"Job Fair" is the seventeenth episode of the fourth season of the American

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

The Office ''The Office'' is a mockumentary sitcom created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, first made in the United Kingdom, then Germany, and subsequently the United States. It has since been remade in ten other countries. The original series o ...

'', and the show's seventieth episode overall. Written by Lee Eisenberg and

Gene Stupnitsky Gene Stupnitsky (born August 26, 1977) is a Ukrainian-born American film and television writer and producer. He grew up in the suburbs of Chicago. He usually works with Lee Eisenberg, with whom he founded Quantity Entertainment. Life and caree ...

and directed by

Tucker Gates Tucker Gates is an American television director and producer. He has directed several episodes of the ABC series '' Alias'' and '' Lost''. He has also directed episodes of '' Bates Motel'', '' Weeds'', '' Carnivàle'', '' Point Pleasant'', '' Hu ...

, the episode first aired in the United States on May 8, 2008 on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

. In the episode, Michael and a few employees go to a high school's job fair to find a summer intern for

Dunder Mifflin Dunder Mifflin Paper Company, Inc. is a fictional paper and office supplies wholesale company featured in the American television series ''The Office''. It is analogous to Wernham Hogg in the British original of the series, and Papiers Jenning ...

. However, very few students seem interested in the internship. Meanwhile, Jim attempts to make an important sale by golfing with a potential client. At first the client claims to be not interested in talking about business, but after much negotiation, Jim lands the sale. Back at the office, Dwight is left in charge. Everyone leaves except his ex-girlfriend Angela, leading to an awkward day.

Plot

After Ryan Howard ( B. J. Novak) gives Jim Halpert ( John Krasinski) a warning about his job performance, Jim tries to land his biggest client ever (

Phil Reeves Phil Reeves is an American film and television actor and screenwriter. He is known for the roles of Charles Swedelson on the sitcom '' Girlfriends'', new Vice President Andrew Doyle in HBO's ''Veep'', as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff G ...

). He takes the potential client golfing, bringing along co-workers

Andy Bernard Andrew Baines Bernard is a fictional character from the NBC comedy television series ''The Office (U.S. TV series), The Office'', portrayed by Ed Helms. He is introduced in Season 3 as the Regional Director in Charge of Sales at the Stamford br ...

(

Ed Helms Edward Parker Helms (born January 24, 1974) is an American actor and comedian. From 2002 to 2006, he was a correspondent on Comedy Central's ''The Daily Show with Jon Stewart''. He played paper salesman Andy Bernard in the NBC sitcom '' The Offi ...

) and

Kevin Malone Kevin Malone is a fictional character in the American television series ''The Office''. He is portrayed by Brian Baumgartner. Kevin's counterpart in the UK TV series is Keith Bishop, who shares Kevin's lack of communication skills, musical int ...

(

Brian Baumgartner Brian Baumgartner (born November 29, 1972) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Kevin Malone, a character in the NBC sitcom ''The Office'' (2005–2013). Early life and career Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Baumgartner attended Holy In ...

). When Jim tries to talk business, the client reveals that he is not interested in switching paper suppliers. But after much persistence and negotiation, Jim lands the account. Michael Scott (

Steve Carell Steven John Carell (; born August 16, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He played Michael Scott in ''The Office'' (2005–2011; 2013), NBC’s adaptation of the British series created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, where Ca ...

), Pam Beesly (

Jenna Fischer Regina Marie "Jenna" Fischer (born March 7, 1974) is an American actress best known for her portrayal of Pam Beesly on the NBC sitcom ''The Office'' (2005–2013), for which she was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Suppor ...

), Oscar Martinez (

Oscar Nunez Oscar Nunez (born November 18, 1958), sometimes credited as Oscar Nuñez, is a Cuban-American actor. He is best known for his role as the Dunder Mifflin accountant Oscar Martinez on NBC's ''The Office''. He was a member of The Groundlings and l ...

) and

Darryl Philbin ''The Office'' is an American television series based on the British television comedy of the same name. The format of the series is a parody of the fly on the wall documentary technique that intersperses traditional situation comedy segments wi ...

( Craig Robinson) set up a booth at a local job fair to find a student for

’s summer internship but while other companies are prepared and have provided materials and products for their booth, Michael only brought a single white piece of Dunder-Mifflin paper. The fair proves unsuccessful, as Michael drives away the only interested student, Justin (

Trevor Einhorn Trevor Elias Einhorn (born November 3, 1988) is an American actor. In television, he is known for playing Josh on Syfy's fantasy series '' The Magicians'' and Frederick Crane on the American sitcom ''Frasier''. Career Einhorn was a child ac ...

) because Justin is not cool enough for him. After everyone else either ignores the booth or tells Michael off, Michael tries to recruit Justin as their intern, only for Justin to call Michael out for treating him badly and walk away. Michael then makes such a commotion that the teacher (Lori Murphy Saux) calls security and has him removed from the fair. After, Pam ventures to a booth advertising

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdiscipli ...

, where she discovers that she has yet to learn many graphic design programs. The man working at the booth recommends she goes to either

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

to learn about the graphic design technology. Meanwhile, Michael has left Dwight Schrute (

Rainn Wilson Rainn Percival Dietrich Wilson (born January 20, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, podcaster, producer, and writer. He is best known for his role as Dwight Schrute on the NBC sitcom ''The Office'', for which he earned three consecutive Em ...

) in charge of the office, but none of the employees obey his wishes. When most of the employees leave in the middle of the day, Dwight is left alone except for ex-girlfriend Angela Martin (

Angela Kinsey Angela Faye Kinsey (born June 25, 1971) is an American actress. She played Angela Martin in the sitcom ''The Office'' (2005–2013) and appeared in the sitcoms '' Your Family or Mine'' (2015) and ''Haters Back Off'' (2016–2017). Since ''The ...

), causing the two to interact awkwardly for the rest of the day. When Jim and Pam meet up again in the office, they share two long, passionate kisses having accomplished both of their goals (Jim making the sale and Pam finding out the next step for her future in graphic design).

Production

This episode was the third episode of the series directed by

. Gates had previously directed the third season episodes " Branch Closing" and " Women's Appreciation". "Job Fair" was written by

and Lee Eisenberg.TV.com (May 9, 2008
"Job Fair"
TV.com, Retrieved June 22, 2008 In order to create the blisters that

Andy Andy may refer to: People * Andy (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Horace Andy (born 1951), Jamaican roots reggae songwriter and singer born Horace Hinds * Katja Andy (1907–2013), German-American pianist and pi ...

had on his hands during the episode, the make-up crew had to use Ben Nye sunburn colors, RCMA scar making material, and acetone. The process took twenty to thirty minutes, in which the sunburn colors were applied first and the scar making material was applied last.

was pregnant during shooting. Her character wasn't pregnant, so items (such as a copy machine) were placed between her stomach and the camera to hide her pregnancy. Writer Lee Eisenberg recalled that during editing "I asked if we had any wider shots. Both Gene (Stupnitsky) and Dave Rogers (the editor) reminded me that we were shooting around Angela's enormous belly".Eisenberg, Lee (May 13, 2008
Lee Eisenberg answers ‘Job Fair’ questions
OfficeTally.com, Retrieved June 22, 2008 Kinsey later gave birth on May 3, five days before the episode premiered.Zap2It (May 5, 2008
''The Office's'' Angela Kinsey Gives Birth
Zap2It.com, Retrieved June 23, 2008

Reception

"Job Fair" received 3.6/9 in the ages 18–49 demographic in the Nielsen ratings. This means that 3.6 percent of all households with an 18- to 49-year-old living in it watched the episode, and nine percent had their televisions tuned to the channel at any point. The episode was watched by 7.22 million viewers.Seidman, Robert (May 9, 2008
Nielsen Ratings May 8, 2008: Trouble in Shonda-land?
TVbytheNumbers.com, Retrieved June 22, 2008 Reviews for this episode were mixed. Travis Fickett, of

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

, criticized parts of the episode, saying that the situation between Dwight and Angela was "played out so minimalist that virtually nothing develops" and even though Michael "gets up and makes an ass of himself" the resolution "isn't much of a pay-off". Fickett did say that although "this may not be the funniest episode, it shows how the series is capable of subtlety and depth."Fickett, Travis (May 9, 2008
''The Office'': "Job Fair" Review

, Retrieved June 22, 2008

BuddyTV BuddyTV is an entertainment-based website, which generates content about television programs and sporting events. The website publishes information about celebrity and related entertainment news through a series of articles, entertainment profile ...

's Oscar Dahl thought that "Job Fair" "had some nice moments, but it was a bit lacking in the comedy department".Dahl, Oscar (May 8, 2008
''The Office'': "Job Fair" Recap
BuddyTV.com, Retrieved June 22, 2008 Jay Black, from

TV Squad Weblogs, Inc. was a blog network that published content on a variety of subjects, including tech news, video games, automobiles and pop culture. At one point, the network had as many as 90 blogs, although the vast majority of its traffic could be ...

, wrote that Andy "stole the show".Black, Jay (May 9, 2008
''The Office'': "Job Fair" – VIDEO
TVSquad.com, Retrieved June 23, 2008

References

External links

"Job Fair"
at NBC.com * {{The Office US Episodes The Office (American season 4) episodes 2008 American television episodes