diff --git a/hadoop-mapreduce-project/CHANGES.txt b/hadoop-mapreduce-project/CHANGES.txt
index b916907172a..ad0a49f7697 100644
--- a/hadoop-mapreduce-project/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/hadoop-mapreduce-project/CHANGES.txt
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ Release 2.0.1-alpha - UNRELEASED
     MAPREDUCE-4253. Tests for mapreduce-client-core are lying under
     mapreduce-client-jobclient (Tsuyoshi Ozawa via harsh)
 
+    MAPREDUCE-4355. Add RunningJob.getJobStatus() (kkambatl via tucu)
+
   OPTIMIZATIONS
 
   BUG FIXES
diff --git a/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapred/JobClient.java b/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapred/JobClient.java
index 1e3f952303e..7e49fa77cfe 100644
--- a/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapred/JobClient.java
+++ b/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapred/JobClient.java
@@ -441,6 +441,14 @@ public String getFailureInfo() throws IOException {
       }
     }
 
+    @Override
+    public JobStatus getJobStatus() throws IOException {
+      try {
+        return JobStatus.downgrade(job.getStatus());
+      } catch (InterruptedException ie) {
+        throw new IOException(ie);
+      }
+    }
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapred/RunningJob.java b/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapred/RunningJob.java
index 5a11fa876ea..5873ace4de6 100644
--- a/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapred/RunningJob.java
+++ b/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapred/RunningJob.java
@@ -149,8 +149,16 @@ public interface RunningJob {
   public int getJobState() throws IOException;
   
   /**
-   * Kill the running job.  Blocks until all job tasks have been
-   * killed as well.  If the job is no longer running, it simply returns.
+   * Returns a snapshot of the current status, {@link JobStatus}, of the Job.
+   * Need to call again for latest information.
+   * 
+   * @throws IOException
+   */
+  public JobStatus getJobStatus() throws IOException;
+
+  /**
+   * Kill the running job. Blocks until all job tasks have been killed as well.
+   * If the job is no longer running, it simply returns.
    * 
    * @throws IOException
    */
diff --git a/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-jobclient/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapred/TestNetworkedJob.java b/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-jobclient/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapred/TestNetworkedJob.java
index b6565e28956..37aa7b24a3c 100644
--- a/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-jobclient/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapred/TestNetworkedJob.java
+++ b/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-jobclient/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapred/TestNetworkedJob.java
@@ -18,16 +18,31 @@
 
 package org.apache.hadoop.mapred;
 
-import static org.junit.Assert.*;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertNull;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.verify;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.when;
 
-import java.util.List;
+import java.io.File;
+import java.io.IOException;
 
+import org.apache.hadoop.conf.Configuration;
+import org.apache.hadoop.fs.FSDataOutputStream;
+import org.apache.hadoop.fs.FileSystem;
+import org.apache.hadoop.fs.Path;
+import org.apache.hadoop.mapred.lib.IdentityMapper;
+import org.apache.hadoop.mapred.lib.IdentityReducer;
 import org.apache.hadoop.mapreduce.Job;
 import org.junit.Test;
-import static org.mockito.Mockito.*;
 
 
 public class TestNetworkedJob {
+  private static String TEST_ROOT_DIR = new File(System.getProperty(
+      "test.build.data", "/tmp")).toURI().toString().replace(' ', '+');
+  private static Path testDir = new Path(TEST_ROOT_DIR + "/test_mini_mr_local");
+  private static Path inFile = new Path(testDir, "in");
+  private static Path outDir = new Path(testDir, "out");
 
   @SuppressWarnings("deprecation")
   @Test
@@ -41,4 +56,53 @@ public void testGetNullCounters() throws Exception {
     //verification
     verify(mockJob).getCounters();
   }
+  
+  @Test
+  public void testGetJobStatus() throws IOException, InterruptedException,
+      ClassNotFoundException {
+    MiniMRClientCluster mr = null;
+    FileSystem fileSys = null;
+
+    try {
+      mr = MiniMRClientClusterFactory.create(this.getClass(), 2,
+          new Configuration());
+
+      JobConf job = new JobConf(mr.getConfig());
+
+      fileSys = FileSystem.get(job);
+      fileSys.delete(testDir, true);
+      FSDataOutputStream out = fileSys.create(inFile, true);
+      out.writeBytes("This is a test file");
+      out.close();
+
+      FileInputFormat.setInputPaths(job, inFile);
+      FileOutputFormat.setOutputPath(job, outDir);
+
+      job.setInputFormat(TextInputFormat.class);
+      job.setOutputFormat(TextOutputFormat.class);
+
+      job.setMapperClass(IdentityMapper.class);
+      job.setReducerClass(IdentityReducer.class);
+      job.setNumReduceTasks(0);
+
+      JobClient client = new JobClient(mr.getConfig());
+      RunningJob rj = client.submitJob(job);
+      JobID jobId = rj.getID();
+
+      // The following asserts read JobStatus twice and ensure the returned
+      // JobStatus objects correspond to the same Job.
+      assertEquals("Expected matching JobIDs", jobId, client.getJob(jobId)
+          .getJobStatus().getJobID());
+      assertEquals("Expected matching startTimes", rj.getJobStatus()
+          .getStartTime(), client.getJob(jobId).getJobStatus()
+          .getStartTime());
+    } finally {
+      if (fileSys != null) {
+        fileSys.delete(testDir, true);
+      }
+      if (mr != null) {
+        mr.stop();
+      }
+    }
+  }
 }