Congrats to Zara on winning the Young Apprentice last night. She was the clear front runner from the start and I had her picked to win as soon as I started watching: 

I have to say, however, James certainly didn’t go down without a fight. I actually thought he performed better than Zara did in the final task. His game concept was brilliant and I think it’s the first time anyone on any version of the apprentice has put together a good viral ad.

Zara had her usual determination and focus and she certainly had a good idea for her game and how the character could develop. I’m not sure if she drew the short stick when it came to the game designers though, because I thought her game looked pretty poor when we saw the finished product.

The thing about Zara was though, she has built up so much credibility during the previous tasks that it would have taken some kind of monumental success on James’ part (or a monumental failure on Zara’s) for him to be declared the winner. You can just tell that Zara will be a huge success at whatever she does. James certainly gave Sir Alan a tough decision though.

So do you agree with Alan’s decision or do you think James actually did enough to win? And what did you think of the games they came up with? Let us know in the comments section.

Here are some tweets we liked for added inspiration:

@rickedwards1 is Mohammed back in his pimpin' white suit? I love that kid so much. Imagine he'll claim to have won in the boardroom later #youngapprentice

@JaackMaate I'm glad Zara won #YoungApprentice maybe now she can buy herself a new dress

@HarryMaxwell Not even that pig suit could stop me schmoozing the execs at the event.. They loved shaking my hand! #winning #youngapprentice

(I’ve waited for many years for the opportunity to use that title…….)

This week our Young Apprentices were challenged to produce the next antiperspirant which would be targeted at their own age group. In addition, my two stand-out candidates, Zara and Harry M, were going to be the Project Managers for the teams.

Zara was once again very impressive. Calculating, tactical, focused. Harry M, well, I may have been wrong about him. He went on a bit of a power trip straight away and every sentence he spoke began with “I’m Project Manager ….”. Obviously, that wasn’t the best way to get his team on side and unfortunately, the task turned into a bit of a mess for them.

Zara, on the other hand, was calm and collected throughout. She seemed like she would have been quite happy to take on the task on her own. Harry (that is, the other Harry) was excellent at the presentation for Zara’s team but her other colleagues Haya and Hayley didn’t seem like much help during the task

With all the unrest in Harry M’s team they ended up with a brand name and an ad which didn’t match in any way and we knew they were all headed for the boardroom. 

Now, at this point it’s fair to say, Harry M was clearly to blame for the loss of the task and deserved to be fired. However, I think we were all hoping that Gbemi was going to be the one to go. Why? Well two things: 1: She just could not accept her packaging design was poor, and 2: She sounded like she had a severely blocked nose for the entire program. I could even forgive the whole packaging thing but unless someone handed her a tissue, she had to go.

So, at this point, can anyone beat Zara or is she running away with this?

Leave your comments below.

Some brilliant Twitter comments as well last night:

@Shouting at Cows 

"“Kids today are image obsessed”, says Lizzie, as the camera cuts to bank-manager-turned-hobo James" #YoungApprentice

@John O'Shea 

Think my TV has developed a fault. It appears to be showing Harry not being fired. #youngapprentice

@ Melody Hossaini 

Bless Lord Sugar bopping his head to 'Get on the floor' #YoungApprentice

@Perri shakes-drayton 

Sorry but Gbemi sounds as if she needs to blow her nose #youngapprentice

(Including this comment simply to support what I said)

Ok, we are 4 episodes in and I really don't think this series of the The Apprentice on TV3 is going to improve. I think many of you will agree that last night's show was particularly bad and I'm finding 2 hours of The apprentice a bit much to say the least. 

To make things worse, Alan Sugar has only gone and started the Junior Apprentice on BBC at the same time on the same night!

So loyal reader/s, if you do exist, please help me decide whether I should continue to stick with Bill and TV3 in an act of unparalleled patriotism and hope that it gets better? Or, will I switch over to BBC and see what Sir Alan's juniors have to offer?

Cast your vote on our facebook page or in the comments section below and have your say!

Ok, since the new series has started, I haven’t been convinced that these candidates are really Ireland’s best & brightest. However, after last night’s show I’m starting to think Bill has actually changed the format to a documentary, following mental people wearing suits.

All started off well enough with an exciting challenge to create a Mobile App for Unislim. The brief from Unislim was possibly a little demanding but it would certainly give the candidates a little scope for creativity. Then, Bill swapped around some of the team members, just to make it difficult for me to keep track of which team was which….thanks Bill.

It must have been daunting for Louise to come from Spirit, the “young ones”, and be PM for Zest, whose members were probably all older and more experienced. She handled the team well overall apart from Chris, who continues to be the most annoying candidate on the show. He probably did have the makings of some good ideas last night but nobody could stand to listen to him.

All this paled in comparison to Eoin, who was visibly crumbling as PM for Zest from the moment he started. His strategy seemed to be “ah sure that’ll do” and he can’t claim to have put himself under any pressure because his teammates were doing all the work, but nonetheless he became “flustered”. Next thing you know he decides he can’t take it and hops into a taxi and out of the show! You would think he’d have the decency to wait till the boardroom but he probably knew he would have been hung out to dry had he shown his face in there.

Incidentally, last night Connor mentioned that his business is selling wreaths and Christmas trees. Last week we heard Yinka’s business was based on selling hair extensions. No disrespect intended, but these are hardly the innovative and exciting business ideas I was expecting would be necessary to get through the screening process.

Anyway, amongst all this madness, Ruth had let her mouth run away during her team’s presentation and Bill did not take kindly to this when the candidates got back to the boardroom. Both teams had performed poorly, neither paid proper attention to the brief or came up with anything innovative and in the end Ruth was the one sent packing but really, it could have been anyone on the team.

Can anyone pick a winner from this bunch? Leave us your comment s below.

Finally, some twitter comments for inspiration

ederoiste:
#tv3theapprentice A rich tapestry of brainpower Bill has the pleasure of choosing from.

berminghamlaura:
If it were me I'd stop saying Motivation in a UniSlim challenge!

kealycopy:
Was Eoin a joke candidate or was he for real? Mild Tourettes perhaps?#apprentice #tv3

You want to call the CD what now?

It was nice to see the task was a little bit different, bringing in the music element, but apart from that it was pretty much business as usual. I was delighted to see that Chris was going to be PM for team Spirit, simply because I knew he’d be in the firing line at the end. I’ve taken a very strong disliking to him very quickly but Bill, Jackie, Brian and the rest of the candidates don’t seem to have spotted how annoying he is yet. Hopefully it’s just a matter of time.

Joanne was picked as the PM for team Zest and she was the natural choice having had some album launch experience. Things seemed to be working very well for her at the start. Everyone was seemed organised, they had a strong image for their CD sleeve and the name was good. But she’s clearly not a fan of the show otherwise she would have never uttered the words; “Ah sure, we don’t need the logo”. Things started to turn for the worse from there.

However, nothing was going to match the misplaced optimism of Chris and team Spirit. Chris seemed to think everything was going well, even when the other team got most of the bands that Spirit wanted for their CD. Yinka was convinced that her graphic design was superb and the majority of the team thought that “Toe Tapping Talents” was a good name!

There was no doubt Yinka was going to get the boot this week but I don’t think she was all that disappointed. I watched some of the “You’re Fired” show and she was quite happy to have gotten some good publicity for her business and not that bothered that she had gone. Incidentally, I wouldn’t have thought that her hair extensions business was 1: Going to be all that appealing to Bill or 2: a multi-billion euro idea, but she could prove me wrong yet.

So let us know what you think of this year’s candidates? Is there anyone you think could be a winner? Does anyone else dislike Chris as much as me? Leave your comments below.

And here are some comments from Twitter for inspiration…..

@Jim_Sheridan
Looking at Bills hairline I think he might enjoy investing in a wig company, I think Yinka is safe :) #Tv3apprentice

@Kitsgirl1
Getting a bunch of suits to put together a music CD is like asking the Taliban to organise a hen night #tv3apprentice

@IrishPresident
I think I'll enter Apprentice 2012. Wearing a blindfold. And earplugs. And hands tied behind my back. I'd probably still win. #tv3apprentice

Yes the Irish Apprentice returned to our screens last night and as you know we are big fans here in the office so we’ll be following the show closely again.

What did everyone think of the new set of candidates? It’s hard to find any stand out candidate, although some did stand out for the wrong reasons.
It didn’t take long for me to take a disliking to Chris, the Sub-PM for Team Zest who seemed to think the rest of the candidates were “MY team” and youngest candidate Conor , who started every sentence with “At the end of the day….”.

Nobody ever wants to be the first to go and I felt a little sorry for Aisling, who was the first victim of this series. She was definitely weak as a PM but she was at least level-headed, if not a little bit too nice for her own good.
Of course, if you are going to volunteer to be PM in the first task, you already know your chances are basically 50-50.

Anyway, I don’t know anyone else’s name yet so I can’t give out about them for the moment. So tell us who stood out for you or who’s wrecking your head already?

Here’s what some of the tweeps had to say last night:

@BreffnyMorgan
First time a lady has been fired in round one of any apprentice. I blame the Mary Davis special k dress. #apprentice #TV3Apprentice

@FrankSunTimes
You've got to admit that ham and cheese sambos are pretty innovative #TV3Apprentice

@davidcochrane
Guy on losing #tv3apprentice team says they're "8 of the greatest entrepreneurs in Ireland". They are in their hoops.

@davidokeeffe
RT @rossbissett: Bill's secretary still doing the same job...No ambition #tv3apprentice

We've been lucky enough to feature a wide variety of careers and different sectors in the Career Paths series and this time we have something very different for you. In this installment, we're delighted to feature Ian Sutton, a Project Hydrogeologist who works in Water and Sanitation services and who's work takes him all over the world. We hope you find it as interesting as we did and I'm sure some of you will find his advice and experience very helpful.

Our thanks to Ian for agreeing to be featured and as always, if you have anyone in mind who would like to be featured, don't hesitate to contact us on info@recruitireland.com. Enjoy! 

Profile

Name: Ian Sutton
Age: 29
Birthplace: London
Marital Status:  Single
Children: None
Highest Education: MSc
Institutions attended: Trinity College Dublin, Cranfield University, UK.
Academic achievements: BSc hons, MSc

About You

1) What is your current role?
I’m a project hydrogeologist in the water sector of a multinational company mostly working on consultancy jobs. The work is varied with new interesting projects coming in all the time. We do a lot of work on operational, environmental and water resource solutions for mining companies, government ministries/agencies and water utilities. Work gives me the opportunity to see a lot of interesting places throughout the UK, West Africa and South America.

2) How did you get into your current role/ industry?
I applied for my current job after having spent about 2 years studying for and working in the water and sanitation overseas development sector. I had been a mineral exploration geologist before that. Language skills were a big help in getting my current job, as well as having experience working overseas. I am currently getting technical hydro-experience in the private industry something that I hope to be able to apply to certain aspects of the overseas development sector in years to come.

3) How many years have you been in your current role/ industry?
3 years.

4) What other roles did you do before finding your current role?
From the most recent to the oldest:
• Managed a water supply project in northern Haiti, it involved rehabilitating an old water supply network about 18km long piping water from mountain springs to several villages, a collective of farmers and a large coastal town. In total about 10,000 beneficiaries. It was a real eye opener to overseas development work, although the work required a fair bit of technical problem solving, working and communicating with local communities was by far the most important aspect.
• Gold and coal exploration and drilling supervising geologist based in Mongolia for two years. It was great fun mapping in the wilderness, logging core, and interpreting geophysics among other things. It is a great place.
• Volunteered on the Suas programme providing teaching ideas to NGO schools in Calcutta. Wonderful experience and a great way to get into development type work. Being part of the programme definitely set the tone for wanting to continue along the lines of overseas development.

5) What was the worst job you ever had?
Night shift core logging at a drill rig in minus 20 degrees with no heater and a dodgy stomach. Only lasted two nights thankfully.

6) Did you always want to work in your role/ industry or did you get into it late?
I don’t think it is ever too late to get into a certain role or industry. I have changed industry three times; from mineral exploration, to overseas development, to technical hydro-consulting. It’s good to mix thing up and not to get stuck in one position.
It can be tough to change industries and can often mean taking a pay cut, but at the end of the day the more experience you have over a wide range of environments the more useful you will be either to your own company or someone else’s. Many skills can be applied over a range of industries.

7) What advice would you give to other people looking to get a career in your industry?
For hydrogeological consulting and hydrological consulting, and probably engineering in general, get a good technical base so that you are confident in your work. It’s good to start off working in a team where you can learn from your peers.
For overseas work a good way of getting experience is through volunteering initially. People you meet along the way can also lead to work further down the line. Hold onto contact numbers and email addresses.

8) What do you like most about your job?
The variety, meeting new people all over the world and having a balance between travelling to new places and having a base to come back to.

9) Anything you don’t like?
Work can take over your life sometimes, its really important to keep a balance and to relax, when you have a lot of client deadlines it can be hard to do this sometimes.

10) What time do you get up for work?
It varies a lot, when I’m working in the field anywhere from 5am to 7am. For an office day I’d usually get up at 8:00am.

11) Where would you like to retire to?
Ireland with sunshine, a reggae bar in Jamaica, or a Spanish villa! Anywhere with good food, good company and good weather!

12) Favourite website(s)?
Don’t have a favourite, probably BBC if I had to choose
 

13) What would be your dream job?
Successful musician

14) What are your goals or plans for the future?
Practise more guitar!
To continue to find work that I enjoy and that motivates me.

15) And finally, the three luxury items you want if you were trapped on a desert island?

Guitar
Surf board
Good company
(and maybe a luxury yacht)….

Just a quick post to share an article with you. One of our frequent contributors to the Blog, Peter Cosgrove from CPL was kind enough to send us an article he has posted online. The article entitled, "10 Hiring Mistakes Clients Are Making", is presented as a slideshow and contains some great insights for anyone hiring right now.

Ok, so we got a little bit obsessed with the last season of The Apprentice so we haven't featured a Career Paths blog for a little while. However, Career Paths is making it's comeback and this time we're thrilled to be featuring Jill O Sullivan, Editor with Thomas Crosbie Media. Jill gives us a great insight into the world of Editing & Media and has some very useful advice for anyone interested in a career in this industry. Keep your eyes peeled for more Career Paths coming soon and if you know anyone who would like to be featured we'd love to hear from you. Contact: info@recruitireland.com. Enjoy!

Profile

Name: Jill O’Sullivan
Age: 38
Birthplace: Cork city
Marital Status: Married
Children: one, Ronan
Highest Education: University degree
Institutions attended: UCC, DIT
Academic achievements: BA (English and History), Cert in Journalism, Diploma Development Studies

About You

1) What is your current role?  Editor, Thomas Crosbie Media

2) How did you get into your current role/ industry? I completed a Certificate in Journalism, then did a six-week work placement as a reporter with the Evening Echo newspaper..em..14 years ago!

3) How many years have you been in your current role/ industry? 14 years in the industry, 12 in current role

4) What other roles did you do before finding your current role? Reporter and deputy news editor

5) What was the worst job you ever had? Housekeeper in an unnamed five-star Scottish hotel. I won’t say what they found under a bed in a room I had ‘cleaned’!

6) Did you always want to work in your role/ industry or did you get into it late? Decided on journalism at age 14.

7) What advice would you give to other people looking to get a career in your industry? Get experience as wide-ranging as you can across all media, but make sure your fundamentals are sound – how to write a well-structured story, fact-checking, contacts-building, multi-tasking, as those things don’t change even though our industry is being transformed.

8) What do you like most about your job? Knowing what news is breaking right now.

9) Anything you don’t like? There’s no aspect of the job that bores me. Information overload and not enough time in the day can be challenges – don’t think I’ve discovered a new conundrum there though!

10) What time do you get up for work? Depends on the shift – a 6am start if on the early shift. Otherwise, my toddler boy is my alarm call.

11) Where would you like to retire to? Ooooo, west Cork I reckon, if not too arthritic in my old age and able to take the damp. Otherwise, France’s Loire Valley for summers and Nelson, New Zealand for winters.

12) Favourite website(s)? Breakingnews.ie of course! Many Irish, UK and US news sites, currently liking HuffPo.co.uk, Poynter.org, but get most news through Google reader. Also TripAdvisor.com and any daily deals site.

13) What would be your dream job? If not in media, a public health education role in nutrition.

14) What are your goals or plans for the future? Re-thinking how we publish and consume news - that’s right, all by my lone self! Also a Four Peaks Challenge and making the perfect chocolate hedgehog.

15) And finally, the three luxury items you want if you were trapped on a desert island?
A king-sized fine-down duvet in cotton duvet case + matching pillow for the hammock (that’s one);  Men of Destiny by Jack B Yates (to talk to); A Kindle that never loses power (ok that’s luxury and magic), preloaded with 1000s of books.

Hi All, apologies it's been a bit quiet on the Blog this month but we've got an exciting post for you today. RTE's fashion show "OFF THE RAILS" is currently looking for makeover candidates for their upcoming season and have asked us to help spread the word. This could be the ideal chance to look your best at an upcoming interview or starting your new job. Please find all the details below and pass it along to anyone who might be interested:

NEED A COMPLETE STYLE OVERHAUL?

ARE YOU TIRED OF HAVING THE SAME OLD LOOK? DREADING THAT SPECIAL OCCASION BECAUSE YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT TO WEAR?

BRENDAN AND SONYA ARE HERE TO HELP!

RTÉ’S “OFF THE RAILS” IS LOOKING FOR MAKEOVER CANDIDATES FOR OUR UPCOMING SEASON. IF YOU OR SOMEBODY YOU KNOW WOULD BE INTERESTED IN TAKING PART THEN GET IN TOUCH.

SIMPLY LOG ON TO: WWW.RTE.IE/FASHION/OFFTHERAILS TO DOWNLOAD THE APPLICATION FORM

OR E-MAIL:  OFFTHERAILS@RTE.IE

OR CALL:  (01) 2082139

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