I'm Donald Trump with a tan and a haircut!" No, it wasn't the celebrity icon speaking after a makeover.

It was accounting giant Ernst & Young's rather less hyped partner of human resources Gil "The Trump" Tucker.

He was kicking off E&Y's recruitment exercise ? an event inspired by Trump's hit NBC show The Apprentice.

There was one subtle difference.

While The Apprentice features two teams competing not to be fired in a business contest, the focus of E&Y was on hiring. In this case, young would-be accountants.

And ? well ? there was another difference.

Few in the audience at La Coquille Restaurant last Thursday could seriously have confused Mr. Tucker and Mr. Trump, whose role he had taken on. Could they?

For one thing, Mr. Tucker was not able to boast Donald Trump's famous 'flip' hairstyle ? although he did have two side-kicks, just as the NBC show mastermind always did in the infamous boardroom where contestants were fired at the end of each episode.

E&Y's version of the board room was the judges' panel, on which sat Mr. Tucker, E&Y partner of sales and marketing Carolyn Myers, and Minister of Youth and Sport Dale Butler, who attended in the capacity of his role in the restaurant industry as director of training for the Little Venice Group.

Students participated on four teams ? each named for a colour ? and had to prepare a five to seven minute oral presentation that explained why a fictional chain of fast food restaurants in Bermuda, Trump-to-Go, should choose Ernst & Young (E&Y) as their accountant. The Green Team won the task-based competition with a creative and thorough presentation.

Ms Myers explained to The Royal Gazette that putting on the function was similar to working with accounting clients in that a key element of the client-firm relationship is "spending time with the clients in advance; you have to get to know them".

Similarly, the function last week allowed Ernst & Young to spend time with and get to know students that may look to join the firm after finishing school.

The event itself was put together by E&Y's team of summer students, with the group handling every detail of the event from start to finish.

Mr. Butler said he had been most impressed by how seriously students were taking the game-task.

"It's as though we (the judges) are playing with Play-Doh, and the students are acting like it's real."

Mr. Tucker added: "The students are taking it very seriously; they've really made us think on our feet, asking us what our mission statement is and what our earnings were last year..."

Students from each group approached the judges and 'owners' of Trump-to-Go to find out more about the company and what its needs were.

In many cases, the questions caught the judges off guard with their conceding that they had resorted to making up details about the fictional company as the evening developed.

The Green Team made a winning impression right from the start with each member taking a moment to shake hands with those on the judging panel, as well as taking the time to make face-to face introductions.

During the presentation, Stephanie Smellie, a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, portrayed Ernst & Young partner Lorraine Mewett. Kieran Bradshaw played Mr. Tucker, and Lindsay Taylor acted as a senior manager. One of the Green Team's winning points was when University of Tampa student Waynette Hollis spoke for the team, saying: "We have been to (the Trump-to-Go) restaurants, and we love them."

Mr. Tucker explained, at the conclusion of the evening, that the Green Team's presentation was exceptional due to points that the judges had particularly liked such as "the creative opening because it let you bond with us. We also liked that you had eaten our food. You made good use of the entire team, and you delivered a clear message with high energy and excitement."

Although the night's honours went to the Green Team, strong competition came from peers on the rival teams.

The Red Team presented their pitch to the judges first with a strategy of repeatedly dropping the three judges' names in a complimentary way. McMaster University student Arnario Shillingford and Latanya Dickinson, who is finishing at St. Mary's University this year, both spoke for their team. One of the team's punch lines was: "Wherever you want to go, we are there for you," referring to E&Y's global network of branches.

The Orange Team followed with several of its members portraying E&Y employees. A recent graduate of Saltus Gramar School's Graduate Year (SGY) Mark Smith depicted E&Y director of internal audit services Remonde Brangman, and Jason Cabral, who will finish at the University of Waterloo this year, portrayed the firm's managing partner Tony Joaquin.

Kristal Davis, a second year student at Bermuda College, acted as Ms Myers and told the judges: "You're number one, and you need the number one firm to represent you."

For the Blue Team, students presenting included Chesney Pearman, who will finish at American University this year, recent Cedarbridge graduate David Signor, Tania Garcia, who just graduated this spring from Ryerson in Toronto, recent SGY graduate Selena DeSilva who will attend University of Western in the fall, and Shawnta Edmonson, a graduate of California State University at North Ridge.

The competition was followed by an elaborate buffet dinner.

Apprentice Arnario concluded: "The Ernst & Young staff was really helpful (during the competition), and at dinner. They shared how they got to Ernst & Young and what they had done before. It was a good opportunity for Bermudians to make contacts."