The Apprentice. Where do they find these idiots?

[Runnermumof2]

Is it just me or is it too painful to watch the incompetence of the contestants on The Apprentice? They seem to specifically bring on people who have zero clue about anything, not even basic life skills.
I actually think I would enjoy watching it if they brought in some intelligent/motivated people. But they seem to only bring in people who have zero skills and an exuberant amount of ego .
I couldn't imagine working alongside any of them, how do they possibly get through the application process ?

I only watched the after show but have seen previous seasons. I think it may be a mixture of the picking people they think will be entertaining and

A really good business person would be able to raise capital elsewhere (in that sense better when it was an apprenticeship). They also wouldn’t put themselves through the ridiculous boasting - social media is probably a better way to promote their business

In the very beginning they had intelligent business minded individuals. Now it's just trying to find the most entertaining contestants so the whole show has lost its purpose.

I know 2 people who applied to go on the show but both decided not to half way through the audition process once it became apparent that they weren't actually interested in decent business people.

For all that Sugar says they shouldn't think they know what to expect, the trouble is that they are using the same tasks that were unrealistic 22 years ago. Who in their right mind would go looking for a specific product in a town in a foreign country without using the internet and online maps?

Same. I knew someone who pulled out of the process because he realised it was all about entertaining the tv audience. He also said the winners were selected by the production team. Not sure if thats correct.

I watched it for the first time in years, it was awful so I won't be bothering to watch any more of it.

Anyway I've never forgiven Sir Al firing Miriam in the first series when it was actually quite good.

I have never forgotten Miriam, I would have employed her alll day long.

These have got to be the worst lot ever!

Yes, he dropped a right clanger that episode. 😡

I can't be bothered withany of those progammes. There was another one a few months back, the one where they travelled on a train with the windows covered so they couldn't see where they were. Was it "Destination X"? I only watched 10 minutes of one and switched off. I could not believe the people lacking such basic general knowledge could be contestants on a programme like that so came to the conclusion that they were picked BECAUSE they were clueless and thought it would make good telly because of it? Well no, I donl't want to eye roll my way through a show, it's really tedious.

What a ridiculous bunch.
They must have said ‘shrimp paste’ about 19 times.
Never managed to find it though.
’’I’m the best estate agent in London!’’
(I bet he isn’t)

I think that they are now picked for comedy value. In the early days they were picked for being decent candidates

It's unwatchable.

So contrived and not a brain cell among them.

Im convinced they have 2 or 3 people who have interesting business plans who are nailed on to reach the final and the rest are just entertainment fodder. Sugar didnt become a billionnaire by throwing away £250k on some fool who set up an ebay shop 6 months before applying and couldnt even bothered to get a gcse Business studies book and copy out a business plan template.

With an apprentice the makers of the show or Alan Sugar had a stake in the person because they would be employed however briefly and be representing the brand.

It is an entertainment show only now, but with false jeopardy and constraints.

It would be great if one of the tasks was like the real world but with time constraints. Maybe one where they have to organise an excursion and get people to attend. All have phones and can communicate freely, have full internet access. Able to access any suppliers, even if that means parts are not shown because a business doesn’t want to be filmed. Acting like a business owner would- pay for caterers who then cook and a tour guide. They could still decide to do it all or parts themselves so saving money potentially larger profit, but risking customers not signing up or wanting money back.

Time was when the likes of Ruth Badger would have got all those things bought at half the price in half the time available and gone for a leisurely sightseeing tour before getting to the meeting point ahead of Karen.

I can see this series is going to be even more annoying than usual!

They were so useless.

It's also like they've never watched the show (I mean, obviously most of them can't have been watching it since it first aired...).

But the tasks are silly. You'd really need to split up into more than two teams with so many of you. They didn't organise themselves at all. But it's totally unrealistic.

I always think the "make and sell a load of fast food in a day" ones are insane. How can they meet hygiene standards? Why is the cost of labour not taken into account?

Yes the tasks are so ridiculous that it’s lost even the pretence of being about looking for business acumen. Next week the task is write a children’s book?? So, if they can’t do it they’re bad at business? Can Alan Sugar write a children’s book?

The food selling one winds me up as well, not just the cost of labour thing but the fact that they have no need to worry about repeat business, so there’s no incentive for any kind of quality beyond not being so shit that people ask for their money back.

I’ve not watched it for a few years but watched this week’s episode. I probably won’t bother with the rest if it’s still just nonsense.

It's quite noticeable that, during the tasks, they seem to concentrate more on finding someone else to blame than actually working to make their team succeed.

Absolutely. And if you were a project manager at work, you wouldn’t have to deal with your entire team simultaneously trying to help, while also ensuring that their own backs are covered and someone else can always be blamed.
I know some people work like that in the real world. But it’s never your entire team who have an ulterior motive to succeed while throwing others under the bus.

That was pretty dreadful

I know they don’t have Internet access but the places they were going were bizarre - there are some massive markets they could have gone to. And when they went into the English centre why not ask about everything?

the tasks are too repetitive now - I actually like this task but it didn’t work when there were so many of them and they didn’t really know each other

agree that them being judged on their recipe creation or children’s book writing is stupid and pretty insulting to professionals in those fields!!

better to have an up and coming give them a product to sell so both teams have a quality product and the focus is on the marketing etc

I very much doubt Sugar pays them anything. He is a hired hand to front the show - the prize money is just part of the production expenditure. I can also easily believe the people fired are chosen by the production team - Sugar will just be there to film the sequences he is in.

Of course the contestants are chosen for amusement - though the show would also be edited to make them look even more daft. Even years ago it was joked that the show was an audition to be a media personality. Anyone with a serious business would a) be able to get investment elsewhere and b) not be prepared to leave their business for weeks on end to appear on a glorified game show. The only exception would be if your ‘business’ was media, like Katie Hopkins, and even then unless you aimed for controversy like her you wouldn’t want to hand over so much control of your ‘brand’ to editors.

I have only ever watched The Apprentice once and that was enough. The people were just a bunch of self-centred wannabes. I honestly don’t know why it’s so popular.

The way the teams split is very controlled so a project manager can’t split further even when it would be natural and show them as good at business. They all must be recorded and there are a set number of camera crews.

This lots were an absolute bunch of clowns

Its not a show about finding a brilliant Entrepreneur, its all about entertainment
Smart comptent business people quietly achieveing success is not as entertaining as total fuckwits running around causing havoc and screwing eachother over