Running Britain's Biggest Brands The Career Crashers

I think not having a proper job is soul-destroying really.

I feel that I'm letting my children down by not having a career.

As a graduate you're meant to come out with a job straight away.

When you're on Jobseekers' it's not the greatest.

What more can I do? I just want somebody to give me a job.

Meet Kirsty, Ben, Sacha and Chris.

Like so many young people, they've been struggling to get a job.

This is my CV, not a lot on there.

That was about to change.

It's like a fantasy, like something you'd see in a film.

Does anyone want to share a bath with me?

They took part in an extraordinary TV experiment

that would transform their lives forever.

This is the end of my career, I think.

This is their full story.

They experienced an apprenticeship of a lifetime,

a 40-year career in just one week.

This is, like, scary.

-Bacon on burger.

-From dogsbody...

I don't want urine in my face.

Maybe I should just go back to university.

To shop managers.

-I'm your new manager.

-Hi!

I don't know what I'm doing at all.

Location executives.

-Speaky Anglais?

-I'm no negotiator.

We can get up to 25%.

To finally, MDs of Britain's biggest brands.

For the next three days you're going to be me.

This is the most important thing I've done in my life.

She's on her own. She's got to do it.

You could see this come to life across 360 restaurants.

-As you know.

-As you know...

-It's the biggest colour.

Half a million pounds' worth of business.

How did they handle a career in fast forward?

-I'm sweating already...

-I would say no to you.

Massive room for improvement.

This is not a game show, or a joke.

I'm not doing this so I can look cool.

And did it help them achieve their ultimate goal...

I'm going to absolutely make a complete twat out of myself.

I care a lot about this.

..to get a real job?

I've got to buck up my ideas, I suppose.

Do I get fired for this?

Our four new recruits have risen the career ladder

and are now heading towards their final and toughest assignments yet.

I have no idea what it is today at all.

So I'm quite eager to find out really.

Suck it up, rise to the challenge and hopefully absolutely smash it.

They're heading to the UK headquarters

of four multi-million pound companies.

I'm nervous.

I won't lie, I'm nervous because it's going to be a big one.

It's going to be, let's say, a humdinger.

If I really bugger it up then I'm going to feel absolutely awful.

With a combined turnover of £600 million,

and employing a total of 18,000 workers,

these four companies will be our base for the next few days.

-Hi, I'm Thea Green, how are you?

-I'm fine.

Good. Do you want to take a seat?

Back in business, our four recruits have no idea

what's in store for them as they meet the bosses.

I'm Ed Burstell.

Hi Ben, how are you? Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you too.

Here we are.

Welcome to Liberty.

Listen, Ben, I'm the managing director of Pizza Hut.

For the next three days, you're going to be me.

-Wow!

-Don't worry, no pressure.

So you're going to be the MD of Nails Inc.

OK. That's definitely a big, big thing.

You're going to be running AOL Europe.

Oh, my gosh.

How do you feel about that?

It's fine. Don't be so terrified.

I've been so lucky to have mentors.

I have thrived, you know, under their leadership.

An MD is the person responsible for the direction,

the profitability and the strategy for a business.

To be a good MD, you need to be driven.

You have to be a little bit fearless.

There is a definite moment where you have to just take the plunge.

There's nothing wrong with making money, there's nothing wrong

with earning a big salary, provided you actually deserve it.

The four managing directors have given up their high-flying roles

and in their place our new recruits take over their offices

and their companies.

I'm just really uncomfortably nervous right now.

Overwhelming really.

That's a nice chair.

Have to change the chair, it says Kate Burns.

The turnover is 350 million a year. That's like being, phew,

I can't lose 350 million in three days, can I?

No, I don't really know what an MD is.

They need to know that you make every decision carefully.

It's not a game.

They don't have all the answers.

They really need to surround themselves with a great team.

You either embrace the pressure and get a real kick

out of achieving, or you shy away and run for the hills.

The whole idea of somebody else managing this

just fills me with dread.

Opened in 1875, the famous Liberty department store

has a reputation for selling some of the world's most luxurious products.

Ed Burstell has been MD for two years, doubling turnover

with his eye for selecting an eclectic mix of high-end goods.

That's a light.

Is it on? There it is.

-We put this in at Christmas time last year.

-Oh, right.

And we said OK, we're going to order like three of them

because they are really quite expensive, aren't they?

Let's see. Oh, yeah, they're up there.

They were gone in two or three days.

£1,145 for a moosehead light.

This is a very, very big business for us.

The reputation here is longstanding, a big collection of important

European designers, Dries Van Noten, Armani,

Margiela, Ric Owens, Commes des Garcons.

Never heard of any of those, to be honest.

Maybe the men's department you'll know some.

You know Alexander McQueen?

And you've got to know Vivienne Westwood.

-Er, no.

-What?

No, I don't know Vivienne Westwood.

I'm not really...much educated in this sort of fashion.

To have some of those names be foreign I thought was a little odd.

You're going to have to know all these names soon.

You're being put on a pedestal, you've got spotlights on you,

and unless you behave very authentically and naturally,

people will feel that you're fake, and they will not follow you,

because people don't like fake people.

There are 11,500 Pizza Huts across the world.

Jens is in charge of the UK branches

and chooses to work in one of them every week.

Today he has brought Ben to the Northampton restaurant

to give him the opportunity to make his mark on a global brand.

The salad bar is pretty central to Pizza Hut, right?

So it needs to be the absolute best it can be.

What I would like you to do over the next 24 hours is to start

thinking how can we make this into an incredible salad bar?

What is it that you would change to make this into the defining salad

bar of the UK restaurant industry, and you need to get it right.

OK.

AOL is an American global internet company,

with 200 million members and worth over 2 billion.

A request for a proposal has come in.

Crikey.

Kirsty's filling in the shoes of Kate Burns who has been

running AOL Europe for three years.

I hope my team can be themselves with me,

which is why I breed a culture of openness and honesty and fun.

We need to create a campaign around this proposition

and that campaign now is your responsibility.

Right.

So Kirsty, what I'd like you to do is come up with an idea.

So I want this campaign to be yours, get in your head,

what the particular idea is that you have in order to answer the brief,

but then you need to pull in the right people.

Okey doke.

Pitch is important because the client's very important.

She has a lot to do in a very short period of time,

so she's going to have to prioritise.

I am a perfectionist when it comes to presenting.

Kirsty has just four hours to put together her presentation.

I'm physically shaking.

I like it when my team feel real ownership of the business,

and that we're all going for one goal.

Nails Inc is the UK's largest nail bar chain,

serving on average 10,000 customers a week through its 60 stores.

That's 100,000 nails!

Your first job is interviewing

some managers for a London support role.

Thea Green set up Nails Inc in 1999 and was awarded an MBE in 2011.

Sacha's got a lot to live up to then.

And these are the people that have applied.

She's on her own, she's got to do it.

How long should an interview roughly take?

She didn't ask me enough relevant questions, you know.

She didn't ask me what to be asking the candidates.

I've been interviewed many a time.

I know how they go well and I know how they go wrong.

I'm Sacha.

Hi, Sacha, nice to meet you. I'm Lauren.

Lauren, nice to meet you, come this way.

I'm nervous that she's going to struggle.

At AOL, Kirsty's creative department are trying to help their new MD.

I would suggest that without is one word, is that right?

Yes, it is. I will change that.

And would you put a capital letter on design in there?

I can change it, I'll take it off.

No problem, we can fiddle around and play with it.

Absolutely fine, no problem.

-Where's research?

-Just over there on the end.

Kirsty's attention to detail hasn't left her with much time

to write the rest of her pitch.

I'm thrown in at the deep end. This isn't enough time.

Today's a special day at Liberty. It's Best of British Open Day.

With 600 people turning up to sell their wares

to one of the country's most eclectic stores.

Between a quarter of a million

and half a million pounds worth of business.

OK.

So that's kind of the target.

Chris, with his limited knowledge of designer goods,

will have to choose which luxury items to stock at Liberty.

You all right? Hi, nice to meet you.

He's been given a shortlist but it's not that short.

Wrapping paper and notebooks.

It's a wallet.

Furnishing fabrics.

Make-up and wash bags.

My garment.

-A lamp.

-Oh, wow.

What I think Chris probably will struggle with

is getting information out of these designers.

If you're not willing to ask those questions,

you may not get all the facts.

Do you see yourself working the way up?

I mean, so far, you seem to have been working your way up quite well.

What is your main kind of passion for Nail Inc,

like, why Nail Inc as a company?

She called the brand Nail Inc rather than Nails Inc,

which might drive me nuts in the next three days.

-Well, I don't know.

-She didn't ask any financial questions.

-What colour is that?

-Haymarket.

-Beautiful.

Do you like to care of yourself?

-Is that something that you pride yourself on?

-Yeah.

It sort of lost professionalism quite early on

and it went very personal.

These are a couple of probably not the greatest questions,

but I'm going to ask anyway.

Lauren was then about to be asked questions that her

interviewer had already told her were bad questions.

I've said to her to make the second interview

a little bit more financial.

-I'm Donette.

-Nice to meet you.

Profit, how do you deal with, how do you deal with making profit

-and sometimes the lack of it maybe?

-OK.

A little bit of ad-libbing in an interview is good,

but you need to make sure you've found out all the information.

They're made in Surrey, or...?

No, I make them at home.

Oh, wow. Clever, well done.

Oh, well done.

Oh, wow, wicked, oh, wow.

I'm not sure if Chris is tough enough.

I think that comes with confidence.

If I had my way they'd all have their stuff in here

and be all happy.

They could end up minted.

And it's been laser-cut to look like...

Some people were really nervous.

Erm...

If they come in nervous, it's won't affect my choice

if I like the product.

Erm...

He's going to have to decide and it will come down to a combination

of what he really likes versus something that's really commercial

versus something that you can probably make a lot of money on.

It's decision time for Chris, but if you don't

know your Mulberry from your McQueen, it's not an easy job.

And Thea is expecting Sacha to make a big decision as well.

It's not just, you know, a job working behind the bar or as

a cleaner or anything like that, it really does mean something to them.

I think I'm going to go with Donette, no Lauren.

Hi, could you both come in? Thank you.

You both have different abilities and you're both perfect for the role

in totally different ways and you've given me a lot to think about.

Donette, Donette, I would like to offer you the role and the reason

why is because I feel that I think that you're ready for the next step.

I feel like a right meany now.

Oh, that was awful

because Lauren really wanted it, didn't she?

And it's like I ripped, you know, like the way she looked at me

was the way I look at someone when I want a job.

Like, you could tell she really wanted it.

I haven't done anything like this and I don't really want to again.

She changed her mind several times before she got to a result.

What I learnt about her was that she struggles to make a tough decision.

So just tell me what you liked.

I liked a lot of the things here, it was really...

-All pretty good.

-Yeah.

If he makes a wrong choice there's an immediate cost

to the company because we have to mark things down to get rid of it.

He would fail on several levels.

-I chose this because I liked how cheap it was again to make.

-Right.

I also chose these scarves.

These are yes, these are maybe, these I think are no.

The aprons, I think this one was too niche.

-Oh, OK, yeah.

-A great man's bag at a great price.

It does use real vintage products.

I think that will appeal to a lot of people.

This I definitely thought was a winner.

I think it's a partial success for Liberty.

As much time as you can spend on the floor seeing what makes every

single thing in here unique.

The only thing I would say also is just work on your presentation.

Everyone needs a little more polish.

OK.

I think this is too much to ask.

I don't even have... I don't have a presentation.

I'm literally panicking.

I've got no idea what to do, this isn't fair.

Hello.

Aarrgh!

Hello, how's it going?

Erm, it's a big ask.

I would love to see what you're going to present.

I don't think I've got anything to show you.

Oh, really?

I would've hoped, in the time, she would've done a little more.

This is down to prioritisation and a little bit of delegation as well.

It's genuinely not enough time to get somebody to do this.

I'm going to absolutely make a complete twat out of myself

and she knows I'm going to.

I think what she's done is she's taken the whole task

upon herself, so she has been, you know,

from start to finish the master and the servant in this particular task

and I think this is where it may have gone a little bit wrong.

OK.

With Kirsty going solo,

Ben's busy taking advice on what makes a successful salad bar.

It's already a popular thing,

so why change something that's really popular?

I'm going to ask some of the staff.

What is the top three ingredients of the salad bar?

Coleslaw, potato salad, the tortilla chips and lettuce.

Get a bit more on there. Cheers.

I love the way he socialises and interacts with people,

it's just great.

I'm going to try my best, if it doesn't work out, it doesn't.

That's not how I want you to be thinking about this.

It absolutely has to work, OK?

And if you don't believe in it then nobody else

is going to believe in it either.

He'll have to present to the management team tomorrow

and really take the management team with him on his vision

for our salad bar.

-So I want you to go for it 100%.

-I will.

All right? Fantastic, I'll look forward to it tomorrow.

All right, me too.

Sacha's at a photoshoot for Nails Inc,

and is hoping to make a better impression than she did earlier.

I'm just kind of in awe. Her legs, her arms, her cheekbones.

I wish I was gay, you know, she's gorgeous.

I'm just trying to kind of keep on the low down

so I don't get in the way of everyone's creative flow.

At the end of the day, everyone knows what they're doing, I'm just observing in a way.

But Thea's not going to let her new MD stay in the background for long.

Sacha, you're not going to carry on observing now,

you're now going to run this part of the shoot.

You need to talk to your subject

and the photographer in terms of the right position.

OK.

You can have fun.

-Could you try and, I don't know, maybe swap over hands?

-Yeah?

Like that?

Yeah, I think that looks cute.

I think that was beautiful hands, yeah, good, I'm proud of you.

I don't think I would have the nerve to do what Sacha's doing,

which is to fill someone like Thea's shoes.

-Pick out of these ones.

-Yeah.

I think kind of that's the best one.

I mean her hands are out here, but...

A little bit. Or this one.

I just like the fact that she's smiling,

she looks quite happy doing it.

I do too. She looks happier there than there doesn't she?

She conducted herself well on the shoot. She made good decisions.

She's got a nice eye.

-Is that OK?

-Yeah, that's the best one.

-Lovely.

And I really would use the images that she's picked.

While Sacha relaxes into the MD role, Kirsty remains tense.

How long is the presentation supposed to be?

I would say 20 minutes minimum.

It's not going to be 20 minutes for a start.

OK. What have you got?

I would quite like to work on what I'm going to say.

It's been, I don't feel like I've really had enough time,

although you know, you might well disagree.

Any questions you need to ask from me before you get in?

If I have a question I will let you know, thank you.

Shall I just be quiet then and watch you work?

I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It's going to be boring but I erm...

If you see my nails start digging into the palm of my hands

then you'll know that it's probably a good time to call time.

70% of AOLers have been on holiday in the last 12 months.

4.9 million were in the UK.

This is an e-mail takeover,

so on the first day your brand will launch their new deal.

We could dedicate the whole front page of AOL Mail

to what they're trying to achieve, which would have a live link.

You had it far more together than you led me believe

and I think you let yourself believe.

So that could go straight over to their web page again.

I honestly thought, Kirsty, it was going to be a nightmare.

You're just fine, because you're still day one, completely new,

very nervous, very stressed.

So the biggy is don't be frightened to put your hand up

and say you don't understand, because that's a strength.

I'm just really annoyed now that I've given her the impression

that I can't handle things.

Someone who's not afraid to ask for help is Sacha.

When I go to interviews or when I write a CV they say,

you know, tell me about yourself, what are the key points of you,

and I always get stuck, I always kind of think,

well I'm good at organising but how can I explain it or, you know?

What you've learnt as being a mum so far is that you know

how to manage your time, you know how to turn somebody who's unhappy

into someone happy, and motivate people as you motivate your kids.

You are currently living, if you don't mind me saying,

on a budget of £100 a week,

which I think is clever budgeting by anyone's standards with two kids.

She really did home in on my mother skills.

Instead of them being negative,

she actually made me look on such positives.

You've got budgeting skills, you've got time management skills,

you've got people skills, these all need to be turned into a plus.

This is a reason to employ you, not a reason not to employ you.

I'm learning loads!

I think I understand her and she understands me now.

I'm watching her in awe and just kind of picking up everything

I can and just sucking out all the positives I can out of this.

We can tell them what their strengths are, we can coach them on,

you know, the things they need to improve on,

and I think that's what makes me feel quite passionate

about this business because we can have an impact on peoples' lives.

Inspired by Jens, Ben faces a long night ahead

working on his Pizza Hut proposal.

For our career climbers, today is the second day

in their roles as MDs of some of the UK's best known companies.

Kirsty is hoping to fair better than yesterday

when the pressure of being an MD took its toll.

I'm really, really exhausted,

just worrying that I'll mess it up like I did yesterday.

Sacha's found inspiration in Thea

and is looking forward to her day ahead.

I expect the unexpected,

and I don't really have a clue what's going to happen.

For Ben, it's salad or bust.

I think I have a good idea, I think there's a good concept behind it.

It is probably the most important thing I've done in my life.

Chris, Liberty head of menswear buyer Steven, and Ed

are leaving London for Oxford.

The journey provides Ed a chance to give Chris a little advice.

I think what you need to do in any situation is take a step back,

judge your audience and see what would be appropriate for them,

you know?

What you wear in the bar, you know, obviously would be different

than something you would be wearing on a shop floor.

It would be different than something that you would wear in a boardroom.

I do have to talk to him about what he's wearing today.

It wasn't a surprise he was coming back to Liberty's,

so I don't know if I would have come in denim and a hoodie.

It's time to grow up.

A reporter is coming to the office for a story about AOL,

and it's up to Kirsty as MD of the company to give them

the scoop and sell them the angle.

So we're having a post-university education channel.

It's great because... dot, dot, dot, dot...

and it will do blah, blah, blah, and this is why it's different.

OK? Try not to fidget, sit up.

Yes, it's the, er...

And almost be like a children's presenter in your enthusiasm.

Gosh, you're not going to know what to do with yourself

you'll have so much time to prepare.

Today, Sacha's been told to prepare for a marketing meeting

with her principle staff.

I want to go home. God, I'm so out of my depth.

Ben prepares for his pitch and meets with the product development team.

The concept is salads from the seven seas.

Italian salads and the Russian salads.

I'm hearing a lot about different countries there, but also the '70s.

Which is...?

-The seven seas, sorry.

-Oh, sorry.

-No, not the '70s, I'm sorry.

-I thought you said the 70s.

No, no, erm salads from around the seven seas. So that...

The seven seas.

After a mix up in communication, graduate Ben hopes

that the marketing team will be able to dress up his salad idea.

The one thing that will really help us right now is framing

your idea in a way on how you and what you want to communicate.

We'll help build your presentation,

but we need to know exactly what you want and how you want it.

Have you thought about any financial objectives?

I think the financial objective is more or less in sort of,

because it's a free salad, erm...

Sorry, start again. Because it's a free salad, erm...

If you help us just structure out.

It's just such a blur in my head and they're asking questions

and if I was on form, I'd know the answers.

I do feel a bit stressed out right now,

but I still think there's a good, cool idea.

That's what's keeping me going and keeps me not crumbling

and going in that corner and crying myself to sleep or something.

I don't know, but, I mean, the market image is hard.

I think I'm not thinking big enough for them

and I can't get out of that.

Things aren't as good as Ben had hoped,

and to sell his ideas to the board he might need something extra.

Go in there with a bang, I guess? I wish I had a sombrero

because I'd walk in there with a sombrero and a fake moustache.

Chris is at a hat factory,

doing his best to choose Liberty a new selection of bespoke hats.

You either pick one that's going to go forward for years

and sell thousands, or you pick one that doesn't.

When I first walked in, I just thought

all the hats looked the same.

I was sort of like, "All right...".

While Chris needs to get his head around hats.

Sacha must nail her marketing meeting.

I'm expecting her to have real understanding of budgets,

that she knows how much every one of those items would cost,

and that she's asked people for cost implications.

I just think, even though Valentine's is a must,

everyone is going to be doing Valentine's.

I always find that when I'm single around Valentine's...

-Do anti-Valentine's!

-Yes, that's what I'm saying.

Like not got a boyfriend, not got a thing.

It's odd not to be in that room. I'm trying to keep myself back.

They've had a manicure and pedicure

and then they get a scratchcard or something.

There was a company that I did it for and I went back in

and I got free garlic bread, I wasn't happy.

They said yesterday someone won a holiday to Florida,

and I was like... "I got garlic bread?"

I think everyone should be able to win something,

but I don't mean as much a prize, it could just be two quid off a polish.

So everyone gets something,

but not something where it's going to cost us.

But they might get garlic bread.

Yeah, they might get garlic bread. That would be so cute though.

She engaged all the team, definitely motivated.

I think she's got the likeability factor,

everyone in my team really likes her.

It's two thumbs up for Sacha.

In Oxford, Chris presents his collection of hats to Ed.

-Good, so take me through it.

-OK.

These are the wool, like, trilby ones and these are the premium.

The pork pie will be just sort of shorter,

that's it, a shorter brim to be in, err...

When you pull all these out there's got to be a customer in mind, right?

It could be the sort of a smart, erm, mid-30s in a suit.

Put it on, it's sort of trendy.

Is that something that you're seeing on the street?

Yeah, yeah.

I could see, yeah, people wearing it on the street, like...

Yeah, you can imagine walking down the street

and seeing people with it on.

And that's the sort of image I've got.

Mm-hmm. So tell me the rejects.

Something like this wouldn't really appeal much.

-What? Too Crocodile Dundee?

-Yeah.

I think the selection was a little on the safe side.

Safe's OK, not great.

It's the slow train home for Chris.

At Nails Inc, Thea finally gets into the boardroom

to hear her company's new marketing strategy.

So say someone's had a treatment, a manicure or a pedicure

and they're the select people that get kind of a scratchcard

with a prize in it, maybe £2 off a certain treatment,

maybe it will be a nail polish.

Did you ask Caroline, or Heather, or Olivia

what the cost implication would be of giving away those kind of services?

No, I didn't.

And you know I like numbers.

I know you like numbers and I've disappointed you again.

She didn't focus on financials, which was disappointing because we talked about numbers and targets

and cost implications yesterday, so missed that trick today.

I was thinking mini me, mini polishes, maybe a mini makeover,

for the children's nails, maybe it's a five minute nail polish

and it's collaborated with the mothers having it.

Maybe a morning thing, it's a morning thing, get your children out of the house.

-Good Sacha, nice idea.

-Children on my mind.

We were going to use that as a positive not a negative.

She was creative, she had ideas and she ran a meeting

and she showed really good leadership skills today.

Have I lost my job Sacha?

No.

The tables have turned for our out of work journalist Kirsty

who finds herself being the reported, rather than the reporter.

So this brand new site over here,

I mean why should they go to the Huffington Post?

We consider it to be a fantastic opportunity,

particularly with reference to the education universities section.

A fantastic opportunity at a key moment to open up

a great discussion about something that

is going through an incredible amount of change

with regards to anything from early years, academies,

state schools, to fees.

The whole discussion around education is explosive,

and young people especially,

want somewhere where they can find positivity.

I think that's everything, so thank you very much for your time.

-OK, not a problem, thanks a lot.

-Bye.

-Kirsty thanks very much.

-Lovely to meet you.

Yes, and you.

-You all right?

-Did I say too much?

Erm, maybe a little bit, maybe a little bit.

If that was my media trainer, she would just say "slow down."

There were times when you completely lost me, I went off.

-Oh, really?

-Yeah. Because you kind of went rambling.

This is what I would say, that I'm quite good at doing.

So, you know, say that I'm not on top form.

Don't worry, there are times when I'm not on top form as well,

but the journalist doesn't give a shit.

It's just, you know, it's been a long time.

Back at Liberty, Ed needs a word or two with Chris.

You knew you were coming here today, and I don't know if I would have

come in jeans and a hoodie.

We were talking about what might be appropriate.

I think you just have to watch that.

I don't think that you have to come wearing a tie

-and all buttoned up, but just think about it.

-OK.

What a liberty!

If I was that bothered about it I would ask him, I would say,

"Give me your clothes," but I can't afford suits from downstairs,

you know, it's an expensive shop and I haven't got any money.

So far it's been tough at the top for three of our four MDs,

but for Ben, can a winning pitch turn his day around?

If this is a good idea then it could transform the salad bar

in 360 restaurants around the UK.

This could be big for him, it could be his making.

I'm starting to get that feeling in the stomach

and the heart's beating a little bit more,

and I just wanted to get it over and done with and get it finished.

You're going to hear my voice shake. I'll be like "oh, my God, what am I doing?"

If he puts himself forward, if he believes in his own success,

he can actually bring that success about.

This is something that will potentially set me up

for the rest of my life.

I'm not sure if I've met all of you, my name's Ben, nice to meet you,

Wand here is what I'm going to be talking about today,

salad's of the seven seas.

The vision is to transport customers around the world by their tastebuds,

taking them on a voyage of discovery of food in the family atmosphere.

On the one hand I just really felt proud of him,

sort of seeing him present there. The passion he displayed...

I have an idea that I was going to show you

but I'll mention it now...

I don't know if I should mention it now, yeah I'll mention it, sorry.

And then I just got so frustrated because he just keeps

putting himself down, and I don't know why he does that.

I'm not going to lie,

you are probably thinking that some of the stuff that I've presented is crap, that's fine,

but I think this idea can work.

If it's crap then why did you present it?

No, I'm not saying... I don't think it's crap, I think it can work.

You just said, "some of the stuff I presented was crap."

No, I didn't say... I said some of the stuff from your, you've gone through it all.

Why do you think we think that it will be crap, what you're presenting?

Because you've done it all before and this is the first time for me.

I'm passionate about it,

I think it's a good idea. I think it can work.

Don't assume it's crap.

'Pretty often in life you don't get a second chance,

'and if you come across as doubtful, self-deprecating,'

not really believing in yourself as a first impression,

then people switch off.

You planted some really good ideas into our heads.

I like the idea of people thinking of coming to Pizza Hut

-specifically to get the salad.

-Thank you.

Having the flavours of the world, the seven seas,

that kind of gives a reason to it, so I do love that idea.

Inspiring families of Britain to have even more salad,

by enticing them with interesting flavours,

I think is a really big idea.

That has made me really happy.

We'd quite like you as our MD, actually Ben.

LAUGHTER

You always keep putting yourself down.

It almost feels to me that you're apologetic about yourself.

You felt passionate about your idea, you thought it was a good idea,

so why did you let yourself be distracted by that other stuff?

It might stem from my childhood, or something,

like elements to do with my mum, and just things like there wasn't

much praise there, and it was more criticism than praise.

The moment you feel yourself getting self-critical,

you need to recognise this as something that's triggering inside

that's a weakness and that you have to overcome.

I think there's some bruising there, there's some wounds from his past

that he's still carrying around with him.

And I think if he can understand what these are,

and if he can work on them,

then I think the greatness can come out.

At the end of the day today is my day, I did it and I'm proud about myself.

And this is probably the first time I've actually

felt like this through this whole process,

to be proud about myself, and about what I've done.

See you later guys. Take care, have a good night.

As Ben leaves his office for the day he has plenty to think about.

Specifically we've got three people that would love to talk to you.

Don't just limit your conversations to those three because there's plenty of other people there.

And as the other MDs head home,

Kirsty's attending a networking event in the West End.

Do you imagine, I suppose, content?

She's asking great questions but she's getting a bit stuck.

She probably needs to get his card and move on.

I need to pull you away because I need to have you work the room.

-I'm Nick, Nick Hines.

-I'm Carl as you can see on my card.

Ah, thank you very much.

-Kirsty, I'd like you to meet Eileen.

-Hello, Eileen.

Nice to meet you, hi.

So AOL Travel launched today, and we've rebranded it

so it did already exist, but now we're bringing everything in.

I thought she was very bright. I was interested in what she was doing.

She gave me some insight that I didn't know about. I'm quite impressed, yeah.

I think I just made a deal, actually, genuinely.

For our four recruits, their intense work experience

is now drawing to a close.

Maybe tomorrow it will hit me that I'm back to the old life I had before.

It's a mixed emotions at the moment.

Yeah, it's my last day, I want to go out on a bang. It's been a good experience.

It's been a really, really long process which has, at points,

proven to me some of the things that are necessary for jobs.

It's a bit emotional, last day and that.

But, no, it's going to be good, I'm going to make the most of it.

For Chris, it's a day of huge responsibility.

Look at you, smart today.

I made an effort.

He's been given the task to make Liberty

more attractive to younger customers.

What you think, you know, perhaps is missing from the assortment,

or what else we could bring in.

And then he'll have to present his strategy to senior management.

It's particularly interesting and useful for me

to hear from another generation.

Also charged with pushing the business

towards new customers is Sacha at Nails Inc.

What you're doing today is take the business to a new arena,

somewhere we don't currently sell - fashion boutiques.

And you're basically going to do a pitch to them,

to try and secure Nails Inc in their stores.

She's got to stand up and deliver that pitch herself,

that's her pitch.

She hasn't got me to fall back on or any of the team to fall back on.

This is, like, scary.

We've given her a huge amount of responsibility.

I have to pull my finger out of my arse.

No panic, I'll be fine.

It's 11 o'clock now and we've got three hours left.

Over at Pizza Hut HQ,

Jens is also looking to push Ben out of his comfort zone.

As long as you stay in safe territory, you don't progress.

I need to get a clearer sense of who Ben is,

what Ben really thinks is important in life.

Write me a one page manifesto, which sounds very political,

but a one page that's very sincere,

honest manifesto to say, well, this is what I am

and this is what I want to do and this is what I want to be in life.

What you think you've learned in your life so far

and how you can use that to have an impact

on others and have an impact on events around you.

Because, as a leader, you need to know that.

Ben seems to me like a guy who is actually very ambitious,

who wants to achieve a lot of things in his life,

and if he wants to do that

then he needs to make himself feel really uncomfortable quite often.

Hello.

Morning. Did you get back OK yesterday?

For Kirsty it's the morning after the night before,

and Kate has some interesting observations.

Last night, I spoke to the people that you spoke to

and Spencer quite interestingly said that

he felt that you were interviewing him like a journalist.

-Oh, right.

-Yeah.

There is a big difference between

a business meeting and a social event.

And the art of business conversation in a social event

is a very tricky thing to learn.

Someone else with things to learn is Chris.

He's on the shop floor searching

for what appeals most to his generation.

The real test will be walking around the store and seeing if

you can identify areas that

can truly add to the profitability of a business.

That's a St Clements, so really British flavour.

Which one was your favourite?

Not that one.

What would you do to sort of get people in?

One of the ways is through talking to the press and getting products...

'They are listening to me.'

I don't know if they're being polite.

-Do young people come here?

-People shopping in home furnishings and fabrics

are a bit older, maybe 30s and 40s.

'I don't think it's for my age range, there's nothing'

really stands out for me and makes me want to come in.

Time is ticking for Sacha

and with not long left before her presentation,

she's slowly realising that there's more to nails than just the polish.

Yeah, no, I've probably blown it.

I'm waiting for her to come in and expect me to show her something.

I'm in hell right now.

-Hi, Sacha.

-Hi.

-How're you doing?

-Awful.

Really? Why are you awful?

I think I just let the pressure get to me

and I'm literally totally...

Having that panic attack?

Why don't you present to me what you've got?

I haven't got anything to present.

I'll give you another half hour at this

and come back and we'll look at that presentation.

-OK.

-Sold?

-Sold.

-Good.

-Thank you.

I was petrified she was going to tell me

to get out of her office.

In one way I was kind of hoping she was.

In another way, of course, I didn't.

She's done a lot, don't you think? She has.

I have to be her and really be her, and I haven't been her this morning.

I've been quiet and secretly dying inside.

The most important thing for me is that she grows in confidence in this,

that she doesn't come out of this knocked.

She's got potential, that girl.

I want her to rise to the challenge, I want her to succeed.

I want her to do well

and I want her to feel confident and do a good job.

Hi, Jens, sorry. Here is a copy of my manifesto.

-Fantastic.

-Would you like to have a read?

I will do that and we'll have a chat about it.

Yeah, definitely, enjoy it.

He sees the potential in people and he knows how he can bring

that potential out of people, and that's why he is an MD.

He can help me to realise my potential and I can move on.

I found it very touching, actually, some of the things that he's writing.

I don't clearly want to question any of his beliefs

because they're his, this is what makes Ben.

But what I want to try and help him to do is

to focus less on the negative ones and focus more on the positive ones.

I'm seeing a lot of introspection and self-awareness coming out of it

so I'm very impressed and also quite moved.

Nobody in this business knows every shade for 200,

we'd all fail the quiz.

So, Magnet. Oh...

You're doing OK, Magnet nail polish, what's wrong with you?

I don't know.

Before delivering her pitch, Sacha has a dress rehearsal in front of her staff and Thea.

-I'm trying to remember.

-It's all right, you'll do it.

You know, US American Vogue are featuring it. American Vogue...

-Both American and UK Vogue are featuring it.

-OK.

Both American and UK Vogue are featuring it

because it is a reasonable price, it's £15.

Just think if I had weeks at this I'd be, like, excellent.

OK, Sacha, a pop quiz.

-St James's.

-Mm-hm. St James's.

-St James's.

-St James's, you're confident, St James's.

St James's is rich, um, rich...

Why red though?

Red is new for autumn/winter, it's going to be the...

It's the biggest colour of this winter. As you know...

As you know, it's the biggest colour...

It's the biggest colour for this winter.

As you know, it's the biggest...

-Red is the biggest colour for this winter.

-OK.

-Confidence, what have you done? You've nailed it!

-I've nailed it.

I've nailed it. I'm womaned up.

She's womaned up and she's nailed it.

I love that, "nailed it", it's very...

I love "womaned up", I'm sticking with womaned up.

She could, if she pulls it together and she stops feeling so jittery,

she could wing it.

A lot of pressure, really.

I'd like to have the time to think about things a bit more.

-Some things work, some don't.

-There's just more to it than I thought.

Some things go, some things stay.

He did say "no pressure", but I think he's lying.

We constantly reinvent business.

I'm just not sure this is his passion.

After some thorough research, Chris is about to reveal

how his management team could attract new customers.

The name Liberty is luxury and people will know,

remember that for, like, years and years to come.

If I was walking along the street and, you know,

I saw something that attracted me, or if I was on Facebook

and I saw something that says Liberty's,

showing the product's affordable, I'd be, like, "I never knew that."

And next time I'm walking past, I would come in, have a look.

Big interaction, you've just got to get in their faces

and just show people...

He's got a massive hammer, hasn't he?

LAUGHTER

-Hello.

-Hello.

I'm Sacha, representing Nails Inc today.

'It is all in Sacha's hands'

and Sacha is currently a bit wobbly, to say the least.

I'll go through some of our products,

and this is sort of, you know, just a recommended kind of...

..a recommended piece for your, boutique,

and it's a great base prima, a primer for the nails.

She was too far behind an hour ago and she was still making mistakes on products.

I said to her if she'd known that pitch two hours ago,

she would have delivered an amazing pitch.

Because there are young people along the streets, walking past,

going to Carnaby Street, and it will get young people through the door.

'Today's presentation I thought was really good.

'He was confident.'

Other little ideas I've had, you could do a Liberty student card

and you'll always have that.

My idea was to bring vintage clothes to keep with

the unique quirkiness of the area.

You could do apps, you could do a shopping app, you could do a game.

He had these ideas.

We may take a few of them on board.

Keep it small but take a risk.

THEY CLAP

Thank you.

LAUGHTER

It was really good. I thought I done quite well.

This is what I wanted, get my foot in the door,

and I could do that, I could apply for a job here

with full confidence that I've had experience with it now.

Now this is our Magnetic Polish. We haven't even launched this yet.

We have people blogging about it,

we're going to have a feature in US Vogue, um, UK Vogue.

Finally finding her feet,

Sacha is impressing Thea as well as the potential clients.

-Are you enjoying your treatments so far?

-Yeah.

You look like you're enjoying it!

Everyone's done the body and the face,

and now it's to take care of the hands.

To me it's fashion and hopefully you'll see it's fashion as well.

No-one could've done better

in the minutes that she had to learn it, cos she was so behind.

She is super-disorganised, she's got a lot of star qualities.

I think she's good.

In order for you to get the most out of this experience,

there are just little things that I think you can concentrate on.

You are always striving to be perfect,

and I think maybe you should sit back and give yourself

a bit of credit, because you are exceptional for a 23-year-old.

So just be a bit more comfortable in your skin,

and let your guard down a little bit because that can sometimes

be construed as either a little bit edgy or a little bit arrogant.

I can only say that I just think this is really unfair, because you know, this is...

Why do you think it's unfair?

Because this genuinely isn't representative of me.

-I would never... The meltdown that I had on Monday, that isn't me.

-OK.

Having read Ben's manifesto, Jens wants a man-to-man chat.

I see a number of what I would call negative beliefs.

Put those to one side and say, "Well, here are my strengths,

"this is what is good about Ben, and I'm going to make damn sure that I'm going to act on that."

And use these positive beliefs to make a difference around you.

You have a university degree, you're clever, you're great with people -

despite all the things that life has thrown at you.

OK? And that should give you a lot of inner strength.

It's this putting yourself down and this self-doubt that you need to somehow control.

It will always somehow be there.

The only thing you can do is to build an ability to control it and to overcome it.

-Yeah.

-OK?

And it is going to be a long and hard journey

but it's got to be done, to erm...

allow me to be able to reach my potential,

so yeah, I take on board everything you're saying, and thank you.

But you need to just work on your presence.

That Kirsty, when she walks through the door and goes for that job -

it's not the CV that makes the impact, it's you.

I would've loved, Kate, to come and work for you

and show you exactly how I work,

and I don't think I've had the opportunity to do that...

Oh, no, you're being very negative.

One thing that you must do is accept criticism gracefully

without taking it personally.

I know it seems like I'm not taking in what you say, and I am.

No, you are - and you have every right to defend yourself.

-I'll say again, this is just feedback.

-Yeah, of course.

It's been a long process. She's obviously not seen all of that.

I do probably need to be a bit more comfortable in my own skin.

But, not all of our recruits have found being an MD such a tough ride.

We've put this little plaque together for you about what we appreciate about you.

-I got some people to write some things.

-Oh, my God.

That is brilliant. Thank you! That is brilliant.

I'm going to give you a hug as well!

-Best of luck.

-I want a hug, come here.

See you later.

-Cheers, thank you.

-Send me an e-mail when you get home.

'I've learnt a lot, and that's what I wanted to do.

'It's been brilliant. I've had a really good time of it.'

'He's actually a very talented guy, with a huge amount of abilities.'

I've got the potential - it's just reassured me.

'She's a total role model, and she's all the sorts of things that I strive to be.'

I don't WANT to be an MD, I WILL be an MD.

This experience was definitely a challenge.

It was a fantastic opportunity to get to do loads of different jobs.

You learn all sorts of things, you know.

Finally, I've got a job -

it was a guy who I met at the AOL networking event.

He just kind of gave me a job, really.

One step closer to Downing Street.

I enjoyed the experience a lot.

Look at that one.

I'm having a brilliant time!

'I still think I'm really lucky to have an experience that not many people are going to.

'I want to be back at that level again.

'I'm definitely moving to London,

'so it's just a matter of getting a job, and then doing it.'

Yeah, done everything...

I feel like I've changed loads.

Anyone want to share a bath with me...? Gracias.

Thea told me, you know, you have great ideas, go with them.

And she's inspired me, and I'm just in a good place at the moment, I think I am in a really good place.

I've womaned up! I have.

You're super-employable and you're super-bright,

and you're capable of much more than you think you are.

The insecurities aren't going to affect me as much as they used to, I guess.

Yes!

-Hi, Ben, how are you? How have you been? Everything all right?

-I'm good.

If Jens said, "I want you to work in head office," I'd jump at it.

So what do you want me to do with your CV?

Just... I'm going to send it to you and see if there's anything that you think

needs to be changed, and what's good about it and what's bad

and what I should er...highlight a lot more in interviews, I guess.

-Yeah, I'd be happy to do that.

-Oh, brilliant.

-Anything else I can do for you, Ben?

-Erm...no, I'm OK.

-You're OK?

-Yeah.

-Excellent.

-All right. Well, let me take you to the door.

-OK.

The ball's lying there right in front of the goal and he's not kicking it in.

I haven't asked him for a job because...

..he...

In a moment I think I'll just erm... reassess my situation.

Maybe I should just go in and ask him for a job.

I can't go back in there now, can I?

What do you think I should do?

INAUDIBLE

Wow!

Thank you.

If you want to find out how to become a more successful job hunter,

go to...

Woo-hoo!

You can take part in the Get Yourself Hired test,

and get personal advice from The Apprentice winner Tim Campbell.

MUSIC: "Once In A Lifetime" by Talking Heads

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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