REVEALED: Most inspiring jobs on TV – detective named most desirable career

• New data reveals which jobs held by onscreen characters inspire the most viewers, with the role of detective crowned the most desirable profession
• The research analysed national search volume around main characters’ jobs in over 200 popular films and TV shows, to identify any upticks in interest 
• Google searches for ‘detective jobs’ increased by 8,175% after being portrayed onscreen, with Glass Onion’s Benoit Blanc the most influential character
• Other professions that interest viewers when shown onscreen came out as journalist and musician, followed by secret agent and chef 

New research has revealed which professions and characters are the most inspiring when portrayed on TV or in film – with detective named the most desirable job. 

The findings, from Irish casino Slotbox, looked at the jobs held by the main characters across over 200 popular TV shows and films, and conducted a national search data analysis to identify any related rise in interest from viewers inspired by the characters. 

Each character was awarded an influence score based on search interest increases following each TV show/film release date – revealing the biggest onscreen inspirations.

When the scores behind each character’s roles were collated, the research reveals that detective jobs see the biggest uptick in interest after being portrayed on TV or in film. 

It seems that the nation’s armchair detectives are regularly inspired to consider pursuing their passion professionally, with Google searches for ‘detective jobs’ rising by an average of 8,175% following each new crime and mystery film or TV show release. 

Amongst the most-influential onscreen detectives featured in the analysis is Line of Duty’s Detective Inspector Steve Arnott, but it’s Netflix’s Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery lead P.I Benoit Blanc that inspired the biggest rise in job searches (up 9,900%). 

Interestingly, ITV thriller drama Trigger Point’s lead character Lana Washington also proved a strong role model for viewers, with searches for ‘bomb disposal jobs’ and ‘police jobs’ increasing by 9,900% and 15% respectively after the series aired this time last year. 

And it’s not just detectives that inspire viewers – with other characters that caused an increase in related career interest including Killing Eve’s Security Operative Eve Polastri, and favourite MI6 Agent James Bond.

Top 5 most-inspirational onscreen professions

1. Detective 
2. Journalist
3. Musician
4. Secret Agent
5. Chef

The second-most inspirational profession came out as journalist, with searches for ‘journalism jobs’ rising 9,900% after Netflix drama The Journalist hit screens early last year.

Other onscreen journalists that inspired viewers included Inventing Anna’s Vivian Kent, Nightcrawler’s Louis Bloom, and The Devil Wears Prada fashion journalist Andrea Sach.

Further professions that consistently saw an increase each time they appeared onscreen included secret agent, musician and chef – whilst Emily in Paris Marketing Executive Emily Cooper proved the most influential character overall, resulting in the biggest career interest.

The most influential secret agent was none other than James Bond – specifically after the release of Skyfall, whilst the most inspiring chef was The Bear’s Carmen Berzatto. 

After the first episode of the Netflix series aired back in October 2020, Google searches for ‘marketing executive jobs’ increased by 9900% in the first 24 hours, awarding Emily Cooper the highest influence score of all 200+ characters analysed. 

The top 15 most influential pop culture characters:

#	TV Show/Film	Main Character	Job	Influence Score*
1	Emily in Paris	Emily Cooper	Marketing Executive	9.9 /10
2	The Wolf of Wall Street	Jordan Belfort	Stockbroker	9.8 /10
3	Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery	Benoit Blanc	Private Investigator	9.7 /10
4	The Banshees of Inisherin	Colm Doherty	Folk Musician	9.5 /10
5	The Journalist	Anna Matsuda	Journalist	9.3 /10
6	Nightcrawler	Louis Bloom	Photojournalist	9.2 /10
7	The Grand Budapest Hotel	Monsieur Gustave	Concierge	8.9 /10
8	Selling Sunset	Chrishell Stause	Real Estate Agent	8.1 /10
9	The Theory of Everything	Stephen Hawking	Theoretical Physicist	7.8 /10
10	The Control Room	Gabe	Call Handler	6.7 /10
11	Line of Duty	Steve Arnott	Detective Inspector	6.5 /10
12	Archive 81	Dan Turner	Archivist	5.8 /10
13	The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel	Miriam Maisel	Comedian	5.6 /10
14	Inventing Anna	Vivian Kent	Journalist	5.5 /10
15	The Devil Wears Prada	Andrea Sach	Fashion Journalist	5.3 /10

*Additional weighting was given to TV shows/films that saw a rise in interest across

 multiple job-related search terms, as opposed to just one.

Another standout rise in interest was attributed to The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), which saw searches for ‘stockbroker jobs’ skyrocket, alongside searches for ‘Wall Street’ jobs’ – despite main character Jordan Belfort’s career falling apart and resulting in jail time.  

Other characters that struck a chord with fans were folk musician Colm Doherty from The Banshees of Insherin, which resulted in a rise in searches for ‘how to learn music’, as well as Glass Onion’s Benoit Blank, who inspired an influx of interest around private investigators. 

Speaking on the findings, Slotbox said: “People look for inspiration in all sorts of places, so it stands to reason that for some, the media they consume and the characters they relate to go some way to helping them figure out what passions they’d like to pursue – including career.

“A lot of TV shows and films these days are centred around lawyers – including Suits, She-Hulk and The Lincoln Lawyer – and characters are often portrayed as extremely driven, passionate and glamorous, so I’d have expected that to be the most-inspiration profession.

“However, it’s much more relatable that people are most intrigued by detective and investigator roles. After all, we’ve all played armchair detectives when watching TV!”

 Credit to slotbox.com for post