Jared Watson is a quality control specialist, ASNT NDT Level III, and a three-time winner on the American televised gameshow Jeopardy! Viewers first watched Jared’s winning streak in June 2023, and he’ll be back on the show for the Tournament of Champions on 26 February 2024. ASNT had the chance to talk with Jared about his experience being a contestant, his interesting path to the NDT industry, and how preparing for his Level III might have also helped him on Jeopardy!
Listen to the full conversation on the latest episode of Chat NDT with ASNT
Jared Watson has always loved Jeopardy!, and the idea that he could someday be a contestant was planted in his mind from a young age.
“One of my earliest memories around the show is watching an episode of Jeopardy! at my grandparents’ house and answering a question right, and seeing all the eyes in the room turn and look at me, this four-year-old kid answering a question on this show,” Jared said. “And that was the first inkling that I had that, ‘Okay, I guess that’s not something everybody can do.’”
But Jared didn’t start seriously pursuing this dream until eight years ago, when he took the online test that’s the first step for Jeopardy! hopefuls. This decision to finally take the leap was inspired by Jared’s latest career pivot: entering the nondestructive testing (NDT) industry.
Jared’s career path had given him experience in several different roles, including restaurant server, retail jobs, and doing phone support at Apple. While these jobs were enough to sustain him, he wanted to find a career where he could grow. But the first stop in this new journey wasn’t NDT—it was journalism.
“So I went back to school, I got a journalism degree, but I also met my wife there,” Jared said. “We got married, and at the time I was working at a newspaper making $14 an hour, which is not family-supporting income.”
Jared’s brother was the first one to tell him about NDT. He had gone to dive school at The Ocean Corporation and told Jared about the NDT program there, and the idea stayed in the back of Jared’s mind.
“We were getting ready to have our first child, and I was like, ‘You know what, let’s try this NDT thing,’” Jared said. “And so we moved down to Houston. I went to Ocean Corp, and I had a job offer with Mistras about a week before I was set to graduate, and I was off and running. And I’ve been doing NDT in one form or another ever since.”
With his new career in NDT underway, Jared turned his attention back to Jeopardy!
“Once I got some stability in my career, I was like, ‘Okay, well now I can look at other things instead of just making ends meet and go for other dreams.’ And that was this,” Jared said.
The parallel between NDT and Jeopardy! didn’t stop there for Jared. After years of retaking the online test, Jared was invited to take the next step, which was another test held over Zoom.
“When I finally got the call for Jeopardy!, it was right around the same time that I was taking my first Level III exam,” Jared said. “So I got to use the same skillset for studying for my ASNT exam to apply toward Jeopardy! study too.”
“I think that kind of helped, because I got through the ASNT exam—the Basic and the RT Level III exam—in pretty short order, and I passed them. And that let me feel like, if I apply myself in this way, I can succeed at these things,” Jared said.
The rest is history. Not only did Jared compete on Jeopardy! in June 2023, he went on to win three games in a row.
“All I ever wanted to do was get on the show. Success, like winning—that was a dream beyond a dream,” Jared said. “I was sending off online tests into the void, never hearing anything back. So to have them call me, and then to be on the show, and then to win, and then to win three times…it’s still nuts to me. I’ve had a year to live with it, and it’s still nuts.”
The three-game streak wasn’t the only surprise in store. During an interview with his local news station, Jared was surprised on-air to learn that he had been invited back to the Tournament of Champions.
“Regardless of how the tournament went, I am really glad to have had the experience of going back,” Jared said. “I will say also that it was just a fantastic week. Everybody got along really well. I made some friends that I hope I have for life.”
Viewers can tune in this Monday, 26 February, to watch the next chapter in Jared’s Jeopardy! story. Check your local channel and times here: https://www.jeopardy.com/watch.
Good article. I like how you let him tell more of his life story.
Good luck Jared ! Looking forward to seeing you win again 😊