As Lord Sugar’s right-hand man on BBC1’s The Apprentice, Claude Littner is famous for his face-to-face confrontations with the candidates. He rips apart their trumped-up CVs and casts withering stares as they try to bluster their way through a question they have no hope of answering well. 

So you would not expect him to be encouraging, helpful and forgiving when it comes to advising others on getting a job. Yet, in How to Get a Job (a 52-page special magazine full of job-hunting advice, which is free with the 27 January issue of TES), he is all these things and more.

In an interview that picks apart every process of a job hunt - from selecting a school all the way through to accepting or being rejected for a job - Claude offers the benefit of his broad experience in recruitment and in business (you can find the TES careers hub here).

For example, on covering letters, he offers the following words of wisdom:

“You should use the covering letter as a way to show that you have a particular interest in that school or the local area, perhaps explaining that you know about an issue they face,” he says. “It’s all about helping to give someone reading your application a connection to you, so they get a sense of who you are and that you’re really interested in the job that’s being advertised.”

Interview technique

He has similarly useful advice on panel interviews. “What is important is that you don’t just look at one person, but try to engage with the entire panel,” he explains. “Often, people become too fixated on the person in the middle, and so end up ignoring the others. The trouble with that is that, afterwards, the other people say ‘that person never even looked at me’.” 

Of course, some of Claud’s TV personality does sneak in, such as when he is discussing what you should put down as your hobbies.

“Hobbies and interests are useful, as they can show what kind of person you are, but don’t over-egg it - half a day’s charity work does not make you Mother Teresa,” he warns. 

His main message, though, is that candidates should be more confident: “There is so much competition for everything now, so getting an interview is a great achievement in itself.” 

To read the full interview, which is full of essential advice on job hunting and interviews, pick up the 27 January issue of TES.