Become the Apprentice
Template:HistoricalHave you ever sat there and watched The Apprentice and thought to yourself, "Wow! That is what I want to be!"? Well, now you can! Just follow these quick and easy steps, and you will become The Apprentice.
Contents
Steps
- Create a stellar 5 minute video. Make it professional, but not boring. It should be creative and it should showcase your talents and some unique (yet professional) things about you. Have several of your friends or family members watch it and offer you feedback for improvement. Remember this will be seen by Donald Trump, so you want it to be fantastic!
- Complete and submit your application.
- Send in your 5 minute video.
- Make sure to tell them how excited and appreciative you are for the opportunity when they contact you for an interview, but don't be giddy. You don't want them to think you are too stuck up to appreciate this opportunity, yet you don't want them to think you are an airhead.
- Make sure to pack lots of clothes in normal, quality luggage before you leave to join the cast. Don't get wacky colors or patterns. Also, you want to make sure to have clothes for any task that might come up, so pack a wide variety of items. Make sure you have lots of suits, a few polo shirts, some khaki pants, jeans, a bathing suit, whatever you sleep in, and appropriate shoes for all outfits, at a minimum. You must have enough clothing! It won't impress Donald Trump if you show up in the boardroom wearing the same suit every time.
- Be on your best behaviour utilising all of your manners, always. Always Donald Trump as "Mr. Trump" and be respectful. That being said, have a personality and don't let yourself be treated like a doormat. If a teammate is accusing you of something, rebut and somehow deflect the blame on someone else. Don't call them a liar, stupid, etc, but do defend yourself. Often times, people are fired because they couldn't deflect the blame from themselves. Honesty is a treasured trait too. If you made a mistake, admit it but don't take more blame than you should be and share how you tried to fix it.
- Do not volunteer to be a project manager early on. You will not get too much glory, and you will get all of the blame. Hold off on being project manager until there are less than 10 other competitors. Once you volunteer, work hard and win!
- Make sure to tackle any task your project manager gives to you with as much enthusiasm and creativity as you can. This way, if your team does not win, you can tell them you did the job you were assigned to do and you can focus the blame on the other people who were not as good as you. Project managers do not usually blame the team members who followed their direction because it makes them look bad. That being said, use common sense. If you are trying to sell something in a mall in a primarily Hispanic city, it is obvious that you may need a translator unless you or a team member can speak fluent Spanish. If the project manager tells you not to get one, getting a translator anyway may just save you in the boardroom.
- Make sure to gather information on how your team members are doing during the tasks, especially if they are not working well. This will give you ammunition to use in the boardroom, if your team happens to lose.
- If your team loses, make sure to have in mind who you think should be fired before you get into the boardroom. The reason most people get fired is because they do not deflect the blame off of themselves well enough. If your team members start picking on someone else, jump on board, that way no one will pick on you.
- Be humble and have humility. Don't brag if you're team just kicked butt in the challenge, and don't mope if you lost. It is also not advisable to get into any romantic relationships with a person on set, teammate or otherwise. Everything is caught on camera, and it won't look too good to Mr Trump or your significant other back home.
Tips
- Always present yourself as a capable leader and hard worker. Never utter idiotic comments such as "I'm a better follower than a leader".
- If it is a sales task where a food commodity is being sold (such as sandwiches, pizza, etc.), always dedicate one or two people to trying to line up bulk sales (i.e., large orders to local businesses), even if you have to sell at a reasonable discount.
- If there is any time in the interview process where Mr. Trump is coming to visit your task, either as a guest in the audience or as a general overseer, make sure to meet him at his vehicle to greet him.
- You should always thank Mr. Trump for the rewards you get when you win. These are called "gifts" and should be recognized as such.
- Mr. Trump has a healthy ego. It can be beneficial to pad his ego during the boardroom conversations by mentioning some great deed he has done, speak of something he did that inspired you (i.e., "your turnaround of 40 Wall Street inspired me to go into real estate, etc."), or use illustrations from some of his books to expand upon points.
- ALWAYS call Donald Trump "Mr. Trump"
- Never bring back someone to the boardroom as an ally. While this can work in rare instances, no one wants to be in the final three, so typically this "ally" will feel threatened and might turn against you to save himself. As a result, make sure any allies put in their good words for you (or bad words for another) before you are required to bring two back.
- In the boardroom, never interrupt Mr. Trump while he is chastising someone else. Let him degrade the other candidate until that person has no ounce of self-respect left.
- If you did not play much of a role in a losing task, or Mr. Trump has gone so far as to say he will not fire you, keep your mouth shut for the rest of the boardroom. Never feel the need to interject any point after this unless directly asked by Mr. Trump or one of his advisers on the task.
Warnings
- If you do not present yourself in a positive way, people might say bad things about you. Remember, this show is on national television, and people you don't even know may say bad things about you.
- When you join the cast of The Apprentice, you may be fired from your real job for having to miss so much work. You may also be fired as The Apprentice, so have a backup plan.
