The Apprentice’s Tim Campbell on helping teens choose the right career path
The Apprentice’s Tim Campbell on helping teens choose the right career path
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As Lord Alan Sugar’s right-hand man in The Apprentice boardroom, Tim Campbell dishes out advice that can help make or break contestants’ careers. And now the businessman, who won the first series of The Apprentice, 20 years ago, is widening his advisory role off screen by helping the nation’s teenagers – and their parents – understand the new vocational and technical qualifications on offer that could shape their future careers.
Father-of-two Campbell, who worked for Lord Sugar for two years after winning The Apprentice, and is now on the board of several different enterprises and is also involved with NHS tech and leisure industry investments, is a founding member of the T-team – a group of technical education champions set up to help parents understand more about T-levels, the technical qualifications combining classroom learning with a 45-day industry placement.
And over half (53%) of 11-18-year-olds questioned felt nervous about starting work – although 78% thought a qualification including workplace experience would make them feel more confident about starting work. “We found more than 40% of parents had no clue about what they’re going to advise their children to do, and they’re not prepared for what’s going to come around tomorrow,” says Campbell, who is about to judge candidates in the new series of The Apprentice on BBC One at the end of this month.
“That can be really disheartening for a young person who’s looking to a parent for guidance on the ever-changing world of university versus apprenticeship versus technical education pathways. It’s very confusing, and if parents are confused themselves, we’re going to get wrong choices, and sometimes we’re going to get square pegs that fit in round holes.
