Back in 20 May 2009, as ‘The Apprentice’ series 5 had come to a close but in the episode of ‘You’re Fired!’ (the show which breaks down what happened in the episode of ‘The Apprentice’ that was just aired), they announced that they are doing a Junior Apprentice aimed for people aged 16-17 years old. I was only 14 years old going on to 15. I was thinking about whether I should bluff my age just to have the chance to go. I didn’t in the end as I did not have anything to back me up as I looked at the application form which asked for GCSEs and enterprises which I had neither.
I had always watched The Apprentice ever since series 2 (as I didn’t know of it until then). Every time I watched an episode, I was always motivated to prove that I can do a better job of them especially when I see them make silly mistakes or big risks. Before I knew it, at school I have somehow made a reputation for myself selling all sorts of things from stationary, drinks, films, snacks and even clothing! I was even tempted to start up my own online shop but in the end I didn’t as I didn’t want to neglect my studies as it is the facts and qualifications that employers see first on paper that gets me the job, then it is my skills and what I’m capable of.
On 28 August 2010, they announced that they are going to do another series of Junior Apprentice which as soon as I heard about it, I sat staring at the application form screen for a solid half an hour to an hour just to make it as perfect as possible. Months later well into the new year, 29 March 2011 I received an e-mail that they would like to take me another step further into the application process by going for an interview. I was more than joyous when I read the e-mail as I was that one step closer to doing what I do best.
However when the day approached, it was slowly going sour. I had no idea what was going to happen during the interview. I had put on my best suit, borrowed my dad’s trench coat and even had a shave to look the part. I got there half an hour early and there was quite a long queue but that didn’t intimidate me, what did was when I got inside. There were many seats for us to help ourselves to but not enough to fill everyone that was there. I received a piece of paper stating what was to come where I had only minutes to prepare myself for, which is to sell myself within 30 seconds. My mind went blank.
I was searching for achievements, skills, anything that I could use within those few minutes that I had just to make myself different from the others. I had decided to try and think of ways of even make them laugh a little that could relate but it wasn’t enough. When I got called up, I was there with nine other people. Nine other people doing the same thing as me. Nine other people after the same prize. We were randomly assigned a number as we entered a room. Ten contestants, two judges. One judge was a fairly young lady who smiled as we all entered, the other was a man who kept a straight face and had an extremely focused look almost no emotion through the scary looking glasses.
The pressure was on. He explained that he will only choose two people out of us to go another step further into the process for another interview. He also explained that there were over 20000 across the country entries and that less than 1000 were taken for these interviews so we shouldn’t feel ashamed if we don’t get past this as it is an achievement in its self. He did say that he is going to recreate the feeling of the board room where we will be feeling pressured. Before long, it began and he started out calling numbers where we had 30 seconds to say it all.
I wasn’t first fortunately. Or unfortunately depending on how you look at it but either way, as each candidate said their part, I was getting nervous and as he kept calling numbers, I was feeling very hollow. When my number was called out, I almost instantly started with traits about myself talking about how I’m hungry for business with some hand gestures and even talked about what I’ve managed to sell including a bad joke on how I’ve sold so many drinks at school that I had made a hole in my pocket from carrying all the coins (which honestly, I almost did) but before I knew it, there were over 5 seconds left and I was lost for words. The awkward silence made me stutter and lose my composure ending it with a brief statement of “that’s why I should be the apprentice”.
30 seconds is a long time. 30 seconds is a very long time and to improvise on the spot is one weakness that can be turned into a really useful skill in life for not only filling up the 30 second interviews but it can be used anywhere from presentations to even if you are in a board room and on the verge of being fired.
I unfortunately did not get chosen to be taken through but that I could respect as three people stood out as very clear winners from my group in not only the originality of their choice of words, but their nerves and composure were all in order which are very important skills needed for such a process which definitely reflects on how they do in business. The hard part was for them to choose which two to go through so I felt somewhat sorry that the person that did a very good job of selling themselves to not go through while the other two did.
As we left, we were all reminded about the fact making it that far was an achievement which made me then look up and walked out with a smile… as my hands were shaking. I definitely recommend that if you are interested in business or any sort of finance related interests, this is worth applying for as the interview puts you under pressure which is something that will come one day or another if you have high hopes becoming somewhere where Lord Sugar is or even higher. At the end of the day whether you do go through or not, you will learn something about yourself and other people your age.
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