Apprentice 6

Today I accomplished another item on my checklist - to audition to be the next "Apprentice." Overall it was a fun experience and I'm glad I took pictures. Unfortunately, the only North California casting call was held in Sacramento at the Channel 3 TV studio. I thought it was lame that people from the Bay Area had to drive all the way out to Sacramento, but I guess it's better than driving to LA.

The plan on the website instructed applicants to arrive at 9 AM to receive wrist-bands. Only those with wrist-bands would be allowed to interview. Here's how the line looked at 8 AM.
10 AM - After waiting 2 hours, I'm excited because I finally get a wrist-band, which will guarantee me an interview.
1 PM - it starts raining while we are standing in line. This is Donald's first test to see who is truly committed as people in the line start leaving.
2 PM - it starts pouring as if a waterfall decided to drench everyone outside. More people leave, and those remaining start getting impatient and soaked.
3:30 PM - I finally approach the entrance to the building. As I'm let in, there's another HUGE LINE!!!
3:45 PM - After sweet talking the custodian, I'm allowed to walk into the Channel 3 news room and take a picture from the anchor desk. The room was pretty big and I was just excited to finally be sitting down! (yes I'm wearing my fav brown suit with my A-Game on)


4:15 PM - My group is standing right outside the interview room. We can hear shouting and angry voices.

4:20 PM - My 10 minute 12-person group interview starts. We spend 5 minutes introducing ourselves by 1)Name 2)Age 3)Location 4)Occupation 5)One sentence to set yourself apart. The last 5 minutes was a mock boardroom where the interviewer asks "Are we safer today than we were before 9/11?" Everyone in the group starts arguing with each other and then it's over quickly.

In retrospect:
Behind the interviewer was a 4 foot stack of applications. After seeing all those applications, I now understand the scope of what the MBA Admissions Offices go through. This is why it can take weeks just for your app to go complete. I'm pretty sure I won't get a call-back because I didn't really stick out much. My sentence was pretty boring but I threw in the MBA angle because most of the people in the group worked in the Real Estate industry with minimal college experience.

The mock boardroom was pretty dumb because no one made a coherent argument. Before I could gather my thoughts and think about my answer, people were shouting ridiculous non-related topics just to stand out. Someone said, "It's all Bush's fault, he's an idiot." Another chimed, "No, he's a liar." My favorite line was when someone said, "Look at the border, there is no security at all" and then another person immediately replied, "No, you're wrong, terrorists can go through the border." ... huh? ... I tried to calm some of the emotions and the one line I could squeeze in the debate was "Look here guys, the topic is whether or not we are more secure than we were before 9/11. Certain aspects of life are more secure, like airport security. Before 9/11, anyone could walk up to the passenger terminal and carry bombs in their shoes. At least now, we have more rigid security procedures at airports. Other aspects of life have the same pre-9/11 security levels. For example, port security hasn't changed much. We inspect the same ~5% of incoming cargo now like we did before 9/11. Bottom line, we are more secure in some areas and have the same security levels in other areas." My tactic of relying on facts and sticking to the question didn't work because people just ignored my points and talked about how stupid Bush is. Very lame way to interview.

As an Industrial Engineer who continually strives to improve processes, the day could've been a lot more efficient. After receiving the wrist bands, we really didn't need to stand outside in the rain all day. Simply by looking at the unique sequence number on each wrist band, the producers could've easily scheduled each 10 minute time slot to 12 unique wrist bands numbers. That way, everyone could go grab lunch and come back at a specific time without waiting in that huge line.

Also, a 5 min boardroom isn't an effective way to do the first filter. Instead, they should take all the applicants (plus few undercover producers) to a big park and tell them to socialize with each other for 3 hours. At the end, people should rate the top 18 people they think should be on the "Apprentice." The producers can figure out the call-backs by ranking those individuals who are the most popular choices. I think this is more effective because the process would also do valuable market research for the producers. I noticed everyone in line was a HUGE Apprentice fan and part of the key 18-35 demographic with no kids and lots of disposable income. Also, everyone was very sociable/Type A personality and we all got to know each other very well in the hours we spent waiting in line. If I met one of the final Apprentice candidates today, I feel I'd know him/her better than the producers after multiple interviews. The idea of having a long 3 hour social interaction is influenced by the book I'm reading, "Blink." In it, the author describes how Pepsi will always win the Coke/Pepsi challenge because people prefer Pepsi's sweeter taste in sips. But when analyzing soda drinking behavior over an entire can, Coke wins out. Similarly, audiences might prefer one candidate over another given a long 3 hour interaction versus a quick 10 minute interview... I'm tired, forgive me if I'm just rambling on and on as this post never ends.........