The Apprentice 2011 – Twitter IDs for this Years’ Candidates

As you know, I have been following the BBC’s Apprentice avidly this year and blogging about it each week.

With that, I have followed each of  the candidates as they have appeared on Twitter and secretly hope they will follow me back at @AngliaSolutions

I have prepared a list of Twitter IDs for you if you wish to follow them.  As far as I know these are the bone-fide ones, it is so hard to tell so follow at your own discretion!

The BBC Apprentice 2011, Series 7 Candidates Twitter IDs:

• Inventor_Tom
• Helen_Milligan
• Jim_Eastwood_
• Susanma
• Melody_Hossaini
• NScribbins
• ZoeBeresford
• GlennApprentice
• LEONtrepreneur
• ApprenticeEllie
• DisneurVincent
• ApprentFelicity
• ApprenticeGavin
• AlexApprentice
• EdwardAHunter

I am still to find a genuine Twitter ID for Edna Agbarha so if you know it, please drop me a line!

Of course, there are also Lord Sugar and his trusted Aides:

• Lord_Sugar
• KarrenBrady
• Nick_Hewer

Lest we forget the apprentice ID itself

• BBCApprentice

As I said earlier, I cannot guarantee the authenticity of these accounts so you will need to make up your own mind.  I know there have been some fake IDs, which is only to be expected in this day in age but I hope, fingers crossed, that I have weedled them out!

I will be writing up my final Apprentice blog posts soon so please come back and take a read.  If you have not read my posts so far, you will find them on this site.

After 12 weeks, the Apprentice is over for another year.  Congratulations to Tom and well done to the runners up.  I will back blogging again next year, it has been great reading your tweets.

I wish everyone well in their ventures as I’m sure a few of the candidates will be optimising their moments of fame to promote any number of new ideas and business and who can blame them.  I’d love all that free PR!

Why not follow us on Twitter to? I look forward to Tweeting with you!

Frozen iPad – How to Reset a Frozen iPad

I hold my hands up, I was in a bit of a panic last week as I sat in the hotel foyer waiting to meet a client.  I took out my iPad to respond to emails and shock, horror… the screen was totally frozen.

Now, I’m not a techie by any means and this was the first time it had ever happened or I’d known it to happen, so I was at a loss as to what to do.  My heart sunk thinking many hundreds of pounds might have just gone down the drain then reality hit, surely it could not break that easily, this was an Apple product and it was only a few months’ old. 

When I thought about it logically, PCs often crash, which is more of an inconvenience than a reason to worry and just like a PC, this natty little gadget was likely to throw a wobbler now and then.

To be honest, I’m not sure if it was an open App or the iPad itself which froze, it just totally locked up and it didn’t matter which button I pressed, it just wouldn’t clear or reboot.  It seemed the iPad was well and truly stuck, frozen completely at a time when it was frankly most inconvenient.

I did all the obvious things, pressed the App icons, clicked the home key (circular button) and nothing so I thought I’d try to turn it off using the on/off key in the top right and again, nothing.  I tried holding each key down for a longer period of time… still nothing.

So, how did I do it?

I depressed the home key and the on/off button simultaneously and I held them down for what seemed like ages.  It was probably only 20 or 30 seconds in truth but when you are waiting for something to happen, it always seems longer.  Then, the screen flashed and then went blank.  At that point, I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing but I was rest assured that the iPad was seemingly doing something.  It was certainly more than it had done for the last 10 minutes.

I sat there for a bit hoping all would be ok and then I pressed the on/off key again and just like magic, the little Apple icon appeared on my iPad – phew!

Fortunately, the iPad was no longer frozen and had reset itself and even more fortunate that it hadn’t lost any of my data. 

How to unfreeze an iPad?

• Press the home button and on/off button simultaneously and hold them down.
• Wait until the screen goes black or I have since learnt the slider bar may appear.
• Slide the slider bar or press the on/off key and it should reboot.

Of course, I hope this never happens to your but it if it does, then hopefully you will remember my little post and not worry like I did.

What would we do without our iPads?

I for one would be lost without mine now.

 

 

Student and Graduate CV Advice – What if Uni is not for me?

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions… What to do now the exams are over?

Let’s face it not every one wants to, needs to or can afford to go to university these days. With the recent announcement that university fees are set to increase yet again, some topping a whopping £9k per annum (ouch!), many school and college leavers are in somewhat of a dilemma.  It is a lot of money to commit to and who knows how much the fees will increase in the coming years? 

However, whilst some parents will probably hate me for saying this, going to university is not the be all and end all and there are other options, which can boost a CV and help secure a job and today, im going to go through a few ideas.

As you know, I am a professional CV writer and have written CVs now for many years and I know what makes good CV content and what a school leaver or graduate should include to really elevate their chances of securing a position.

It has to be said, this time of year is an uncertain and worrying one for many young people and not every school or college actually provides sound advice on what can be done to boost a CV, i’ve seen some corkers in my time and heard a lot of bad advice. 

In the next few months, it’s basically crunch time and most young people will have to make a difficult decision:

• Do I go to university, pay huge fees and risk being able to find a suitable job to pay them off in 3 years when who knows what the economy will be like?

Or,

• Do I really need or want a degree, can I just start looking for a job and forge my career by other means?

Whilst a young person may feel pressured by family and peers to go to uni as well, it really isn’t an absolute must and I would always suggest following their instinct after weighing up the pros and cons. 

In reality, not everyone is cut out for university, not everyone has a strong enough desire, not everyone can afford it and so on.  That’s fine as not everyone is the same and not everyone will have a burning ambition at this age.  It is a bit of a ‘feeling lost’ time, if anything.  I find many young people actually don’t know what they want to do and I have to admit, I was the same at that age.  I never had a master plan, I just followed a path that really, I stumbled upon and I think I have done ok!

In today’s highly competitive job market I would always suggest, as I mentioned above, to really sit down and spend some time thinking about it all in a focused and objective manner.  Write a list of pros and cons if need be and add to them as I find things generally spring to mind when you least expect them to, probably at 4am.

By really looking at an individual’s situation as a whole, I have often found candidates have seen the answer staring back at them, particularly if the degree they fancied taking will have absolutely no relevance on the career path they plan to take.

However, just because there is no obvious correlation between the course they like and their preferred career, it is not a reason to scrub the idea.   Many transferable skills can be adopted from university, which are essential for the work place provided they are a committed student and not skipping lectures left, right and centre.

If their chosen career dictates that they must have X degree then enough said, one way or another they will have to qualify to even be considered but physically going away to uni is not the only answer.

Tricky, isn’t it? 

Honestly, if not done so already, write up a list of pros and cons, the answer could be staring them in the face as I said earlier.

So, with the list compiled it might be clear that a traditional university placement is not the answer at the moment and that’s fine.  Not everyone goes on to get a degree at this age, I know I didn’t. 

CASE STUDY: I jumped in to the world of work after A Levels, I didn’t go on to university as by that time I had moved out and took on a mortgage at the age of 18.  However, I knew I always wanted to do a degree level course and went on to graduate twice in my late 20′s.  So, I am a real life example that going to uni right away is not always the best thing, but perhaps qualifying a bit later in life.  By deferring, I was able to choose courses which reinforced where my career had taken me and they’ve now stood me in good stead to run my own businesses.

Not going away to University, what options are there?

If employment is the course to be taken, I would always strongly suggest a young person start thinking about ways in which to really increase their employability and boost their CV content.

I am going to list a few ideas to help develop a CV below:

• Distance Degree Learning

Ok, so Uni might have been ruled out for financial reasons.  It’s not only the cost of the course which is expensive but the accommodation rental and general living expenses, which don’t come cheap.  However, there are many courses offered, which mean you can stay at home and study to reduce costs and the Open University offer a wide range of courses.

• College Courses

 Open University is not the only option, the local college should also offer a range of interesting courses, so don’t be afraid to look them up and attend their open days and career development days. 

• Extra Curricular Activities

If someone really doesn’t want to go on to study, then they will need to ensure their CV has suitable content to ensure and employer knows enough about them, their skills and what they have to offer.  In the main, most young people’s CVs actually lack this vital information. If they don’t currently have any extra-curricular activities, what can they join up to?

When i’m asked to write a student or graduate CV, I can generally extrapolate key information that the candidate hasn’t even thought about.

Most people do, or have done at least one thing which demonstrates commitment, creativity, trouble-shooting, trustworthiness, teamwork, leadership, etc so looking at what they are good at and excel in is imperative.

By evaluating things like these and identifying key skills, that lightbulb moment might just arise and the perfect career might be so obvious that you didn’t initially see it.

• Voluntary Work

Ah, the working for nothing option, which doesn’t always fill a young person with much pleasure but actually can prove invaluable.  Committing to a period of voluntary work not only helps the community immensely but it always demonstrates positive attributes to an employer and can be a way of networking a way in to a position.  Local organisations and charities are always looking for help, why not visit some volunteer websites and see what is about in your area?

• Work Experience / Internship

Again, this will generally be unpaid but invaluable in terms of experience and there are many companies out there who are prepared to take on work experience candidates.  If this route is chosen a fantastic CV and cover letter will be required to outline what can be offered in return for the opportunity of gaining experience.  I can help you here, my student and graduate CVs are just £31.99 during July and August.

CASE STUDY: This is exactly what my step-daughter did.  She knew what she wanted to do and it wasn’t university.  Whilst still at college completing an NVQ, I composed a CV for her and within no time at all, she had secured a work experience placement which fitted in around her existing studies.  She loved it! During that time she gained a host of experience, developed new skills, made new friends and we saw her confidence grow to a new level.  Once college ended, she continued with the work experience and was in the ideal place to take up a part-time job at the practice because she had already proven her abilities and commitment to them.  Whilst the part-time role was not her ideal job, it was something she enjoyed and it put her is THE ideal place to hear about any of her ‘dream job’ vacancies in the local area.  It was a strategy that paid off.  Within a year, she has secured that dream job, with training.  She is now earning and learning, forging a worthwhile career and we are immensely proud of her.

• Apprenticeships

 Apprenticeships are a great way to earn whilst you learn because most of then are vocational courses, enabling study alongside real, practical ‘hands-on’ experience. Apprenticeships will provide a dedicated path in which to follow and many major organisations are now signed up and offering apprenticeship schemes. Once in decline, apprenticeships are gaining popularity again and are really worth considering.

So, here are just a few ideas but the key thing to remember is to do what is best for you and ensure you really sell you skills and any experience you have if you do decide not to go on to do any further study.

Professional CV Writing Service for School Leavers and Graduates

At this age, writing an excellent and impressive CV is essential and it is sometimes harder than anticipated to ensure it is focused, absolutely correct and will really showcase key skills, experience and attributes.

This is why I am running a special offer this year to help young people.  I am offering a professional CV writing service for students, school leavers and recent graduates for just £31.99 during the months of July and August.

 

 Free CV Review

Alternatively, we offer a free no-obligation Free CV Review service and one of our professional CV writers will scrutinise and check the CV, making some recommendations.

Email us a copy of your CV or upload it via our Website

The Apprentice 2011: Week 9, Task 10 – Episode 10

Follow the Series: BBC’s The Apprentice

This weeks’ task was the bulk buying and reinvestment task, the one which most mirrors the workings of a traditional product-based business.  Armed with £250 worth of stock, albeit slightly naff stock, the aim of the game this week was to convert this in to assets, comprising of cash and stock in just two days.  With a retail value of over £1100 this couldn’ be hard, or could it?

The Teams

• Susan was moved over to Team Venture, the team consisted of Susan, Natasha and Jim
• Helen was moved over to Team Logic, the team consisted of Helen, Melody and Tom

The Team Leaders

• Natasha was selected to Project Manage Team Venture, fighting off Susan
• Melody put herself forward to Project Manage Team Logic

The Task

With boxes of tut in hand, the teams had numerous locations across London to sell their wares and reinvest their takings to purchase profitable and saleable new stock.  The idea was to increase their over all assets.  The key word here this week was assets, not cash.  Something one Project Manager just didnt understand but you will read more about this faux pas later.  The team with the highest assets at the end of two trading days would win.

Jim headed off to Covent Garden and was back in his Del Boy role straight away, soon flogging umbrellas and nodding dogs to unsuspecting foreign tourists.  It had to be said, this man could charm the pants of people! Meanwhile, Melody chose Hackney Central to set up shop.

At the first check in, Jim confirmed to Natasha he’d already sold £72.50 and the nodding dogs had sold like hot cakes.  He wanted her to get more so with them selling so well, why wasn’t she buying more? Jim couldnt have spelt it out more for her, she needed a strategy.  Susan clearly didn’t give a fig about strategy, all that pounding up and down the streets, hawking crap from door to door had worn her out, she was ASLEEP in the back of the car! I know, can you believe it!

Melody’s team didn’t seem to get the task, sending Susan off to lucrative West London where the calibre of residents just are never, ever going to buy an £18 market-quality duvet set. These people shop in Harrods darling!

Whilst selling was admittedly not his strong point, Tom went full force and had soon flogged nodding dog after nodding dog to kiddie winks on the Southbank for between £5 and £7.50.

By 6pm, neither team had reinvested, although Tom had called Melody with a view to reinvesting.  He’d made £133.16 and combined with Helen and Melody’s £130, they had over £260 to reinvest in new stock and increasing the assets on the balance sheet.  Venture had a bit more money, they had £354.50 to reinvest with umbrellas and nodding dogs being their biggest sellers.

Susan headed off to buy some more goods and happened across a wholesaler who sold costume jewellery.  Like a magpie, she snaped up armfuls of beads for £1.50 with a view to selling them at £5 per piece, nice little margin but would they sell?

Melody and Helen trotted off to the warehouse and for some unknown reason Melody wanted to buy travel goods, really cheap and nasty tacky-placky travel kettles.  Eventually, they filled the trolley with equally awful digital alarm clock photo frame gadgets.  Perhaps Melody was thinking Lord Sugar likes an electrical gadget? I know Amstrad stuff was cheap, mass market stuff and whilst I’m too young to remember it, surely it wasn’t as awful as these?

By 9pm, Melody had spent a third of her budget on reinvestment on stuff they had no idea would sell and Tom made it blatently clear he thought they’d spent unwisely and should have purchased more stock, which was guaranteed to sell.

Susan tripped over a little gold mine, with Jim and Natasha given the sales speal about the bracelets, they didn’t shoot her down in flames, which is what I was half expecting.

Day Two started at 7.45am and Helen dropped a bombshell, she dared to tell Melody she wanted to take over as PM as clearly Melody’s strenghs lay in selling.  You can just imagine Melody’s reaction.

With just 10 hours left to ‘reinvest’ and sell, sell, sell Tom and Melody headed off for Hammersmith with a batch of totally random, crappy products – who on earth was going to pay £15 for one of those dodgy photo alarm clocks? Not me, that’s for sure.  For some reason, Helen was sent to sell this rubbish in the highly affluent financial area of London.  They might have money to spend but they are are all too brainy to buy the rubbish this team was touting.

Meanwhile, Jim was in Shepherds Bush with his Del Boy hat on again.  If they ever bring it back, Jim would play the part of Del brilliantly although he could never match David Jason who totally rocked!  With the gift of the gab and his humourous sales patter, his sales grew and grew.  Susan and Natasha weren’t doing too badly selling beads in the posher Portabello Market but Natasha did have an annoying habit of butting in on Susan’s Sales, she needed to learn when to take a back seat.  Im not sure if I like her or not.

By mid afternoon, Tom and Melody had sussed out that the mobile phone charger was selling well but despite Tom being a whizz at maths, no one twigged that the deal Helen had struck with the retailer just plain stank.  It was a corker of a crap deal.  Basically, they had an order for 30 duvets and yet no one thought to check what time the warehouse closed.  Needless to say, it was shut which meant a four hour round trip back to Enfield.  Now, I’m no mathmetician but its not hard to work out 30 x £3 profit is only £90, which when you deduct the time and the bonkers price of petrol, its practically negated. Clearly, there was little business logic on this team but atleast they did fathom the fundemental aspect of this task to reinvest and buy more stock, spending a further £70.

Jim and Susan sold like little troopers, I don’t really know what Natasha was doing other than hanging about like a f@rt in a collander.  By now, Jim had made over £175 and Susan nigh on the same.  Jim ‘got’ this task and despite telling Natasha until he was almost a blue as a Smurf in the face, she just didn’t get it.  Her response “we are still carrying plenty of stock” and clearly not correlating that to win this task she needed to have most value in stock and cash to have the biggest asset value.  Even Nick turned to camera to tell us all his thoughts, Natasha was “making a Horlicks of it all”.

Jim had sold so well his stock was dwindling and being on the ball, he had to practically beg Natasha to reinvest.  In the end, he literally had to leg it to the warehouse to buy 23 umbrellas in just 23 minutes.

Although Natasha was oblivious, Helens boo-boo was equally as bad.  Not only was the profit on the duvet practically non-existent, to make matters worse she had wasted that long faffing about that the retailer had closed and couldn’t complete the order.  Helen failed big style on this one.  It was somewhat of a surprise as she had begun to shine in recent weeks.

At 6pm all assets were frozen.

The Numbers

Team Logic

• Sales and Stock were £1204
• Purchases were £476
• Total Assets were £728

Team Venture

• Sales and Stock were £1154
• Purchases were £303
• Total Assets were £851

But … and it’s a BIG but, Team Venture then got fined by Lord Sugar for not “smelling whats selling” and reinvesting.

The Outcome

Despite the £100 fine, Team Venture just scraped the lead with £751 versus £728 – a close victory.

Team Venture won last week but the win was a hollow victory as not only were they fined, their treat of a helicopter ride to Goodwood to drive vintage cars was stripped from them.  If I’m not mistaken, this is the first time that has happened and rightly so.

The Boardroom

Melody was her ever confident self “im not going anywhere” she big-headedly said to camera, although I spotted her watery eyes and suspect she had not long since been having a good ball in the corner.

Lord Sugar shot Helen’s idea down it flames, selling to retailers was never going to be the right strategy and Melody should have known better and nipped it in the bud.  Melody was wrong to not buy more nodding dogs, no matter how tacky they were, they were clear winners with the tourists and kiddywinks.

Lord Sugar was not impressed with Helen’s deal either, branding it a “fools errand” and he was horrified to learn they tried to sell their products to a pound shop.  Oops, I think I forgot to mention that above, yep, Helen and Melody tried to flog watches to a pound shop, retailer price £25, RRP £50.  What was the pound shop to do, break it up in to 50 pieces so consumers could buy a piece per week like those rip-off weekly make XYZ magazines?

There is no denying Helen is a good organiser, a beacon for the VA industry but her strategy was plain rubbish.  As expected Melody’s claws came out and she blew her own trumpet for too long in the boardroom with Karren reminding Lord Sugar any board meeting with her would be a “long affair”.

Melody claimed to have 13 years experience, starting her business at 13 (I had a paper round!) and professing to have been included in the Queen’s Speech on Christmas Day.  I’m afraid Icannot confirm that one, I didn’t see the speech, I was too busy eating Christmas Dinner in a hotel.

Helen has no direct business experience but has always wanted to open a business, yet why has she never done it?  That said, she is an EA or Executive Assistant for one of the biggest Plcs in the north.

Tom, well Tom is a product man – right up Lord Sugar’s alley is Tom and he was on fire in the boardroom this week, reminding Sir Alan that whilst she can talk a lot, no one really knows what Melody’s business is actually about.  Lord Sugar agreed with him and he would have no clue as to what type of business they could run together so sorry Melody, at last you got fired!

Fired: Melody

Professional CV Writing Headings – The Correct CV Layout for Students, School Leavers and Graduates

In order to write a CV which is not only professional in content but also in style is not always easy for a candidate, especially if it is the first time they have had to write one after leaving the education process.

There is no denying it, the prospect of writing a CV when you have just left school, college or university can be somewhat daunting but the process of composing a CV can be made easier by following a standard layout and ensuring the content is optimised.

It is always advisable for candidates to ensure that their CV is composed to exacting standards and this includes some focus on the layout to maximise their chances of securing an interview.

Nearly every day of the week I see CVs which are in need of a lot of work, not only does their content need much input from a professional CV writer but the way in which they present their information is sometimes just plain awful. To be honest, I could probably write a series of blog posts on the bloopers alone!

Whilst the composition, style and format of a CV has many facets, today I am going to focus on the headings which should be used in a CV for the majority of students, school leavers and graduates.

Whilst many people might not know they differ, they do. In the main, someone just setting off on the chosen career path will have considerably less professional work experience and it is very important to replace the lack of ‘hands-on’ professional experience with other skills, part time work experience and voluntary work. As such, we tend to recommend functional, or skills-based CVs to showcase what skills and experience they can offer and optimise their potential to prospective employers.

Structure within a CV is very important and familiar layouts are always welcomed by HR departments, recruiters and employment agencies and this runs true for newly qualified candidates to. With so many CVs to review in today’s competitive market, it really is a battle to ensure a CV reaches the top of the pile. So, putting the required information down in the right order is not only invaluable but will probably mean their CV is more likely to be read.

Of course, dependant on the industry, the heading layout can change but in this blog post, I am going to focus on a CV layout for the vast majority of student, school leavers and recent graduates. If you have a specific career you would like me to cover, please email me.

In the main, after your name and contact details, the CV headings should be:

• Personal Profile
• Objective
• Education
• Key Skills
• Any Additional Training/Courses Completed
• Work Experience (Part Time or Intership)
• Voluntary Work Experience
• Publications, Awards, etc (Anything else positive)
• Interests and Activities
• Personal Details
• References

For students, graduates and school leavers it will soon be the end of term when many young people will venture in to the world of work for the very first time! A scary but very excting time, which can be made easier by ensuring their CV is absolutely spot on.

SPECIAL OFFER - Student, school leavers and graduate CVs are currently just £31.99

Or, for more information on how to set out your CV and what information to include, why not download one of our Professional CV Writing Template Packs?

What is included in a CV Template Pack?

• A CV template for completion
• Helpful advice and guidance notes: what to put in a CV and what to leave out
• Three CV template examples: Chronological CV and/or Functional CV templates
• A CV structure and layout writing guide
• The Dos and Don’ts when writing a CV
• Keyword, attribute and Verb list

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The Apprentice 2011: Week 7, Episode 8, Task 8: My Review Blog Post

With Glen now gone, Zoe clearly couldn’t sleep and was up to answer the early morning call, when she was told they were off to St Pancreas Station and to bring a passport and overnight bag.  “Do you reckon we’re going away?” asked Leon with THE most stupid question of the series so far. It must have been early because they couldn’t even load the car without a suit case falling off the back of the car, narrowly missing Tom’s foot.

In the back of the car, they discussed who could speak French. Jim did his best Del Boy impression of ‘petit pois’, whilst Melody proclaimed to be able to speak 6 languages because of her UN involvement and let’s not forget, from running a ‘global business’.

At the station, Sir Alan had already set up one major appointment for them with a leading home retailer and gave them a stern warning that they had to know their market.

The Teams/Team Leaders

Sir Alan elected Tom to be team leader of Logic and Helen had to move over to Venture.

Team Venture had to choose a Project Manager and Susan stepped up even though she openly admitted she knew no French and didn’t know anything about the French.

The Task

Everyone was given and order book and everyone was expected to sell something abroad because he doesn’t want HIS business restricted to trading just in the UK.

Half of the team stayed back in the UK to select British products to sell to the French, whilst the rest of them went off on their jolly, oops, I mean ‘serious’ business trip. 

Melody and Leon and Helen and Jim headed out to France first and the rest of the candidates looked pretty fed up to be left behind to select two of 10 British designs, which were not currently available for sale in France, ranging from a toy worth €2 to a €1700 electric bike. 

Susan wanted mass-market products, she wanted volume!  Tom and Natasha liked the postcards, Natasha and Susan hated them with a passion and quickly moved on to a Spider grip. “That’s quite cool” said Susan but Zoe rightly questioned if anyone would pay €18 for it.

Next, a teapot light for 140 Euro and a booster seat for kids which folded up in to a backpack. Tom thought it was a great product with a massive market but the rest of the team were significantly less enamoured but not surprisingly, Tom failed to demonstrate his leadership competence.

Susan was sooooooo annoying “do the French go camping, do the French like children, do a lot of people drive in France” – ok, perhaps Leon’s question wasn’t the most stupid of the series then. Karren Brandy thought she was “beyond stupid”, I think I just might be inclined to agree, her naievety is beyond comprehension.

Susan relayed their findings to Jim and Helen, they liked the bean-bag-bed thingy and the booster seat so they decided to call up some companies en route to France to put in some ground work.  The trouble was, Helen’s mind went blank and dynamite Jim had to come to the rescue, demonstrating he did know a bit more than ‘petit pois’ after all.

Tom and Natasha called up Melody, they liked a pop-up post card, a teapot light and the car seat ruck sack.  Melody was so negative from the off, she was headstrong, she is headstrong, she will always be headstrong about what she does and doesnt like.  Despite her opinons, Tom told her that she must do the relevant research and as such, it was somewhat half-hearted, that is one lady who doesn’t like being told what to do.

The designers then set out to demonstrate their products to the candidates.  Tom didn’t look convinced that the teapot light could fetch 140 Euro and I was surprised the coffee machine that looked cool was rejected.  Next there was the spider grip, which looked like a bunch of entwined pipe cleaners. ideal for holding smart phones in the car but Susan liked it and Zoe liked the margin… a business thought at last!

Tom also had a margins on the mind and opted for the pop-up, growing garden cards, which I wouldnt have touched with a very large barge pole as a business proposition.  Nick’s screwed up nose should have said it all really, it wasn’t my cup of tea(pot) either and I grow my own veggies.

The kiddy seat had already sold 20k units and with 36 awards both teams wanted it, the battle commenced and Tom’s ‘Ive worked in the baby business’ card was shown.

1pm and the teams arrived in Paris.  Tom wanted to know more about the pitch Sir Alan had arranged and if they would be likely to buy the car seat in any great number, or not. Melody didn’t care; she didn’t like it so they wouldn’t be having it.

Leon showed he’s not much of an artist and drew out a picture of the tea pot with the light inside, whilst Melody demonstrated she did actually have competence in French. Having accosted a young man by the escalator, Melody asked him about the light, he didn’t like it and he didn’t even think it was funny but he did like the car seat idea.  Next she stopped a middle-aged lady who also thought the car seat was a good idea but Melody translated her positive response to be just ok.  Naughty Melody! She then reported back to Tom and her bombastic nature made him question his choices and with three people preferring the teapot he was swayed by their opinions, rather than going with his own hunch for the car seat.  A decision he would live to regret!

Jim booked an appointment straight away, his silky Irish cream charm was out again but Melody soon raced ahead and had 6 in the bag.  There was no denying it, she was well and truly on a roll, that girl can sell.  All Leon did was moan he couldn’t do anything as he didn’t speak French when in reality, he didnt really seem to try.

The rest of the team arrived to show off the products, Susan was so tiny she can fit in the car seat, I wish my bum was that small!  I don’t think my bum was ever that small to be honest.  Melody was in stitches when at long last she came face to face with the teapot light she was so keen to push Tom to choosing, it didnt ooze the quality and chic style expected.  Clearly, the product was pants and she was now seemingly regretting lying through her teeth to Tom about the back pack.

8am the next day and Susan’s team had 4 appointments to sell to and were off in the car.  Tom’s team were still faffing about, I mean in a meeting at the hotel, losing valuable selling time but to be fair, he was trying to make the playing field as fair as possible.  Melody was not happy, she’d made the 6 appointments for the team but saw it as Tom taking the appointments away from her, I was half expecting a toddler foot-stamping session to errupt.  “It’s a team game” reminded Tom but still he backed down when her size 6 killer heels and claws came out to trample all over him.  She insisted she sell to all 6 of the pre-booked appointments and that the rest of the team could have any more she managed to make divvied up amongst them.  Who was really the Project Manager?  Perhaps Tom got a kick out of being dominated?

Jim was at his first appointment with the baby seat and spider grip in Maison de Ville. It flopped! Taking one look around the store should have been sufficient to fathom that that this shop didn’t stock those sorts of items. 

Still on the road were Melody and Leon.  “There’s so much traffic” wined Melody after wrongly having told Tom that everyone in Paris used the Metro.  Clearly, they don’t.  Eventually, they arrived at an off-beat design store, which already had a row of similar looking lights. “This product has a great potential, I love the classicness of it” said the buyer and immediately ordered 50 units for 3250 Euro.  With a sale in the bag, Melody loved the teapot once more but not enought to have one in her house, I bet!

Tom headed off to La Redoute.  Given Lord Sugar had set this appointment up should have told them it was going to be a biggy!  La Redoute, surely they’d heard of them even if they couldn’t spell it!  The pitcher was decided in the back of the car using the very well-know management technique; paper, scissors, stones!

Around the La Redoute table, Natasha presented the teapot lamp flashing her belly button in the process (ewwww!) until Tom messed up big style, starting off negotiations at 10 units.  Yes, that was JUST 10 units, not even 10,000 units.  Natasha recognised the faux pas and tried to rescue it by stating 50 units – still way too low! What part of this company are massive didn’t they get? Surely, the big and flashy building should have told them they are not a company who buy in sets of 10.

Jim and Zoe secured a small order of 100 spiders and no backpacks so Susan and Helen pitched to La Redoute. At least she knew who they were and had even ordered from their catalogue, stroking their egos in just the right places.  Initially, they thought the price was high but Helen nailed it, she delivered a killer pich by stating just how unique it was and couldn’t stress the importance of supporting child safety products enough.

Tom and Natasha’s French was dire and I had to chuckle when Tom wished one potential client a happy holiday! Unsurprisingly, no appointments were secured with their pigeon French, my 13 yr old niece knows more French than them put together in a shop full of French dictionaries.

3pm and Susan gave the spider one last push and ended up getting the push from a completely unrelated shop.  Jim meanwhile likened the selling process to pushing treacle uphill, it was clearly getting to the end of the day and everyone was beginning to flag and feel the pressure in equal measure.

Natasha managed to flog just over a thousand Euros of the horrid postcards to a man who was not impressed with the teapot light and shot her ‘concept’ down in flames.  Personally, they were both products I wouldn’t have chosen, concept or no concept.

Susan spotted a phone shop from the back of the car, whilst it might have seemed like it was just a shop they had a massive online presence.  Within minutes she had increased the initial order from 1000 to 1500 units for the spider grip and I was rather pleasantly surprised that she pulled it off, I wasn’t sure she had it in her.

With just 30 minutes to go, Susan’s team finally realised they had found their market,albeit too late in the day.  Despite the time running out, their heels furiously clacked down the streets of Paris to try some last ditch sales attempts but it was too late as the next appointment would be with Sir Alan.

The Numbers

Susan’s Team Venture had the car seat rucksack and the spider grip, they sold:

• La Redoute bought 214,000 Euro – a boardroom record
• Smaller retailer sales totalled 14,699 Euro

Tom’s Team Logic had the teapot light and the growing postcards, they sold:

• La Redoute bought absolutely zilch!
• Smaller retailer sales totalled 11,705 Euro  

The Outcome

Susan’s team were rewarded with flying lessons, which included flying these tiny planes and even learning to land them. Great Prize, which reminds me I must get hubby to book the flying lesson I bought him for his 40th.

Team Logic headed back to the familiar Bridge Cafe to mull it over… Melody should be fired for fibbing about the rucksack amongst other things but we all knew she would wheedle out of it and blame Tom for being the PM.

The Boardroom

Four nervous faces entered the boardroom and Tom tried to claw his way out of the La Redoute cock up, he showed just how little gusto he had when it came to leadership.  Melody was asked specifically to research La Redoute but she failed to do it, Nick had it written in his notepad and specifically stated the time … why was she not in getting her ear bent? Firstly, she should have been for failing to follow instruction and secondly for trying to pull the wool over their eyes.  Thirdly for… I could go on and on and on but what does my opinion count?

Leon got picked on next, it didn’t matter how many times he told Lord Sugar he didn’t speak French, and it was irrelevant as after the initial flourishes of French, Melody actually did most of the deals in the Queen’s English.

La Redoute buy things in their thousands, not drips and drabs! Melody showed her hunger, or should we have called it greed when Nick reminded her that she failed to share out the appointments she had made.  Karen firmly told her that whilst Jim made their team’s appointments, he played fair.  Melody didn’t show herself as being a team player this week; hopefully she had learnt her lesson.

Tom brought Leon and Melody back in to the boardroom.  Woohoo! She was in the firing line at last, she pushed too far even though she did sell very well but Leon was akin to a wet, limp lettuce throughout the task.

Returning to the boardroom following the big cheese chat, the candidates faced Lord Sugar’s questioning.  Melody’s accolades were covered and she tried to push her ‘global’ business ideas on him but was cut short.  In actual fact, Melody’s pushiness was praised by Lord Sugar, which surprised me – it “showed aggression” and a “desire to win”. I wondered if he was looking at the same person we all were?

Leon didn’t get away with the ‘no-speaky-French’ card for long, Lord Sugar having worked with all manner of different countries over the years and not having learnt a word of their lingo.   He had done very nicely thank you very much so it didn’t wash as an excuse.

Tom then grew some and piped up, he reeled off his business successes and claimed he was going to be bigger than Dyson, we wait with baited breath on that score.  OMG! I’m going blue already!

Decision Time, Lord Sugar liked Melody’s hunger. “She is ruthless, she will walk over and tread over anyone, and she’ll eat them up and spit them out for her breakfast, that’s what I like about her really.” So, she was safe, leaving him with a dilemma…

Tom was kept on purely on gut instinct as he’d manufactured and sold products already so it was Leon who got the big finger waggled in his face and headed of for the taxi ride home.

FIRED: Leon

Professional CV Writing Headings – The Correct CV Layout for the Majority of Job Seekers

In order to write a CV which is not only professional in content but also in style is not always easy for a candidate but the process of presenting a CV can be made easier by following a standard layout. 

It is always advisable for candidates to ensure that their CV is composed to exacting standards and this includes some focus on the layout to maximise their chances of securing an interview.

Nearly every day of the week I see CVs which are in need of a lot of work, not only does their content need much input from a professional CV writer but the way in which they present their information is sometimes just plain awful.  To be honest, I could probably write a series of blog posts on the bloopers alone!

Whilst the composition, style and format of a CV has many facets, today I am going to focus on the headings which should be used in a CV. 

Structure within a CV is very important and familiar layouts are always welcomed by HR departments, recruiters and employment agencies.  With so many CVs to review in today’s competitive market, it really is a battle to ensure a CV reaches the top of the pile. So, putting the required information down in the right order is not only invaluable but will probably mean your CV is more likely to be read.

Of course, dependant on the industry, the heading layout can change but in this blog post, I am going to focus on a CV layout for the vast majority of careers.  If you have a specific career you would like me to cover, please email me.

In the main, after your name and contact details, the CV headings should be:

• Personal Profile
• Objective
• Key Skills
• Achievements
• Career History
• Professional Training
• Education
• Personal Details
• References

Students, graduates and school leavers will have a slightly different layout as their CVs tend to be more skills-based but I will cover this next week.  Very soon it will be the end of term when many young people will venture in to the world of work for the very first time!  A scary but very excting time, which can be made easier by ensuring their CV is absolutely spot on.

For more information on how to set out your CV and what information to include, why not download one of our Professional CV Writing Template Packs?

What is included in a CV Template Pack?

• A CV template for completion
• Helpful advice and guidance notes: what to put in a CV and what to leave out
• Three CV template examples: Chronological CV and/or Functional CV templates
• A CV structure and layout writing guide
• The Dos and Don’ts when writing a CV
• Keyword, attribute and Verb list

Click to get a free, no-obligation CV Review?

When is good customer service actually bad?

Dilemma… is this good customer service or simply a stealth attempt ‘buy me off?’

As you probably know, I recently bought an iPad and along with it, a number of essential accessories. One of these was a case to protect it. I knew from the outset that I didn’t want the Apple one, not only because it’s expensive but it doesn’t seem to offer an awful lot of protection so off I went to Amazon in search of something more resilient.

Of course, there are numerous different cases available but I had just three criteria. Firstly, it needed to protect the iPad because it’s an expensive bit of kit. Secondly, I wanted the case to fit the iPad snuggly and not slip about in a leather cover and thirdly, to allow the iPad to stand up securely to enable on-screen typing.

To cut a long story short, I decided on a Duragadget case because it fulfilled all the criteria, it claimed to have 360 degree rotation and 6 positioning variations, it even looked good online.

On receipt, I popped my iPad in it and the fit was perfect, it looked great but there was one real bad point… It didnt actually stand up in the case. The three ridges to support the iPad didnt seem to be deep enough and it slipped out, with a bang! Panic!

Fortunately, it was ok and I tried another of the slots.  Each and every way, it was precaurious to say the least, the slightest movement and after a few seconds, the iPad would slip.  By now, I certainly knew I would not be able to use the iPad in a standing position without the fear of it breaking. I even tried to blu-tack it in place but to no avail.

With this in mind, I decided to put a factual and honest product review on Amazon to highlight this to other prospective purchasers. I didn’t want someone else to buy it and end up breaking or smashing their iPad. Accordingly, my intention was to contact the vendor to organise a return and refund but I didn’t get round to it. The phone probably rang or an email arrived and the moment was lost.

A couple of days later I received a letter in the post from the vendor. Seemingly, they don’t like negative product reviews as it damages their reputation but how about the fact it didn’t do what it should do and stand up? I did not say anything negative about the vendor at all, in fact I put that it arrived quickly but was not really fit for purpose for the reasons listed above.

Further in the letter they went on to say that if I removed my product review from Amazon and emailed them once i’d done it, they would refund the money I paid as a gesture of good will.

Now, here comes my dilemma. To remove the feedback, or not?  My gut instinct tells me no, I have a right to put up a valid opinion, plus the right to a refund.  Is this just good customer service or is this a small business trying to circumvent honest reviews to ensure they can sell the remainder of their stock?

To date, I have not retracted my comments and I’m still in a quandary as to whether or not this is the right thing to do? what do you think? Please post your comments below.

The Apprentice 2011: Week 6, Episode 7, Task 7: My Review Blog Post

BBC’s The Apprentice: Follow the Series

So, we are at week 7 already, where did that time go?  With just nine candidates left comprising five girls and four boys there is not much time left to bitch and snide their way through the boardroom and in to the final four.  Surely now is the time we will finally see some glimmer of brilliance amongst this motley crew.

At silly o’clock in the morning, Melody was up and ready, dressed with a fully made up face ready to meet the dawn chorus or, make sure that just once, she is the one who answers the phone call.  It all gets reported back, you know.

This week they met in Fleet Street. At last, an obvious link between location and the task in hand. Well, unless you consider that Fleet Street is no longer the synonymous hub of media publications.  The dingy street traded in for swanky office blocks in the trendy part of town.

That aside, Lord Sugar demonstrated he is most certainly going to be the Boss in any partnership and descended in a swanky lift before telling the candidates that this week’s task was going to be the creation of a free premium magazine; a ‘fremium publication.  Apparently, they are new ‘thang’ in publishing, I wouldn’t know, they haven’t reached me out here in carrot country unless you count the crappy magasine we get, which is nothing but adverts.

The Teams/Team Leaders

This week, we saw another team shake up or, ‘tinker with the teams’ as Sir Alan put it. It’s becoming a regular weekly event now.  Jim moved over to Logic, securing a wink from Glenn and Leon was told to ‘pop over’ to Logic, like he was going over for a coffee.

• Team Logic was led by Natasha
• Team Venture was led by Jim

The Task

They had 24hrs to create a magazine and would pitch the following day to Britain’s three biggest buyers of advertising space.

Helen gave a good spiel to Natasha in the back of the car on the way to Shortlist Media, telling her that they needed to focus on what was ‘going to appeal to the advertisers’ target market’, whilst Tom gazed vacantly out of the window wondering how he got lumbered with two girls.

Having turned over £16m in just 4 year, its boss Mike Suitor told them how they needed to understanding their consumer and that it would be absolutely imperative to hit printing deadlines.  That headless chicken image from a few weeks ago reared its head.

9am and it was the first time dynamite Jim and forthright Zoe had worked together and after the initial flirty moments, they got down to the nitty-gritty.  No! Not that! I’m talking about the nitty-gritty of work and brainstorming – tssuk!

The first job was to find a target market, although I think they had X amount of subjects to chose from as they weren’t really very inspirational. Mind you, they don’t seem to be very creative bunch of bods full stop so perhaps the production team didn’t orchestrate the ideas?

Tom on team Logic put forward the lucrative baby market as an idea when Natasha randomly shouted out ‘Lad’s mag!’  Whist Leon and Tom both agree they rarely read a lad’s magazine, Natasha blatently ignored them and bulldozed her idea to exert her position as PM.  Disapproving of the concept, Natasha’s Team clearly thought she was bonkers; blank looks from the boys, a turned up nose from Helen and a look of distain from Melody poorly disguised behind a fake smile. So, she failed to heed the team were not behind her idea and went full steam ahead with a cheap and nasty magasine that would only be fit for toilet paper in an emergency.

Natasha told the camera man ‘Lad’s magazines are about lads’ – err, no you are joking with me right?, whilst Tom scribbled on a flip chart: boobs, fashion, women and business. Not a very inspiring list.  Brains of Britain, this lot.  Natasha’s attempt to ‘get in the zone’ with Melody and become ladettes was swiftly stopped, ‘let me stop you right there.’ Melody had no interest in being part of Natasha’s gang.

Over on team Venture, Jim chose over 60’s even though as Zoe rightly pointed out, what do a bunch of 30-somethings know about being 60?  Susan spoke sense when she announced that their age might mean the advertisers will not take them and their concept very seriously but Jim was only focused on the fact that he’d noticed that over 60s had the biggest circulation figures… Jim was quite literally seeing pound signs. 

Elsewhere, Nick Hewer’s interview against a backdrop of people trying to look busy and not look at the camera, gave us the line of the week ‘Trying to nail anything on Jim is about like trying to nail jelly to a wall.’ Too right it is, he’s turned in to a slippery little toad.

Natasha got Logic back brainstorming, by now they had a few more clichéd things on their spidergram: sports, features, cars, role models, music, fun and something else I couldn’t read and couldn’t be bothered to crane my neck to read. Yawn, as Natasha tried to find her USP, who cares? It was headed in the same direction as every other male magazine, down the pan as Helen’s idea to take it down the more business orientated route was deemed boring.  She wanted boobs, porn sells!

11am and Jim and Zoe are still attached to each other trying to work out the layout and Susan and Glenn headed off to a bowling club (how exciting, not ageist at all) to find out what older readers want.  Sat round a table like a bunch of old stooges, the questioning started off with asking them how many of them read magazines.  One of them read the Economist, the other Viz (not seen a copy of that in years myself) and the token lady in the group doesn’t want to be made to feel old, she wanted them to tell her just exactly what IS good about getting old; holidays without kids and mid-flow, Susan patronisingly spoke to her like she was a few slices short of a loaf, by bringing up quizzes and puzzles to keep the mind active – oh no! No Way! They don’t want knitting patterns; they wanted focus on enjoyment and fun.

Next the names, all too cliché; Vita Life would be something they’d feed their cat, a resounding Mmm to Radiance and Eternal got short shrift. One of the guys amused himself by suggesting the name ‘Zimmer’, which did invoke a hearty giggle across the group.  It gave the team the idea they needed something satirical: Coffin Dodger (no!), Pension Mention (boring), The Old Boot (yikes, they got worse), Golden Oldie (never in a million years!).  Meanwhile, Nick Hewer was flapping his trusted notebook in irritation at the names being banded about for people, which frankly were in HIS age group.  I sensed a lot of lip biting going on off camera and the name Hip Replacement got a raised eyebrow and subtle head shake.  Surely, he just wanted to shake some sense in to the lot of them.

Tom and Helen interviewed a local rugby club, they wanted a tasteful magazine that raised the tone and even plucked out a name ‘Boob Free Business.’ Despite the group clearly stating they wanted naked free, Natasha was absolutely convinced, naked sells. This woman seemed obsessed with bossums!

Conversely, they came up with the name ‘Covered’ but at the photo shoot still Natasha wanted the model naked (so, not covered then) and wearing Tom’s specs and jacket like a ‘dirty secretary.’ Ok, slightly covered would have been a more apt name. She seemed to be in her own mucky little world, she’d seen the list of advertisers – big names, no less – would they really want to endorse a product like this? Karren Brady thought not.

Hip replacements were nearly needed over at team Venture when a youngish half-trendy looking but still over 60 lady tried to cadge a piggy-back from an equally aged man, for the front cover.  Seeing them nearly fall over even brought out Nick Hewer’s sense of humour.  There! Perfect shot! Two people dressed in normal clothes that looked a couple, laughing emphatically.  Wrong, with a few minutes to go, they rolled out a woman with a boring bob and a rank cardigan to fake hug some bloke she clearly didn’t much fancy hugging.  The picture was fake and forced-looking.  Shame, Glenn had cocked up and I didn’t want him to.

Leon inadvertently gave Natasha a tacky feature ‘How to Blow your Load.’ Tacky with a capital T, perhaps Natasha secretly wanted to be a bloke who read tut?  Out in the street they accosted random guys (one even hid behind this awful Russian fur hat thing in shock, refusing to answer) and loudly said ‘How do you blow your load?’ Covered, perhaps a better title would have been ‘Run for Cover.’

The magazine mock-ups arrived. Covered magazine looked like it would have been on the (top?) shelf 10 years ago and Hip Replacement didn’t look like it could make the bottom shelf!  Dull. It looked like a knitting pattern cover. With both teams having had a ream of magazines to sift through, you would have thought some of the design layout would have sunk in?  I often wonder if they are given set templates, with X, Y and Z spacing to put words and pictures to make them look sh!te on purpose?

With rate cards in hand and with the potential to secure a total value of £100k for all 35 pages, it’s pitch time! Jim soooooo wanted to do the pitch for Venture, you could tell.  Advertisers, Carat were the first to be droned to by Logic. Leon tried to overcome the tackiness by selling the how to make a £1000 in a day concept. Tom backed him up with the impression of work hard, play hard but still they looked dispondent.  Natasha took over (it’s her baby this monster she has created) by intercepting that if they bought all 35 pages, they would throw in the back cover for free.  Despite it being a tough market, they did envisage a gap in the market for this ‘sort of thing’ but other than to say their pricing was ‘a little of the mark’ they gave no indication of how much they would buy. 

Next, Hip Replacement hobbled in to the presentation. No, not literally – I’m just losing the will to type up this disaster of a task and need a joke. Immediately, Carat didn’t like the title, no surprise there then, telling Jim they’d be laughed out of the room if they approached some of their clients with a crass title like that.  Jim tried to rescue the situation by informing the advertiser that his demographic don’t want to be patronised! Oxymoron, that’s a good word that reminded me of this contradiction in itself.

As we all know by now, Jim is the king of negotiation but he fluffed it big time this week. I know nothing about advertising, only how to get rid of those guys who promise their ads will get you on page 1 of Google but common sense would prevail that these guys never, never, ever pay rate card.  No selling, no negotiating by Jim this week.  I am getting increasingly frustrated with Jim! I think Tom is fast becoming my top runner for the final four.

Mediacom were next and Leon was almost ousted by Natasha for the pitch but she IS going to take the next one. She couldn’t wait that long and interjected Leon’s pitch, completely undermining him and throwing him off course. Fail, it was a poor pitch and they missed the mark, the negotiation wasn’t much better either. The lady offered £1500 per page, Natasha wants £2k but if this lady is saying no, she will agree no qualms to £1500.  So, why even say £2k if you are going to put your cards on the table like that. What has happened to the word negotiation this week?   It baffled me senseless!

Jim pitched to Mediacom but even they thought Hip Replacement was bad, stereotypical and patronising.  That said, her opening offer was £2k per page (See, Natasha should have tried harder, the money is there) and Jim didn’t negotiate, he bit her hand off!

Maxus got Natasha first, she had well and truly ousted Leon this time and started her awful pitch badly ‘all the guys like to get a bit of dollar in their pockets, yeah, to impress the ladies, Lad’s mag, how to blow your load, which translates in to how do you spend your cash’.  Making you squirm yet? The look on the woman’s face was legend! The bloke with the gruff (rather sexy sounding) voice on the panel told them they had alienated 80% of their client base. No amount of business aspect will make up for it.

Its all change at Venture to, Glenn took the pitch to Maxus.  The woman was not impressed and the fella’s jaw nearly hit the floor when they were presented with the biddy in a boring grey woolly on the front cover. That said, they might just like it if Jim will agree to 50% off.  Jim thought that 50% was a bold request and instead of negotiating or agreeing, the lady on the panel then tried the free angle! Jim panics.  Ok, you can have 50%, just like that and bit their hand off before he royally fluffed it up.

The Boardroom

We’re not at the firing stage yet, it’s the initial mulling over.  Lord Sugar unsurprisingly hates Logic’s feature ’how to blow your load’ but gives Leon a house-point (did you get those at school?) for the how to make £1k in a day idea.  Money, business, profit – a sure fire way to get a smile.  Zoe failed to explain the Hip Replacement concept, it back-fired on them and Nick added fuel to the fire with all the other dreary names that, in fairness, were only random thoughts.

The Numbers

Logic:

• Maxus bought £9k but they didn’t like the concept or how to blow your load feature
• Mediacom bought £7.5 even though they considered it dated, 1990s
• Carat offered £60k to buy an exclusive deal

Venture:

• Maxus bought £12k being marginally more impressed
• Mediacom bought just £16,850
• Carat £0 they absolutely loathed the idea

The Outcome

I don’t really think you need me to point it out but Logic won, perhaps the winning streak had finally caught up with them. They were both bad really and I think Covered got lucky to secure their fencing lesson prize.  Another fairly naff treat, the BBC budget has really been hit hard this year.

Jim took his team to loser cafe and tried to find a way to wriggle his way out of the firing line.  Given he failed to negotiate at all at Carat, that’s firing criteria in itself.

The Firing

Lord Sugar was disappointed with the name; despite his team mates denying it, Susan was indeed the only one who vocalised her objection to it.  Jim called it a ‘whisper in the night’ but we all heard her say she wasn’t impressed by it.

Zoe then took a turn at doing the wriggling, dobbing in Jim for having changed the font and cover design.  She clearly saw the noose dangling perilously close above his head and even I thought his head was on the block.  Surely, Lord Sugar was on the same page by the time Nick piped up with the fact Jim did not negotiate at Carat? Jim, ever the cool dude, seemed nonplussed and gave him that ‘come one then’ look.

Jim decided to bring Glenn and Susan back in to the board room.  Susan tried desperately to save herself, playing the ‘I own my own business’ and the good over-used age card.  Why do the babes of the group always bang on about being ‘only 21?’

Somehow, I don’t know how, bull-sh!t Jim wormed his way out of the firing.

FIRED: SHOCK, HORROR, Wasn’t expecting that one! It was Glenn, our Hertfordshire lad that got the waggly finger of failure this week. Apparently, engineers don’t make good entrepreneurs… hang on, wasn’t the Lord himself a bit of an engineer getting in to Amstrad engineery-technical gadgetry stuff? Such a farce, why even include him in the original 16 line up then, arrggghhh!?

Roll on next week!

Coming soon… A-Z of the Best Business iPhone and iPad Apps

So, for the past three months I have been in App heaven, trying and testing out all manner of business and work-related Apps to create an invaluable list for my readers, small business owners, Virtual Assistants and those of us who just love our iPhones and iPads.

Whilst I now have an App for every letter of the alphabet, I would still be interested in hearing about your ‘Must Have’ iPhone and iPad Apps to ensure I really do have the ultimate list.

All the Apps on the list have been personally tested and scruitinsied by me and the ones not quite released yet, all come with trusted approval from esteemed colleagues.

Whilst the original aim was to have just one App per letter, there are naturally a number of fantastic Apps, which fall under the same letter and so it would be a shame not to include them.  But the questions is… have I missed anything vital?

If you would like me to test and consider including your App ideas or suggestions, please send me an email with the information to:

enquiries@angliabusinesssolutions.co.uk

Be One of the First to Try Brand New, Sparkly Apps

We will also have some brand new, soon to be released Apps inclued in the list thanks to our knowledgeable friends at Intelligent VA, Xero and Capsule.

As soon as these are up and live, we will let you know, right here!