For my final film of Hot Docs, I saw this French documentary that filmed the recruitment process for an insurance company. Ten job seekers come in for the job, not even being told what it is, and they go through a recruitment process that I can best describe as both shocking and enthralling.

To call this the “job recruitment from hell” would be an understatement. Throughout the two day process, the applicants are told to do many activities, which don’t seem to have anything to do with the job. This includes trying to sell the person next to you as being the best applicant and debating why a random role model you’ve chosen should get the final seat on a spaceship leaving Earth during the Apocalypse (I’m not kidding).

All the candidates give their opinions through talking head interviews and it is apparent that they grow more and more frustrated as the recruitment process goes on. Some of the applicants quit early on, while others are let go at the end of the first day.

On the second day, the individuals on the shortlist are given their one-on-one interviews and this is where things get the most shocking. Not only is the true entry-level nature of the job revealed, but the recruiters come off as being incredible biased, critical, a discriminative in their interviews.

Watching as a Canadian, I’m sure this whole recruitment process would go against the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in some way. Also, even though it’s a French film, I do think that The Job speaks volumes about how difficult finding a job can be, how job seekers are at the mercy of prospective employees, and that there is really no such thing as the perfect employee that employers are looking for.

I definitely thought it was an excellent doc.

9/10

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