My favourite show in the whole Apprentice series in the UK is on BBC tonight.
It is where the candidates are interviewed by four of Suralan’s associates. Some have worked with him in the past, some still do. This has always interested me more than the frenetic “sell ’em cheap” or “think it up quick” that is the quality of many of the programmes.
You get a more measured sense of what it takes to run a business, and also of the give and take between interviewer and candidate. There has been some dramatic stuff .. the guy who lied last year, and was very elegantly challenged, and there was definitely a frisson one year between a female candidate and the male interviewer.
There is a thinking quality which to my mind is part of the inspiration for a successful business, and not simply about going out there and doing it.
I also find it incredibly interesting to see who Alan Sugar has around him. Margaret and Nick are both intelligent and perceptive, the interviewers tonight are the same, and Sir Alan’s wife looks not only very attractive but warm and thoughtful.
My sense of the Apprentice-choosing process is that he plays with the idea of a mini replica of himself (extrovert, go getting) and in the end chooses someone who won’t make waves or upset people. In short he does not choose himself. He does not choose someone who could challenge.
Maybe it will be different this year?
I will have to catch up on iplayer as I will be out tonight at the social media programme on Marlow fm .. but I am really looking forward to watching the interviewing programme!