Interviewee Turned Interviewer – The Apprentice 2014

Ricky Martin - Candidate Turned Interviewer in The Apprentice 2014

On Wednesday 17th December at 9pm on BBC One Episode 11 of this year’s The Apprentice goes on our screens. This particular episode is one of the most insightful and testing parts of the 12 week recruitment process as it is the “interview stage” which viewers love to watch, and candidates loathe to do.

Some may watch this for entertainment only however I want to remind everybody that this is a serious recruitment process. These interviews are real and focus on business plans, CVs, application forms and are no different to real life hiring. There is no entertainment to the people involved that is for sure.

Out of a shortlist of 20 candidates one will be crowned the winner of The Apprentice and more importantly receive a ￡250,000 cash injection in to a 50:50 business with Lord Alan Sugar. Something which I proudly received in 2012 and have since set up my own specialist Science & Technology Recruitment Consultancy Hyper Recruitment Solutions, which is going from strength to strength.

This year, I am especially looking forward to the interview stage of The Apprentice. Why? I hear you asking! Well apart from being a recruitment professional who interviews people on a day to day basis, I am pleased to announce that I have been invited back by Lord Sugar to be part of the interview panel. Yes, that’s right I, alongside Claude Littner, Claudine Collins and Mike Soutar will be interviewing the five remaining candidates on Wednesday 17th December and I cannot wait.

I’ve been involved in the hiring process across many of Lord Sugar’s companies as well as our own company HRS. I have been a candidate in The Apprentice process grilled by the interviewers and I am a qualified recruitment specialist who has experience running a company with Lord Sugar. With this blend of experience I bring valuable expertise and a new dimension to this stage of the selection process and is why I have been asked to be involved.

After the interviews, there will only be two candidates left in the process. I wonder who we will see battling it out in the final! I wish all the finalists the best of luck for the final stages of the process as things become more real than ever at this stage. I look forward to seeing the winner join Lord Sugar in another new business venture and helping them on their way.

The real life lesson that this shows is you never really know what people will do in the future.

Who thought watching me being interviewed on The Apprentice in 2012 that I would eventually take a seat on the opposite side of the table and becoming one of the interviewers? The people who once grilled me during the interviews are now my peers and share the panel with me.

So what I want you all to remember is whoever you are meeting, speaking with or even interviewed by, make sure you leave a lasting and positive impression on them. Who knows one day the shoe may be on the other foot / they may become your peers. It happens all the time in the recruitment world and stranger things have happened. So make sure you are never a pain to work with as you will not help yourself in the long run.

As part of our services at HRS I personally support jobseekers involved in our processes with preparing for an interview and making the right impression. We also offer services to our clients in running assessment days and interviewing on their behalf to make the right selections for the behavioural and skills fit to their business. Something which I am proud to bring to The Apprentice this year.

Notes: The interview stage of the competition airs on Wednesday 17th December at 9pm on BBC One and will see five candidates in the selection process shortlisted down to a final two after an in-depth interview with industry experts. Ricky Martin, Managing Director of Hyper Recruitment Solutions and previous winner of The Apprentice will be one of them.