So Lord Sugar has decided to “play it safe” with a recruiter winning the Apprentice. In our opinion, a weak boardroom final considering the lengthy recruitment process, which I’m sure a number of competent recruiters would agree with me. Aside from the usual TV antics though, has Lord Sugar ended up with the right Apprentice?
Lets take them one at a time, so we have the winner, Ricky Martin. A worthy winner considering what he was up against, but really setting up a recruitment agency, how will it differ? Anyone who’s in recruitment knows if they’re any good, they don’t need Lord Sugar’s money to do it, as it’s not an expensive industry to setup in. So the question is, can Ricky really manage recruiters or is he the recruiter himself? There is a big difference as many recruiters have found out to their detriment, so we’ll have to wait and see. Another question is, has Ricky really changed during this process? We all remember just how full of himself he was for the majority of this process… as the classic recruiter he knew what they wanted to hear, but does it matter I suppose is the bigger question?
Nick – what a shame, why couldn’t he have answered Karen’s question in a more competent way. “how do you know it will work?” And Nick’s answer “… Well me and my friends would use it…” Honestly what about the stats the figures, the research to back it up? Was this a moment of nerves in the boardroom, could he really not have demonstrated his competency on the spot? Don’t assume everyone knows what you’re talking about and how effective something will be and why, make sure you know your stuff and demonstrate clearly why you! This is where Nick let himself down in the interviews and the boardroom. His concept was excellent, if complicated but there wasn’t the research conviction needed. And as nice a guy as he was, that can only get you so far.
Tom – now here’s a confusing character who I feel we never actually got to know. Remember people like to know who is coming into their business. With Tom you didn’t really know who he was, there was a formality about him and the only informality we saw was the drunk moment of British wine sparkling. Making sure you get your personality and passion across, and be true to yourself as well as letting your professional friendly side come out. As far as Tom’s idea goes, I’m on the fence, other people’s money…. It was a bit of a gambling business really and he didn’t explain it particularly well, again his own knowledge allowed him to understand it, but not deliver it articulately ensuring others understood it quickly. Just because you know something don’t assume others get it as quickly. Practice delivering it to someone outside your industry and do they get it? If not, think about how you are going to explain what you do effectively. Think about getting a succinct 1 minute explanation of what you do!
Jade – well here is the tricky comment, honestly no figures, no costs, how did she make it to the final? Was it the token woman? And is that why she had such an easy ride in that final boardroom meeting? I don’t really know what to say except there are so many of you out there who would have produced something so much better and delivered. She had to rely on knowing very little and she still got to this point through being fairly dogmatic and vocal! So don’t hide what you’ve got about you, get out there and sell it, after all Jade only had belief so imagine if you have belief and you can do the job, what can you achieve?
All in all an entertaining 12 weeks but as always some awful interviewers especially in Claude, who if he really interviewed anyone outside this process who had any sense of self respect they would leave the interview. You should not be interrupted and disrespected in an interview, it does not get the best out of anyone. All it determines is that someone can handle confrontation, but you don’t get the other areas which need to be considered. I look forward to the day when someone says, “Thank you for your time but I don’t want the job if the interview is like this as it’s not the sort of culture I would want to be involved in”… I can live in hope.
