Wal-Mart jobs: Ever wonder what it's like to work there?

Getting a peek inside a major retailer can yield some pretty revealing information about their business and culture. It's not an easy thing to arrange -- there are hoops to jump through, media relations representatives to juggle and a vetting process. But in the end, a reporter can walk away with a pretty great story.

If only that were true of a recent New York Timesarticle, "My Initiation at Store 5476." Reporter Stephanie Rosenbloom worked for one day at a Walmart store in New Jersey and came away with a nice "reporter's notebook" piece, but did little to shed light on the inner workings of the retailer. Instead, she relates a sanitized experience and a pretty unoriginal one at that.