Now that competing for a job has become a spectator sport, at least one corporation is getting in on the act — without the television cameras. On the fifth floor of Sephora’s 34th Street store last week, Vanessa Dunn painted a swath of peacock green eye shadow across a model’s face — a bold move intended to showcase her creativity in color cosmetics. “It’s an alter ego, superhero look,” she said.

Ms. Dunn, 32, was one of 16 makeup artists competing on Thursday night to earn a place on the Sephora Beauty Expert Team, a group of eight that will represent the beauty retailer in the press and at in-store events across the country. The expert team will style looks for fashion shoots and will appear on the Home Shopping Network, which added Sephora to its roster of beauty brands in February.

According to one Sephora executive, branding was a big reason for the team — and the competition. “Sephora is looking to brand itself as ‘The Beauty Authority,’ and a lot of responsibility comes with that,” the company’s education and development manager, José Rivera, said. Having a reputable team of experts in place to represent the company helps to legitimize that positioning, the thinking goes.

The process began in January, when Sephora alerted its employees to the competition; an open call resulted in approximately 500 applications. After a makeup challenge in which candidates were directed to create “complexion perfection,” the field was whittled down to 170. Another makeup challenge, an interview, and a bio review narrowed down the number to 32 semi-finalists, who traveled to New York City for yet another series of challenges, such as creating haute couture looks and in-store events.

In addition to the branding goal, the exercise served as a tool for developing talent within the ranks. “We were able to provide 500 employees with feedback and coaching that typically they wouldn’t get at the local level, and that whole experience breeds a lot of great things [for customers] at the store level,” Mr. Rivera said.

Under the watchful eyes of the judges — who included cosmetics brand representatives and HSN and Sephora executives — some candidates faltered. At an in-store event, for example, one applicant used foundation primer on a medical school student who didn’t wear much makeup. But judge Maureen Kelly, the CEO of the cosmetics brand Tarte, felt that demonstrated an inability “to listen to and interpret what the customer is saying.”

On Thursday morning, 16 finalists were selected for a runway showdown. The candidates prepped, powdered, and polished their models — each had 45 minutes to create a look—before sending them down a redcarpeted runway in front of nine judges and a live audience.

Ms. Dunn, who works at the Times Square Sephora location, had quit her job as an executive assistant four years ago to pursue a career as a makeup artist. And she was not the only local gal in the finals: Jacqueline Gomez, 24, a makeup artist at the retailer’s 34th Street store, sent her model down the runway with dark, smoky eyes and pink cheeks and lips — a look she called “New York City romantic; soft and glamorous.”

Unlike the judges on “American Idol,” this panel refrained from bickering amongst each other. And the comments were so positive that the eight contestants who weren’t selected might understandably have been miffed as to why they were left out. But the ability to apply makeup wasn’t the only criteria. Candidates were also judged on how they interpreted Sephora’s brand message, overall product knowledge, and their ability to serve as role models. And because the winners will appear on HSN, their personal style played a role, as well. “I was looking for a certain style, a look, a quality that would resonate with our viewers,” the senior vice president of television for HSN, Andy Sheldon, said.

In the end, the New Yorkers didn’t make the final eight. The winning looks ranged from soft and pretty to high-concept; one winner streaked a model’s face with flames of orange and yellow eye makeup extending up into her hair.

Technique indeed, but what would Simon Cowell say?