By Lauren Bishop / Enquirer staff writer

Samuel Davis, a marketing and management student at Xavier University, says he's learned from challenging situations during job internships. (Brandi Stafford photo illustration)

ON THE AIR

What: The Apprentice 2 season premiere When: 8:30-10 p.m. today Where: Channels 5, 2

THEY'LL BE WATCHING...

They all went to the Aug. 6 casting call for the third season of The Apprentice, and none of them got a call back. No matter. They'll still be watching The Apprentice 2 faithfully this season - and they've graciously offered to give us their takes on what they think will happen on upcoming episodes. Look for predictions from some of these Apprentice analysts every week starting Sept. 16. Aaron Baba, 42, Reading, an associate professor of chemistry at Xavier University, o is also a real estate investor. Doug Browning, 35, Anderson Township, currently in search of a new job. He has a background in sales. Brooke Goode, 34, Milford. Goode is a sales representative for www.nerac.com, an information services company. Nicole McWhorter, 30, Clifton. McWhorter is a family support worker for the Kentucky Cabinet for Health Services.

FIRED UP GEAR

Assuming you already own a "You're Fired" T-shirt, here are some new must-haves for fans of The Apprentice. • Trump the Game (Parker Brothers; $24.99). Originally launched in 1989, the object of the game - naturally - is to make the most money by buying up real estate. This time, there's a "You're Fired" card. • The Apprentice - The Complete First Season (Umvd; $59.98). A five-disc DVD set that includes deleted scenes, extended audition tapes, advice from first season contestants and "Donaldisms." • You're Hired: How to Succeed in Business and Life from the Winner of The Apprentice (HarperBusiness; $22.95). Two hundred pages of wisdom from Bill Rancic. • A 12-inch talking Donald Trump doll from Stevenson Entertainment Group is not yet available, but sign up at www.trumpdoll.com to find out when you can get it.

On the premiere of The Apprentice 2 today (8:30 p.m., Channels 5, 2), we'll see 18 men and women - including former Cincinnatian Elizabeth Jarosz who owns a consulting firm in Marina del Rey, Calif. - embark on the first of a series of challenges that will ultimately determine who gets hired by billionaire developer Donald Trump.

It's sure to be inspiring, among other things, to see who impresses Trump enough to escape hearing the dreaded words, "You're fired." But it'll be even more entertaining to watch what happens when someone messes up - or when someone stabs someone else in the back. Remember last season when Sam tried to sell a cup of lemonade on the street for $1,000? Or when Omarosa's blatant lying did Kwame in?

So to mark the start of the new season, we found a few young professionals who had some memorable experiences of their own at jobs or internships. And even without a nationwide audience to watch and analyze what happened, they all learned something from the experience.

Tim Burgin, 37, Villa Hills

Current occupation: Operations manager, Saturn of Western Hills

Nightmare situation: While in college at Bowling Green State University, Burgin worked as a clerk at a video store, and one of his supervisors had a crush on him. He ignored her come-ons, but some of the other employees decided to play a practical joke on him by sending her roses with a love note signed with his name. One day, the supervisor showed up at his doorstep "with love in her eyes," he says. When he told her he wasn't interested, she asked why he sent the flowers. "By the time the truth came out, my hours were reduced to nothing by her, and I finally left the job to work at the best job I ever had, a bartender at a great sports bar," he says.

Lesson learned: "I learned that work friends and your friends outside of work are two different groups," Burgin says. "I try to keep my work friends a little less personal. We'll do lunches together and talk at work, but when I go out on the weekends, I hate talking 'shop.' That's not an easy thing for some people, but I personally like having my time away from the office and all it contains."

Samuel Davis, 23,

Mount Auburn

Occupation: Marketing and management student, Xavier University

Nightmare situation: Davis says he's had great internships at several Fortune 500 companies and at the Greater Cincinnati Northern Kentucky African American Chamber of Commerce. But at one corporate internship, he says he worked with four people who constantly complained about their husbands, making him feel isolated and uncomfortable. Not only that, he says they asked him to "guesstimate" numbers for reports they were required to submit, rather than do the actual research. Regardless, he did his job and received a positive evaluation at the end of the internship.

Lesson learned: "Through experiencing annoyance and aggravation on the job, I learned that it is still possible to be productive and professional even in complicated situations," he says. "Not all high-class corporations have great departmental staffs. My experience was a memorable one, and I am appreciative, for I can honestly admit that it has made me a stronger individual and professional."

Anna Hehman, 23, Covington

Current occupation: Legal research assistant

Nightmare situation: In her second week at the job, a lawyer asked Hehman to look up an obscure legal opinion. She looked through the law firm's library and called other libraries without success, and the lawyer appeared and began yelling at her, telling her he needed the opinion right away. She managed to hold back tears until after he left, but then he came back, only to find her crying. "It's only going to get worse," she says he told her unsympathetically. "You should learn to buck up and be professional." After he left again, she called her parents.

Lesson learned: "You have to stand up to people," Hehman says. "Always ask when they want something. And never let them see you cry."

Angela Johnson-Warner, 33, North College Hill

Current occupation: Business development manager, Manpower Professional

Nightmare situation: Johnson-Warner was working for a health care company in a job that had three levels of skill. She was working in the highest level and found herself being given orders by a female co-worker who was working at the same level. When she complained to her boss, who had a penchant for patting her on the head, he told her that it wasn't unreasonable for her co-worker to give her orders. She quit, fed up with being viewed as younger than her 33 years. "It was a situation where I couldn't grow," she says.

Lesson learned: "When you don't use your skills, you lose them," she says.

Katherine Kern, 23,

Fort Wright

Current occupation: Research manager, Adow Professionals

Nightmare situation: Kern took a job at an advertising agency after negotiating her salary and benefits, which she didn't think she had to pay for. After her first 90 days on the job, however, she found that money was being deducted from her paycheck for her benefits, and that she didn't have the benefits she thought she would. When she raised the issue with her boss, her boss was taken aback and said she needed some time to think about the matter. A week later, the boss told Kern she was disappointed in her and implied she had been too aggressive. Kern eventually left the job.

Lesson learned: "You have to figure out what kind of manager you're dealing with up front. Don't work for someone who's going to take advantage of you," Kern says. "When they offer you a job, make sure you know exactly how much you're getting paid so you know going in. It's harder to bring it up afterward."

E-mail lbishop@enquirer.com