The Working Interview

"I have good news, okay news, and not so okay news," said Noah, my 21-year -old, soon- to- be senior in college son, who for the first time in his life has had problems finding a summer job.

"The good news -- I got the waiter's job. (It has been six weeks since he returned home from college for summer vacation.)

The okay news -- the dress code is black pants, black shirt and black shoes and I don't have any of those." (As of last night that is a $90 investment -- Noah got stuff on sale. Still needs the shoes.)

"The not so okay news," said Noah," I don't get paid for the first two shifts to make sure I work out. But, they will let me eat the food."

Okay, so for the privilege of auditioning for a waiter's job --- a job Noah has worked for several years-- we (that is the royal we) get to spend nearly $100 on clothing that Noah will never ever wear again.

Checking Google for "auditioning for a waiter's job" the only listings I find are of the theatrical kind. So if he isn't auditioning, what is he doing?

It's called The Working Interview. In the more acceptable form, corporations bring in a "temp" to do a job and if they work out, the corporation offers the "temp" full-time employment. However, this usually involves the "temp" being paid by a temp service while they are participating in the working interview.

Noah's working interview involves no pay. He assures me that it's perfectly legal to have new employees work without pay for a few shifts.

My friend Darralu says her daughter's boyfriend had to go through the same audition process at Chili's.

So besides restaurant work, are there other jobs where employees are requesting a "working interview"? Is this a small business trend? If it is, what is an acceptable period of time for The Working Interview?