On my first day of work in RecruitIreland.com  I thought I would be very clever and avoid paying for parking by leaving my car at a friend’s house, just a short walk from the city centre. However, the shortcut that existed in mind did not exist in reality and so I ended up sprinting as fast as I could to make it in on time. Falling into the office out of breath was probably not the best first impression to make but apart from that things seemed to run fairly smoothly.

Luckily, soon after I joined the parking issue was sorted because we moved to our new office in Blackpool. Not only were we all more comfortable in the new office but it also helped us stop spending all our wages at lunch time.

Elaine returned from maternity leave so I finally got to meet the famous “Golden Girl” of the office. I was somehow roped into writing the reviews of the Apprentice for the blog which led to me being known as the Sales Assassin. It’s an affectionate term….I think.

We had a thrilling training day in Kilkenny that year. Activities included target shooting, orienteering, sumo wrestling and canoeing. Thankfully it was a gorgeous day as myself and Mags’ boat capsized in the river. Here is a pic of that day while we were still dry.

There was success in the Marketing department too as the “Objects” campaign won more awards, an ICAD award was given for the Tick radio ad, Ink and Line press ads, shown here.

Also this year:

• An Irish General Election took place
• Kerry won the All Ireland Football Championships
• Kilkenny won the All Ireland Hurling Championships
• X-Factor winner Leon took the Christmas number 1

Farewell Breffny, we never thought you could win but you were very entertaining! No doubt your remaining team mates will be worse off without your Harvard influence and 10 years of rowing experience. One thing is for certain, the quote of the week section of the “You’re Fired” show will never be the same again.

After weeks of exciting and challenging tasks the candidates didn’t look quite as enthusiastic about selling nasal strips this week. However, the task was going to be a great opportunity for the salespeople to shine and for Bill to find out who was “hiding in the long grass”.

It didn’t take long before Steve Rayner (that’s English accent Steve, as opposed to red-haired Steve) was giving a master class in sales. He seemed to have no problem setting up appointments and orders kept flying in. He was actually impressive to watch, while his team mates Lucinda and red-haired Steve seemed to be struggling to pull in a handful of small orders.

Over on Geraldine’s team, it’s fair to say Breff’s sales pitch wasn’t exactly inspired. “We’re just trying to offload these nasal strips around Dublin to help people with snoring and help athletes breathe and sure maybe you might buy some for yourself”. Eventually, Geraldine had to take over doing all of the pitching and even donated a sale to Breff out of pity.

Meanwhile, Aoiffe was only concerned with doing enough to save herself from being fired but she didn’t really care whether her team won or lost. When Bill revealed that she had lost a sale worth a few thousand euro I thought for a second she had reacted with a shocked expression on her face, but when her expression hadn’t changed 10 minutes later I realised that’s just how she looks all the time.

I actually thought Aoiffe’s mistake might have saved Breff yet again but when Breff mentioned the word “Warrior” you could see the fire in Bill’s eyes. I loved Breff’s speech as he left the boardroom, only because he had clearly been practising it in the mirror since week one!

Incidentally, Bill mentioned that Breff had a lack of integrity for accepting a sale from Geraldine but if he’s firing people on that basis then surely Aoiffe will go next. Being ruthless is one thing, trying to blame everything on the project manager to cover yourself is another. But I digress.

And what’s the story with TV3 moving our beloved Apprentice back an hour to make room for “I used to be a celebrity, please revive my career” of all things! Bad form TV3, bad form.

Let us know what you thought about this week’s show and about poor Breff’s departure. Leave your comments below.

I think we should all feel sorry for Bill Cullen. When he picks his Apprentice this year it’s quite possible he will have nothing for them to do. I mean, he can’t trust them with numbers, he can’t really ask them to do anything innovative and he certainly can’t allow them to do any kind of presentation, to anyone, ever.

Another great task this week; the candidates were challenged to create an original drinks measure to promote responsible drinking. Somehow, the candidates became confused very early on and started creating measuring jugs.

Platinum’s “Buddy” concept wasn’t bad but the container itself ended up looking like a child’s toy and Lucinda managed to get all the alcohol measurements wrong on the packaging. Cuchulainn’s unfortunately titled “AlcoMeasure” didn’t seem to work on any level but it was at the presentation stage that this team fell apart completely.

The Breffmeister started off the presentation but soon forgot what he was talking about. Just when the team thought they had bypassed having the word “Alco” in their product title, Breff starts talking about how the product can aid with drink-driving. Then Geraldine starts talking about how the product could help a “young fella” mix cocktails without getting “hammered”. Enter Ruth, who tries to explain the price of the product while slowly realising her numbers make no sense. To top it off, when Aoiffe is asked to explain an obvious flaw in the packaging she tries desperately to make up a reason and fails miserably.

No prizes for guessing which team up in the boardroom then. The unstoppable Breffmeister was sent back to the house (“Sweating like Christy Moore” as he put it) while the girls fought it out in the boardroom. Aoiffe and Geraldine only had to fight with each other though because it was clear Ruth was going to be the one to go.

And then there were six. If the shows follows the usual format then there’s just one more candidate to be fired before we see the final five go on to interview week. So who’s gonna go next?

Leave your comments below.

Another project manager bites the dust! Candidates should think carefully before nominating themselves for the top role, it seems to be a sure way to be fired.That’s not to say Brendan didn’t deserve to go, things didn’t run that smoothly for him. It could have been an awful lot worse for him though, at one stage I thought he was going to be knocked out by the Breffmeister! A black eye is bad but I couldn’t see Brendan’s ego ever recovering from that. 

Another challenging task this week as the candidates were asked to come up with a new product for Spar to launch this Christmas with profits going to the charity 3Ts (Turning the Tide of Suicide). This included product selection, packaging, marketing, budgeting, presentation and incorporation of the 2 brands. I rarely stick up for the candidates but I think they could have done with a little more time on this one.  

The key thing in the brief they got from Spar was to be innovative. There was a mention of one of the teams selling chocolates shaped like reindeer excrement but that was thankfully shot down. 

Steve’s team went with a Teddy Bear holding a candy cane which didn’t really excite anyone but I can forgive Steve’s team of anything because they had the handicap of having Sam in their presentation. Sam seemed to think she was reading a story to a group of small children rather than giving a business proposal to a prospective client.  The rest of the team could only stand and pray for her to finish as quickly as possible. 

Brendan’s team would have done better if they had just listened to Breffny (please take a moment to re-read the last statement). Yes, Brendan took Breffny’s original Christmas cracker idea, somehow decided to fill it with Jelly Beans and then decided to get rid of the cracker and just sell the Jelly Beans.What made this worse was that Brendan seemed to think he’d made some kind of shrewd business decision. Breffny almost decided to take things into his own hands in the boardroom but he somehow managed to restrain himself. 

Surprisingly enough, Spar agreed to go ahead with the Teddy Bear idea from Steve’s team and we will soon be seeing them on sale nationwide. I may be able to overlook Sam’s presentation seeing as it is for charity.  

So folks, could this week be a turn around for Breffny? Who do you actually want to win? Leave us your comments below.

I was thrilled to see Bill would have the chance to fire our singing school teacher this week. “Here we go” I thought as they gathered in the boardroom. There she was, sitting in the firing line, bags packed and taxi waiting outside the door…… And then Bill fires Maria!!! Did you not see the Daniel O Donnell impersonation Bill?! 

Anyway, another good task last night as the candidates were challenged to create a 30 second TV advert for Meteor. I thought Lucinda’s Priest/ Bride concept was an excellent idea although it didn’t turn out as well as it could have. On the other team, Meteor seemed to like Steve’s Marathon ad but I thought he started with a joke first and then tried to make the rest of the ad fit in with it rather than actually coming up with a good concept.  

Of course, poor Steve had Samantha to deal with and the tension was clear from the start. Steve tried to be as diplomatic as possible; “She can be quite enthusiastic and a little aggressive”. He almost blamed himself at one point saying; “I haven’t really worked with her before so I just need to get used to her style”. But it didn’t take long till Steve saw that Samantha is in fact a walking nightmare and his attitude quickly changed to “Honestly, I just can’t work with you”. Can anybody work well with her I ask? 

The losing team’s project manager, Maria, was right to bring in Steve and Samantha but she didn’t really put her case across well once she got in the boardroom and it’s becoming clear that Bill can find a way to blame everything on the project manager. Although, fair play to Meteor for commenting on Maria’s poor presentation. There are far too many people that seem to think throwing around some buzz words and saying things like “allow me to set the scene” make for a good presentation.   

Maria might have saved herself had she brought the Breffmeister back into the boardroom. He pulled another fast one this week and survived by doing absolutely nothing. He didn’t even deny it. Again Breff, I don’t know how you get away with it. 

We had some comments to the blog last week picking Lucinda as the one to watch and she did do very well in this task. I do find that when she’s talking to Bill or last night with the Meteor representatives for example, she tries to pass off mistakes as part of her strategy and also seems to compliment people on how good their questions are. Does she expect them to say “Thanks Lucinda, I wasn’t too sure about that one till I put it out there ya know”? 

Anyway, could it be safe to say we might be seeing Lucinda Vs Geraldine for the final? Geraldine didn’t do too well last night but she did manage to get a €10 discount per prop which I thought was excellent. Breffny clearly didn’t even consider it. While Geraldine negotiated you could see Breffny thinking “how much does one tip a retail assistant?”. 

So who do you think will be in the final?

Apologies for the delay - this week`s and the first victim of the New Year is Elaine O Brien so here`s all the wacky and wonderful info you always wanted to know...

Full Name? Elaine Mary Theresa O’Brien
Nickname? " golden girl" by Ronan O’Callaghan ONLY! ( RecruitIreland.com employee)
Birthplace? Cork
Eye colour? Green
Hair colour? Blonde
Marital status? Married
Children? 1
What do you do in RecruitIreland.com and how long have you been there? Business Development and I’m proud to be here since the very start November 1999.
What would be your last meal if on death row? It would have to be my mothers Sunday roast…. with the works, veg, mash and potato gratin! And mum’s baked Alaska for desert! Yum yum yum!
What is your drink of choice? Big Coffee fan!! Like to kick start the day with a very strong one. Alcohol, I enjoy a few glasses of red wine…. and on a wild night! A few tia maria’s ha!!
favourite sweets/chocolate/dessert? Not a big chocolate fan, give me a ‘pic & mix’ any day.
What food do you dislike? Im not a fussy eater at all but had the misfortune years ago of tasting ‘tripe and drisheen’ never ever again!!
favourite TV show? At the moment " Bear in the Big Blue house" " Barney" " winnie the pooh" " tractor tom"
favourite Movie? Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. ( the original)
favourite CD at the moment? Rhianna
favourite sport to watch? None!!!
most overused phrase? "How is he?"
favourite restaurant? Augustine’s Restaurant, Washington St. Cork! Fantastic food and great setting.
favourite website(s)? Sky showbiz and Dailymail for all the gossip and BBC Good Food for all cooking tips.
What is your least favourite trait in others? Negativity!!
What time do you get up for work? On a good morning 6.45…
Where do you want to retire to? Swiss Alps and live like Heidi!..
Who was the first person you spoke to today on the phone? My hubby!
best/favourite holiday? Honeymoon 2005, in New York and Mexico!!!
favourite toy as a child? Tiny Tears!!
What three luxury items would you want if on a desert island? Mobile Phone, Pilot & Helicopter..
your dream/fantasy job? Fashon designer.
Something people don’t know about RecruitIreland.com? Charlie bought a new scarf for only €2 today!......

1. Full Name? Charles John Bigger
2. Nickname? The Sales Assassin/ Chaz
3. Birthplace? Malahide, Co. Dublin
4. Eye colour? Blue
5. Hair colour? Black
6. Marital status? The missus is quite interested in getting married but I’m happy to hold off for a few decades
7. Children? I have a Godchild and he’s enough of a handful. None for me for a while thanks.
8. What do you do in RecruitIreland.com and how long have you been there? Sales and I’ve been here over a year and a half.
9. What would be your last meal if on death row? A Sunday roast with all the trimmings
10. What is your drink of choice? Cider, I never grew out of it. And lots of coffee in work.
11. Favourite sweets/chocolate/dessert? Oreos cookies
12. What food do you dislike? Tomatoes & peppers
13. Favourite TV show? Top Gear, Dragons Den, The Apprentice
14. Favourite Movie? Lots of these….Seven, Fight Club, Scent of a Woman, Snatch, Crash, The Commitments
15. Favourite CD at the moment? In Rainbows by Radiohead
16. Favourite sport to watch? Mixed Martial Arts (UFC). I pretty much watch any sport except Soccer and GAA
17. Most overused phrase? No problem Gill!
18. Favourite restaurant? Since our xmas party….Packies in Kenmare!
19. Favourite website(s)? UFC.com, fivesouncesofpain.com, Entertainment.ie, ski-ireland.com
20. What is your least favourite trait in others? Arrogance
21. What time do you get up for work? About 7:15 ish depending on how many times I hit the snooze button
22. Where do you want to retire to? Japan or Hawaii
23. Who was the first person you spoke to today on the phone? Linda
24. Best/favourite holiday? Lads holiday: Holland 2000, Relaxing Holiday: Majorca 2008
25. Favourite toy as a child? My bike and action figures
26. What three luxury items would you want if on a desert island? Do the pussycat dolls count as one item? No? In that case some music, TV and a hammock.
27. Your dream/fantasy job? Top gear presenter. I’d be good too, I’m taller than Richard Hammond.
28. Something people don’t know about RecruitIreland.com? You have to be very careful what you do around here because you never know what Vicki could be blogging about