Macildowie Blog

Jenna Whittingham will be drowning her sorrows this week after becoming the ninth candidate to get the boot on The Apprentice.

The wannabe entrepreneur is the latest to be fired after directing a disastrous video to sell English sparkling wine.

The teams were tasked with creating a marketing campaign to promote a home-grown alternative to champagne and then to pitch it to wine experts.

But Lord Sugar described Jenna’s promotional tape as like “a Carry On Boozing movie”, rather than the quality advert that her project manager on team Sterling, Rickey Martin, had asked her to complete.

Team Phoenix – led for the second week in a row by Tom Gearing, were picked as the winners of the task, leaving Ricky, Jenna and Stephen to battle it out in the boardroom.

I was expecting this episode to be vintage (pardon the pun), with Tom being a wine expert combined with the IT skills of Nick. But whilst Tom and Adam were busy getting tipsy at the tasting sessions, Nick was left to do all the marketing work.

Both teams failed to understand the task brief of building awareness to new customers and the marketing campaigns were flat and tasteless. It was Jenna’s bubble that burst in the end leaving seven potential prospects for Lord Sugar, all hoping to add that extra fizz to his business.

The men are outnumbering the ladies by five to two at this stage, and if I were a betting man, I’d be putting my money on Nick being the one to pop the champagne corks at the end of the series. It is slim pickings though, and I’m not actually sure any of the super seven remaining would have the abilities we look for when putting people forward for a top job.

Emotional intelligence is high on any employer’s wish list, alongside an ability to adapt to your surroundings and to read the non-verbal signs your team members give off. It’s building relationships with other people that will define success at work, and the winner of this year’s show will not be a loner. They need to be someone you would like to share a drink with down the local or even a glass of home-grown fizz. The way you interact with others is critical – listening and watching are almost more important than talking! And that’s a good job, considering that Jenna must have had the most annoying voice on TV, it’s enough to drive anyone to drink!

Laura Hogg won’t be hogging the limelight any longer on The Apprentice, as she became the eighth candidate to be sent packing by Lord Sugar. The bridal shop owner was fired after being accused of taking a back seat in the challenge.

Both teams had to represent two street artists and sell their urban artwork to all kinds of customers, from a London gallery boss to collectors and clients. This was their chance to shine and prove they had the ability to sell. Gabrielle took control of Team Sterling, leading them to a narrow victory, leaving Tom’s Team Phoenix to face the boardroom battle.

When it came to the crunch, Laura came under fire for poor sales, she failed to step up to the mark in the challenge and ended up bringing in the least money. It proves how important it is to be able to sell, and not just the random stuff given to the candidates on the show but also the ability to sell yourself.

It’s vitally important in today’s job market that your CV stands out and that you are head and shoulders above the other candidates at an interview stage. The key is to let your qualities and achievements shine through and step into the spotlight.

Most people just talk about what they’ve done but winners explain more. They focus on why they did it, the role they played in a team and the impact they had in reaching the overall goal. The words “for example” have to be the most useful words to use when creating a CV or in an interview situation, as they bring your story to life. The interviewer will always remember specific examples that you have used as they are what make you unique.

When you are writing your CV, think about how you can bring your achievements to life. Don’t just do a massive list of bullet points that detail your job spec but do a few bullets on the main responsibilities of your job, two or three bullets on the ad-hoc project work you’ve done and finish with a few bullets on your key achievements.

Finally, an interview is all about seeing if you fit in at a company, so make sure you come across as confident and friendly without being viewed as having a big ego. Find out who will interview you and check them out on LinkedIn first to see how they reached this point of their career, you can then ask them questions about themselves. And my last bit of advice is: out-prepare the other candidates. This is your chance to hog the limelight, so make sure you don’t end up back in the shadows.

We are more than half way through this series of The Apprentice and I’m still not sure who’s going to clinch it. There doesn’t really seem to be a stand out winner yet which means it’s all to play for, and last night Azhar became the seventh candidate to be sent packing.

Lord Sugar gave the 33-year-old catering company manager the boot for moaning a lot but doing very little – not really the strategy for success in any business.

The contestants were given £150 to buy anything they wanted from an Essex warehouse and then sell it on for profit. It was vital they smelled what sells and re-stocked on fast moving products before the close of business. The nodding Churchill dog was a hit last series but, ironically, it was the fake tan, fake eyelashes and fake nails that were flying off the tables in the Essex shopping centre. I guess ‘The Only Way is Profit’ for Team Sterling and they stormed to success.

The boardroom beckoned for Team Phoenix and Azhar, Jade and Tom were left to battle it out for their place on the show. Jade’s persuasive passion saved her from the chop but Azhar failed to communicate his strengths and repeating the word ‘strategeh’ over and over again, just didn’t wash with Lord Sugar.

So what can we learn from this episode? Well a definite need to plan and a good strategy is always needed but so is the ability to communicate that with passion. Despite the fact that it was really Jade’s failure as a project leader that led to the task being lost, Lord Sugar praised her enthusiasm and ultimately, that’s what saved her.

It leaves the door wide open for the next few weeks, and your guess is as good as mine about who’s got the strategy for success.

Apprentice hopeful Katie Wright proved to be all wrong for Lord Sugar, as she became the latest candidate to get the chop from the show.

The 26-year-old ‘blonde assassin’ found herself in the boardroom for the third time after failing to impress on their gourmet food task.

Lord Sugar turned up at the candidates’ posh London home to set them the challenge of making high quality nosh and selling it on the streets of Edinburgh.

With the traditional sound of bagpipes in the background, Team Sterling targeted the tourist crowd with their ‘Gourmet Scot Pot’, while Team Phoenix went for a cheaply made dish called ‘Utterly Delicious Meatballs’.

It was downhill for Phoenix from that point, as they tried to sell their Italian fare to a football crowd. With Katie dressed as a pizza and suggesting they charge footie fans £7.99 for their ‘gourmet’ dish, it did appear she’d lost her ‘meatballs’! Ultimately the one thing the teams couldn’t cook, or even garnish, was the figures, and the heat was on. It was Katie who lost her cool in the boardroom and, as the pressure reached boiling point, she found herself in the firing line.

So how do you cope a bit better than Katie when the pressure is on?  Job interviews are always stressful situations, from talking too much to sweaty palms and nervous laughter, but there are a few tips you can follow to make sure you don’t make a dog’s dinner out of it.

Preparation is the key, make sure you research the company profile and background, ensure you dress appropriately (no giant pizzas please) and don’t be late, in fact be there 15 minutes early if you can.

Think positive – you’ve got to the interview stage so they already see something in you that they like. Remember to smile, maintain eye contact and don’t forget to breathe! If you’re right for the job, your interviewer will see that and you’ll soon be cooking up a storm in your new office.

It was survival of the fittest on The Apprentice last night, as Duane Bryan became the fifth candidate to be sent packing by Lord Sugar.

The 29-year-old was the bookies’ favourite to win, so it was a bit of a surprise to see him catching a taxi home. It does show however, that Sir Alan obviously knows exactly what sort of person he’s looking for to fill the role.  Some people know instinctively if someone isn’t quite right, normally this is down to the candidates softer skills, their emotional intelligence rather than their hard skill sets.  I think that’s the key when you’re looking for a new employee, you need a very clear idea of the type of candidate who will be successful in your business, not just someone who can do the job.

In the latest episode of The Apprentice, the contestants were challenged to develop a new fitness class in order to ‘lose pounds’. They had to pitch their ideas to leading health and fitness chains to obtain license agreements – and therefore ‘gain pounds’!

Sales manager Stephen Brady led team Phoenix to victory with their retro Groove Train concept. Out came the Lycra shorts and sweatbands and the team grabbed themselves some space-hoppers and hula-hooped to success.

Meanwhile the other team, project managed by Ricky Martin, developed a class with a combination of Karate Kid moves and street dancing, but it didn’t go down too well and their promo film was branded ‘boring’.

Duane found himself in the boardroom after directing the film and he took a ‘risky’ strategy, telling Lord Alan that his rival Laura, shouldn’t be sent home. This left him in the firing line and out of a job. There’s lots of talk today that Duane was fired for being too nice, but I believe Sir Alan just didn’t see that ‘thing’ in him he was after.

Finding out what that ‘thing’ is, is difficult. How do you put your finger on the special something that gives a potential employee the ‘x-factor’? Whilst certain hiring managers have an uncanny instinct and are able to decide within the first few minutes of meeting a candidate based on handshake, appearance and their first couple of answers to questions, others prefer to put their trust in psychometric tools in order to assess a candidate’s softer skills and therefore their potential fit into the culture of the business.

Rather than considering hard skills or intelligence, it’s the candidates potential cultural fit into a team, into a business’ set of values, which can make or break a job interview.  Duane just didn’t have that thing!

Derby is home to a mix of several key companies, ranging from expanding SME’s to blue chip organisations such as Rolls Royce, Punch Taverns and The Spirit Pub Co.making the city fertile ground for Procurement and Supply Chain jobs in the East Midlands.

Here at Macildowie, we use our years of experience to make sure that we look carefully at you as an individual and match you specifically to the right job that suits your skill set and abilities. We are currently searching for candidates looking for Finance Jobs Derby, HR Jobs Derby and Procurement and Supply Chain Jobs Derby.

Northampton is home to a mix of several key companies, ranging from expanding SME’s to blue chip organisations such as Travis Perkins, Avon Cosmetics, Weetabix and Cosworth making the city fertile ground for Procurement and Supply Chain jobs Northampton.

Northampton also provides great opportunities within the HR and Finance sector. Here at Macildowie, we use our years of experience to make sure that we look carefully at you as an individual and match you specifically to the right job that suits your skill set and abilities.

We are currently searching for candidates looking for Finance Jobs Northampton, HR Jobs Northampton and Procurement and Supply Chain Jobs Northampton.

If you’re looking for a job in the HR, Finance or Procurement and supply chain sector in Leicester, finding the right company and position is essential. Here at Macildowie, we have the experience and resources to match the right candidate to a role that suits their abilities and experience.

We are currently searching for candidates for Finance Jobs Leicester, HR Jobs Leicester and Procurement and Supply Chain Jobs Leicester.