THE interview stage of The Apprentice is renowned for being one of the toughest parts of the show.
In previous years, candidates have bumbled over their words, broken down in tears and even curled up in a ball after receiving brutal grillings from Lord Alan Sugar’s advisors.
During the process, the Apprentice finalists get their business plans picked apart by the aides and are called out over bold statements made on their show application forms.
Ahead of this year’s hopefuls – Flo Edwards, Dr Paul Midha, Phil Turner, Rachel Woolford and Tre Lowe – facing this intense stage, 2015 Apprentice winner Joseph Valente lifts the lid on what it’s really like.
Joseph, founder of Trade Mastermind, tells The Sun: “It’s the toughest challenge by far.
“I have never been in an interview process that’s anywhere near as intense as that and I’ve hired nearly a thousand people in the last 12 years.
“No one conducts interviews to that level and to that intensity. So it’s not like the real world, it’s a hundred times harder.
“They really, really do put the pressure on and they go in hard.
“They’re doing so much background research on you, most companies wouldn’t go into that level of detail in the real world.
“But if you can prepare yourself for and survive a scenario like that, everything else is a walk in the park as far as I’m concerned.”
Joseph recalls The Apprentice house being “like a ghost town” the night before the interviews as everyone feverishly prepared for the next day’s grilling.
“Everybody kind of keeps themselves to themselves and when you discuss business ideas with some of them, it’s clear they aren’t going to take,” he says.
During that time, he says they are given just 30 minutes to look over their business plans before the document is taken away again by producers.
“It’s not much time to familiarise yourself with what you have written and go over the numbers so they are in your head,” he says.
“They’re sending you up there without the actual plan in front of you, you are having to go by memory, which makes it even harder and is quite savage.
“The business plans that you are seen holding at the beginning of the episode aren’t your business plans, they are prop business plans, which I think is quite funny.”
He explains that the lack of time to re-read the business proposal often leads candidates to trip up as they may not remember what they have written.
Joseph says he and the other finalists – Vana Koutsomitis, Richard Woods and Gary Poulton – filmed the episode at The Leadenhall Building – the 225-metre skyscraper known as ‘The Cheesegrater’.
It was recorded on a Sunday morning, which made “London feel like a ghost town” and added to the pressure, during a 12-hour shoot.
“Most of the floors were empty and we had a floor to ourselves,” he says. “You are surrounded by empty space and 360-degree panoramic views of London.
“Then in the middle of the floor, they create this makeshift office, which means you have to walk all the way over there. It definitely makes it more stressful.”
What intensified the “immense pressure” they were already under was that the candidates were not allowed to talk for several hours.
They have been trained to come at you and go hard. They are looking to crush you. They want to destroy you and your reputation
Joseph Valente
Joseph recalls: “You get there for around 7am and then they make you sit in silence while you wait for your interviews.
“That just builds up the anticipation all the more because you don’t know when you’re going to be called in. It’s an intimidating process.
“Each interview lasts between 32 minutes and an hour and the day lasts for around 12 hours. So you are sitting silently for two to three hours between each interview.
“They are very good at making you sit in silence for hours on the show, they used to do it before the boardroom too.
“You weren’t allowed to talk to each other, which was absolutely brutal, to build up the suspense. If you try to talk they know because you have microphones on.
“If you’re caught they say that you are trying to cheat, so you have to be very, very careful and always have to stick to the rules.”
Joseph describes the interviews as “the toughest part of the show” because of the due diligence carried out by the BBC show.
He says: “These guys look under everything, they will see if you’ve got the copyright, they’ll read your reviews, test your product, check the statements you made on the website.”
During Joseph’s interview with Mike Soutar, he was quizzed about the life of Lord Sugar after saying it was the Amstrad founder’s autobiography that inspired him to launch his business.
People were saying, ‘That was the worst experience I ever had. I’ve been destroyed. I’m going to look like such a fool when this goes out’
Joseph
“They were trying to find out if I had actually read Lord Sugar’s autobiography or if I was full of s*** and was trying to kiss his backside,” Joseph says.
Joseph, who managed to answer all the questions correctly, says there are a large number of people on set too, which also adds to the pressure.
He says: “What you don’t see in the interview stages is that behind all of the glass office walls, there are five to 10 big cameras, three or four producers and then all of these runners and staff.
“Everyone is watching you and they all know if you say something wrong then you are finished.”
Joseph describes tense moments in the interviews as “survival or die” and says most candidates find that part of the process difficult.
“Everybody else found it extremely uncomfortable and had a really rough ride of it,” he tells us.
“They were saying, ‘That was the worst experience I ever had. I’ve been destroyed. I’m going to look like such a fool when this goes out,’ but I didn’t have those moments.”
Joseph believes one of the common pitfalls is candidates “exaggerating claims” in their business plans or lying on their applications.
He adds: “I never lied and if I did something wrong, I owned it. When you own your weaknesses and mistakes people can’t hold you to account.
“It’s only when a candidate keeps lying or trying to pretend what they said was legit when it wasn’t that they tend to trip themselves up.”
If people watching the show think the interviews are tough, it’s nothing compared to what working with Lord Sugar is like – those guys are puppy dogs compared to him in a real-life scenario
Joseph
Joseph believes the interviews are “testing your credibility” and says they “try to make you look stupid” at every turn.
He explains: “They have been trained to come at you and go hard. They are looking to crush you. They want to destroy you and your reputation.
“They’re going in specifically to find any single way to make you look stupid, so you know, you have got to be switched on to make sure that you don’t get caught out.
“But, if people watching the show think the interviews are tough, it’s nothing compared to what working with Lord Sugar is like – those guys are puppy dogs compared to him in a real-life scenario.
“Lord Sugar is way more intense than he is on the TV. It’s all a warm-up for working with him, because he’s the real deal and the person you really need to be afraid of.”
Joseph parted ways with Lord Sugar two years after winning The Apprentice and receiving a £250,000 investment into his plumbing business.
Three years ago, he launched Trade Mastermind – a company that trains people within trades and construction businesses – that he claims is now worth eight figures and will become “a billion dollar empire”.
Joseph, who has a YouTube series called Unfinished Business, has no regrets about going on the show.
He says: “The Apprentice allowed me to have a platform to springboard off and build an incredible career.”
The Apprentice airs at 9pm on BBC One. You can watch Joseph Valente’s YouTube series Unfinished Business here.
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