Considering Lee lied about how lied on his C.V. and Lucinda was fired just for being too 'zany'. Should Lee have been fired instead of Lucinda?

I thought Lee was very lucky not to be fired last night. Sir Alan didnt seem too impressed with his lie. I still think that it was right that Lucinda was fired first but I felt sure that Lee would follow her out the door.

I couldn't believe they all seemed to dismiss it because he was embarrassed about his education

HE LIED!!!

There is NO excuse, he wrote something untrue to try and give himself an advantage. Someone was denied a place in this series let alone the final because he is dishonest.

The lie was quite a big deal, I thought. My bf and I thought that Suralan and the BBC couldn't really be seen to condone that, we were surprised when the panel were so sympathetic. But then, I'd have fired Alex for backstabbing a colleague and Helene for badmouthing them behind their backs, so that really only left Claire.

Although a Claire/Lucinda final would certainly have been interesting.

I think Lucinda was the right person to go. I think she's great but she's not the right person to be the apprentice. She has a raised profile right now so let's hope she can cash in and get lots of offers, good luck to her.

I think Lee deserves the chance to be in the final. It wasn't great what he did but I would put it more as embellishment than a lie. How many people out there have not made revisions to their cv to suit a particular interview? He's much more SAS' type and I would prefer him to win over Claire. Don't think the others have got a hope. Alex yuck ....

Embellishing CV's is commonplace. It was a foolish thing to do especially for a TV show and he should have held his hand up sooner but I'd have let it slide... indeed I'd have been more likely to fire him for the atrocious spelling mistakes. It shows a lack of professionalism to not spell check or ask someone to proof read something as important as a CV. This from someone who has been working in recruitment. Shocking.

Everyone and their dog has exaggerated stuff on their CV, but there seems to be a difference, to me, between the kind of exaggeration that usually goes on (I have conversational French, I am an accomplished gourmet cook, I attend high brow theatre and concerts in my spare time, I was a pivotal member of the brownie cake sale committee), and lying about a qualification, or how long you've spent in an educational establishment.

Four months turning into two years, that's not really a minor exaggeration, is it?

According to consultancy firm The Risk Advisory Group (TRAG) one in five CVs contain lies.

I've worked in recruitment and I've caught a number of applicants out when I have asked for GCSE/A level certificates as proof of their grades.

A number also lie about how much sick leave they've taken and also how long they've worked for a firm - adding a few months here and there can soon hide any apparent gaps in your CV.

I think Lee embellished his CV because he is embarassed about his qualifications - or rather lack of them.

Lee is a bit 'rough and ready' but I actually believe that he or Claire would be the best employees for SAS

No. He has won both his tasks as a PM and he won 7 tasks as a team player and each task he won, he was active.

Lucinda herself doesn't think that Lee should have gone before her and she wants him to win.

Lee is obviously very insecure about his educational background. He didn't need to lie and I believe even if his lie had not been discovered until later, it wouldn't have made any difference. He didn't claim to be someone he wasn't and he didn't say that he had a university degree.

Actually if someone should have been fired for writing something on his CV, Michael would have been the one. Writing that he is a "good Jewish boy" in his CV when he clearly doesn't know anything about judiasm shows his complete lack of integrity.

Out of all the remaining 4, he needs the opportunity the most and will make the most of it. I know that SAS is not a charity but I truely believe that Lee has earned his place in the final and he will do his best to do the job.

Thats going a bit far! Do you honestly think that Lee was chosen over somebody else because the BBC saw that he had attended a course 20 months longer then he originally said? In the scheme of things I dont regard it as a big lie, he has more than proven himself over the last few weeks. I do think it was incredibly foolish though to include it in an application form for a tv show, it was more than likely that the facts were going to be very carefully checked. However, having said that IIRC, candidates have exaggerated their salaries in previous series and I remember Tre getting a hard time last year because one of the interviewers didnt believe that he had offices all across the world.

While we're comparing the two, Lucinda's dyslexic too but managed to spell check and get friends to review her cv for her.
Oh, and not lie.

Spelling mistakes does not necessarily mean someone is dyslexic.

Lee continued to lie when caught out, would he do the same in a work environment with colleagues?

I would have fired him on the spot.

I think he should have been fired, most definitely. His reaction when he got found out was pitiful. Similar to Michael's reaction when he was being caught out for lying.

They were moaning about Alex's lack of a great rounded CV - why didn't he just put on there that he did a 2 year stint in charge of PepsiCo or Sony?!

You're correct - I believe that Lee claimed to be dyslexic at some point in the show, but it may be my memory failing me. It actually may have been Claire Balding who got that thought into my head, in which case I'm misleading above - well called out.

Either way, there are ways and means available to all to get their CV's spelling as accurate as possible.

If you're insecure about your formal education, go out and get some proper qualifications part time.

What sort of signal is this programme sending out is the real question? i presume that a lot of teenagers looking to business are engrossed in a reality programme that is educational for once. It is imperative that we give out the right message and that should be that lying is not acceptable. He should have been fired on the spot to make sure it is understood that integrity and honesty are vital. Also there is no excuse for poor spelling standards when the cv is going to have such a high profile, the fact that he didn't get it checked and double checked shows he is not apprentice material at all.

This is the point a lot of the posters above have missed - Lee was given several opportunities to fess up to his 'exageration', but carried on with the lie until the interviewer had to get out the letter from the University.
So its not a case of lying on the CV - its lying to the interviewer's face and continuing to do so even when pressed.

Answer: No.

I found it slightly odd.

Why would he feel insecure about his education when he's trying to work for a man who has less qualifications than him? And past winners like Michelle had about 4 GCSE's yet they won so I'm finding Lee's comments pretty much lies to be honest.

Because he is insecure about his education in general and not in the context of the job!! If a girl is insecure about her appearance for example to the extent that she puts makeup all the time, she doesn't think if she is going to meet good-looking people or not. She just puts on her makeup and go out.

I don't think it is dishonesty. Most of us have lied or at least exaggerated in their CVs. The statistics confirm that. He is a worthy candidate and deserves to be in the final.

I don't know, but I think he kept him because Lee appears to want it more than Lucinda does.

I was surprised that Lucinda went as I thought she was almost certain to be in the final two. But I did predict that if anything would work against her that it would be that although she's an excellent manager she never seemed to be good at being able to be managed.

I agree. I cannot understand why people are just shrugging the whole business off. He was dishonest and was given a chance to tell the truth straight away but chose to continue being deceitful.

That does of course make the massive assumption that it was the only lie on his CV. It was the only one that was spotted.

I still maintain there is nothing to be embarrassed about not having a degree, there is a LOT to be embarrassed about being a liar.

I think that if SAS wanted to fire Lucinda, that's his prerogative, but I really do feel that Lee should have been fired as well for lying on his C.V. If he could only fire one person, then yes, I do think that Lee should have gone instead of Lucinda as soon as SAS found out about his C.V.

I always thought that lots of businesses would use that for instant dismissal if they found that someone had lied on their C.V, so am very surprised that SAS kept Lee in the running regardless. It's hardly as though he was embellishing his hobbies or anything like that- he lied about his time spent in education and by quite a stretch too.

Lying on one's C.V. should not be rewarded.

As to the question should Lee been fired over Lucinda then the answer in a nutshell is no.
Lee was sailing against the wind & was dreadful from the footage we seen.