What ‘Apprentice 3’ Applicants Should Have Learned

Furthermore, when you respond, you have to figure out the best way to handle it. The original version of this rule said to reply calmly and without emotion. Unfortunately, we’ve seen that doesn’t always work, as when Andy was getting screamed at by both Jen and Sandy in the second series, and Trump claimed Andy was out-debated. However, Jen tried these tactics at other times too, such as in the finals against Kelly, and calm rationality held the day. So there is a fine line to walk. If you need to show anger, show anger. If you need to remain calm, remain calm. But don’t go overboard in either direction – always remain in control.

Of course, the Boardroom is not the only place you will find stress. In the first series, Protégé lost some of their cash during the flea market challenge. Kristi became flustered about it, but Omarosa came across as cool, calm, and collected. In the Trump Ice challenge, both Nick and Bill said that Ereka was too emotional – this led directly to her uttering, “Don’t say it, Mr. Trump” in the Boardroom when it was clear he was about to fire her. Collapsing under pressure and begging is not the way to stick around.

3) Have a Backbone

Both Kristi and Jessie were fired on the first series because they meekly accepted whatever was thrown at them, even hideous attacks from Omarosa. Trump flat-out said that he didn’t like the way Omarosa was behaving, but what was worse was that Jessie sat there and took it. Similarly, we just talked about what happened to Andy when he was attacked by Sandy and didn’t do enough to fight back. So if somebody attacks you in the Boardroom, you need to stand up for yourself.

This doesn’t necessarily mean attacking them back or getting emotional. But you need to be firm and explain your side of the story and show how the person attacking you is really the one who deserves to be fired. A good example is Nick in the Apprentice 1 Planet Hollywood challenge. He was in danger because he kind of shut down during the challenge, as he disagreed with the ethics of what was going on around him. When his lack of effort was mentioned in the Boardroom, Nick stood up for himself and presented his side of the story. It still wasn’t smart to have gone into autopilot mode during the challenge, but he made up for it in the Boardroom.

However, having a backbone doesn’t only apply in the Boardroom. You also need to stand up for yourself and your ideas during the tasks (which is what Nick didn’t do, above). If you think you need a better location, by all means say you need a better location. If the group agrees with you and you do well because of it, you will gain some status. If they disagree with you and you don’t do well, you can say you told them so. Worst case is if you move to a different location and still do poorly, but even then at least you took a stand on the issue.

A good example of this is the NYPD ad in Apprentice 2. Raj was firmly in favor of the military theme. Elizabeth was firmly in favor of, well, nothing. She was against the military theme but couldn’t stand up to opposing viewpoints. In the end, the ad they got was the worst of all worlds. Raj told Trump in the Boardroom that he believed in the military idea. Elizabeth said she didn’t. Elizabeth was fired. There is a lesson there.

Also, if you think you are the best at doing something, you should try to do it. In the first series, Trump wondered why Katrina had not done the apartment negotiations in one task – after all, she was the one who had experience in real estate. I wondered the same thing! She should have said it was her area of expertise and just done it, leaving other tasks to other people.

4) Scheming and Plotting Usually Doesn’t Work, But Don’t Show Your Hand

Before the second season began, when I was putting the first version of this article together, I originally planned on putting something in about plotting and scheming because I figured people could plan on who they should focus on – as the women’s team did with Stacie, for example. However, upon further deliberations and discussions at the highest levels of RealityNewsOnline, I decided it shouldn’t be in there. After all, as we already discussed earlier, unlike Survivor or Big Brother, The Apprentice does not have fellow contestants vote people off. The decisions are made solely by Trump, so all the plotting and scheming in the world might not help you.

The more we saw of the second season, the more this truth was hammered home. Yes, plotting and scheming did work about Stacie. But many more times we saw it backfire. We saw project managers bring people to the final Boardroom who should not have been there based on that challenge. Trump did not respond kindly, often specifically noting that he couldn’t figure out why that person was there this time, or why another person had been saved when they had done something wrong.

A perfect example of this is when Jen C. took Stacy and Elizabeth to the final Boardroom in Apprentice 2, even though Sandy had clearly done the worst job during that task. Jen only did it because she didn’t like the other two – Carolyn knew it, Bill (sitting in for George) knew it, and Trump knew it. So Jen went home.

That said, playing things close to the vest can still help. Before Boardroom sessions, it can’t hurt to feel out where people are leaning, without giving away too much of your own thought process. If you find that most people are gunning for the same person, by all means join in! If you find that people are trying to avoid you, then you’d better be prepared to have all the guns turn on you.