After auditioning for a reality television show you get catapulted into an industry that many people only experience from the comforts of home by watching it on TV. However, if you are selected, you get a chance to join Angelia Jolie, Clint Eastwood and Tom Cruise by enjoying a smaller version of that sort of fame during your time on a reality TV show. While for most people being on a reality television show represents the classic 15 minutes of fame, for others it means a large segue into a very closed-doors industry. Not everyone's experience in reality television ends up the same, but for any single person in reality TV, it means a chance to be seen by the public in one of the most sought after positions in media that exists today. Also, for those who are particularly memorable or win competitions it can mean becoming a more permanent fixture in the media. It can lead to future jobs and allows you to meet people you would never otherwise have met. While for most people, being in reality TV means being famous for a small period of time, it represents an amazing experience and a microcosm of a dream for many people - a chance to be on TV.

Reality television has many formats and one such popular format is that of self improvement. For example shows like The Biggest Loser, where families and individuals compete to see who can lose the most weight offers prizes to the winning team. However, the shows biggest prize is easily the improvement of the quality of life these teams and individuals experience in becoming more healthy and improving their self esteem through weight loss. This one example is a clear cut indication of how reality television can help its contestant through self improvement. However, there are other reality television shows where the self improvement aspect of the program might be harder to identify. There are many prize and competition style shows with monetary and other highly sought after prizes offered to winners such as cars or clothes. However, many competition style shows also offer a segue into the industry the show is based on allowing the winner access and notoriety in an industry where it is their dream in which to work. America's Next Top Model awards modeling contracts, American Idol offers singing contracts, Project Runway moves no-name designers into the industry within a blink of an eye and Top Chef offers much of the same. These shows provide self improvement opportunities through the career choice of the contestants and in many ways represents the only way in which those contestants might have been successful in the industry. Additionally, shows like Fear Factor provide not only a monetary prize but the chance to overcome a particularly paralyzing fear. Nanny 911 improves the family dynamic of struggling families. While reality television is largely seen as a way to gain some quick fame, it is also a way to grow and self improve.

While self improvement and fame are large factors behind why people audition for reality television the obvious financial factor behind winning a competition style show is hard to ignore. In winning a show like Survivor, contestants are awarded a one million dollar prize. Shows like Deal or No Deal also offer large monetary prizes to winners and shows like The Price Is Right or Wheel Of Fortune are much the same. Winning a reality show where money is the main prize allows people the chance to move from one financial demographic to the other, perhaps allowing them to completely alter and change their way of life.