, a student from Tunis, Tunisia. Her career goal: "To develop and release a Windows Phone 7 app to the Marketplace." More on Rabeb here.
- Neil, a "senior software development engineer" from Dublin, Ireland. His career goal: "To learn how to develop an application on Windows and SQL Azure." More on Neil here.
- Simon, a principal software engineer from Chester, UK. His career goal: "Get team certified to meet Microsoft Partner competency requirements." More on Simon here.
- Caroline (pictured), a student from Calgary, Canada. Her career goal: "Train to compete and succeed at the 2011 Certiport Worldwide Competition on Office." More on Caroline here.
A Microsoft spokesperson spoke to BN about Career Factor and said the participants had only been chosen recently.
"In early November Microsoft Learning issued a casting call for the nine different story arcs, where candidates sent in an application accompanied by a video introduction of why they think they would be good for the show," the rep explained. "The participants were selected in mid-December and started prepping for the launch."
Though it’s a novel idea, we’re not sure it’s going to be successful. Is this the reality show you’ve been waiting for? Let us know in the comments below!
