The Apprentice is a reality television show with each season beginning with a group of contestants vying to earn a place in one of Donald Trump's organizations. The contestants (who are referred to as candidates) come from backgrounds in various enterprises, but typically include backgrounds in real estate, accounting, restaurant management, consulting management, sales, and marketing. During the show, these contestants live in a communal penthouse, allowing their relationships to build. The only exception however, was in the sixth season, when the show moved to Los Angeles; Teams had been separated, with the winning team living in a mansion and the losing team taking up residence in tents located in the mansion's backyard. These candidates are placed into teams, and each week are assigned a task and required to sel ect a project manager for the task. The winning team receives a reward, while the losing team faces a boardroom meeting in order to determine which team member should be fired and eliminated from the show.

Eliminations proceed in two stages. In the first stage, the entire team is confronted with their loss in a boardroom meeting. The project manager is then asked to se lect up to either one, two, or three of their team members who are believed to belong in the final boardroom meeting. In the second stage, the rest of the team is dismissed, while the project manager and the sel ected members face a final boardroom showdown where at least one of the candidates is fired and subsequently leaves the show.

Trump reserves the right at times to do the following: not allow the losing project manager to choose who goes into the boardroom for a final hearing, fire any candidate without a final boardroom session if there's enough information to warrant so, and fire multiple people if they are found liable for an unsatisfactory performance. On occasion, candidates will leave on their own free will; while this is usually discouraged, Trump does accept their resignation(s). When the final three or four candidates are left, an interview process typically begins, involving e xecutives from various companies who interview each of the finalists and report their assessments of them to Trump. After which, a firing takes place where one or two people are usually fired.

(With the exception of the sixth season) The final two are then assigned different tasks, along with support teams composed of previously fired candidates. After the tasks are done, a final boardroom occurs, with testimonials from the team members and a last chance for the final two candidates to prove themselves to the target CEO. Finally, Trump hires one of the two candidates to become his Apprentice.