Picture shows CJA UK President Raymond Whitaker with journalism students at the launch of the mentoring scheme at the University of Westminster, in London.
After a successful pilot scheme in 2023, the Commonwealth Journalists Association has now assembled a new team of young journalists to be monitored in the UK in 2024. They will be mentored by an experienced journalist or media specialist for six months, with the aim of helping them to make the next steps in their career.
The scheme was launched after young journalists expressed interest in receiving further help and guidance in their careers at the CJA Journalism Conference 2022, in Birmingham.
“Our ambitions are for this scheme to be beneficial to both mentor and mentee. We want mentees to gain invaluable experience to help them advance in their careers and feel supported as they aim to grow in a competitive but rewarding industry,” said the mentorship organiser, Lucy Skoulding.
“Success from the scheme could look like many things, from applying for or getting a new job to gaining a work experience placement to working out a career plan and what your next steps are. We hope mentors will also gain new skills in leadership and communication, and feel positive about being able to help younger people and pass on their wisdom to a new generation.
“While the scheme officially lasts for six months, we welcome the chance for mentor and mentee to form a beneficial working relationship and stay in touch after the scheme ends.”
The mentors
Mentors come from a range of different areas of journalism and the media, but they all have a wealth of experience to share with their mentee. The BBC, The Guardian, London Evening Standard, The Financial Times, The Independent, The Observer, Channel 4, The Mirror and Metro are among the publications and broadcasters that mentors from the 2023 cohort have worked for.
For this year’s scheme the CJA welcomes back a number of mentors who took part in the first programme, as well as welcoming some new faces who are eager to support young people. Diversity and inclusion is the priority, and the CJA is proud to have recruited mentors from a range of backgrounds and jobs, as well as urging people from minority communities to apply.
Career mentoring involves a mentor with experience in a chosen industry holding regular guidance sessions with a mentee, who is at an early stage of their career in the same industry. Elements of the mentoring programme include:
- Helping the mentee break into their desired career, get on the career ladder, work out the next step in their career or generally navigate the working world.
- Helping the mentee with their CV, cover letters and job or competition applications.
- Assisting the mentee with preparing for training and future study.
- For the mentee to simply meet someone who works in the field they want to, learn how they got there, what they studied and what contacts they needed.
- Help the mentee navigate current job-specific problems in their workplace.
- Help the mentee to figure out exactly what they want from their job and future career.
- Assisting the mentee with developing a personal brand and selling themselves
- Helping the mentee practice with interviews and presentations.
- Discussing the development of industry-specific skills and general professional skills where appropriate.
