The Apprentice has stormed into its 7th season with a double bill last week on Tuesday/Wednesday night. We are again given a number of hopefuls seeking to work with Lord Alan Sugar in what is termed the 'toughest job interview going'. However, the format of the show has changed slightly this year.
Rather than seeking to work under Lord Sugar for one of his flagship enterprises, candidates are fighting to go enter partnership with the man himself. In an article in The Daily Telegraph the issue of whether the show filters the entrepreneurial buzz down to the masses is mused upon. Indeed, there is some credence to this idea. In an 'age of austerity' and despite recent musings to the contrary, the job market is still being squeezed, particularly in the public sector. This has brought through a time where being a stand-out individual has become ever-more important, whether it comes to being that much better at interview or distinguishing yourself from someone with a similarly good education and work experience grounding.
In effect, we come to ask whether seeking the typical graduate job is the right option. If it were risky to start a business, the current air of redundancy hanging over many jobs appears just as risky in the current climate. Perhaps the more self-reliant, self-controlled starting of your own business venture is the future. With extensive coverage of The Apprentice across multiple newspaper trades and even more trending over Twitter and Facebook, notwithstanding the 8million people viewing the show, it is clearly tapping into the public consciousness. Indeed, even the Prime Minister has spoken of his belief that the next ten years shall be 'one of the most entrepreneurial decades in history'. Perhaps rather than merely a TV fad the prolonged interest in the show is a sign of things to come; not merely just from our graduates but anyone with that potential spark of an idea.
We may not be selling computers down Brick Lane made from plastic bags and spit like Lord Sugar once did but we sure as hell have the chance to be just as daring and with any luck, just as successful.
