BBC Outreach & Corporate Responsibility Feed

Being a mentor is second nature

Rem Conway — Tue, 19 Apr 2016 11:23:26 +0000

Rem Conway is one of six BBC mentors giving advice and insight in a pilot scheme with the National Mentoring Consortium. The NMC was a successful applicant through BBC Outreach’s Community Doorway programme. NMC supports equality and diversity in graduate recruitment, enhancing the employability of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnicity students, and students with a disability or dyslexia. It works with 300 UK employers who provide volunteer mentors.

‘Having this role has stretched me, as I have had really to take the time to understand the person I am mentoring’

On a day-to-day basis I am usually working on BBC One’s daytime drama, Doctors, but for the past six months I have been mentoring Matt (I've changed his name), an undergraduate student from Birmingham University.

Mentors have always been a huge part of my own journey and a massive asset to my development in business and production so I have always had the desire to offer that development to somebody else.

Over the course of the scheme my mentee and I have met every fortnight to discuss a combination of different things that will develop his employability skills and prepare him for the big bad world of work.

What was interesting about being a mentor is that my mentee actually has all the skills he needs to be employed he just didn't know how to use them, and because of a lack of confidence in himself he could put barriers in his own way.

So for the early meetings we went through the usual documents and tools you think of – CV, job interviews, applications, and so on. And then once we’d been through those we focused on more of the personal things that might hold him back from reaching his goals.

I was then able to arrange some visits for him to the BBC so he could get a clear understanding of the industry and what he might do after university.

Having this role has stretched me, as I have had really to take the time to understand the person I am mentoring.

Things that are second nature to me may not be second nature to him so I had really to pay attention to how my mentee learns and what it is going to take to get him from where he is to where he wants to be.

It has been a pleasure working with the BBC Outreach team, before working for the BBC I only ever saw the things that transmit – programmes, radio shows, online videos, but it has been a great experience for me to get involved with the community outreach that the BBC does and which isn't always publicised.

From the feedback from my mentee and his university, I am glad that they are all taking away a positive attitude towards BBC Outreach work, too.

BBC Outreach & Corporate Responsibility brings the BBC closer to its audiences - particularly those audiences we have identified as harder to reach - with face-to-face activity, community support and staff volunteering.

Preparing for the world of work

Sam Challinor — Tue, 29 Mar 2016 14:27:30 +0000

Sam Challinor shared her experience as a volunteer employability coach for young people attending BBC Outreach drop-in sessions during National Apprenticeship Week 2016.

‘If a young person had one new idea, made one new change to their CV, or came away with a greater sense of their potential, I will consider my contribution to have been valuable.’

As a Talent Co-ordinator in the BBC I am acutely aware that for every applicant to the schemes, apprenticeships, and external partnerships we run to open the doors of the media to young people, there are countless others who never reach us.

'It's too competitive for me’ or 'I'm not good enough for that’ or ‘that can’t be for me': these are just some of the assumptions which lead young people to abandon certain career interests or aspirations at an early stage.

We need to tackle this by working positively with young people who are facing decisions about ‘what next?’ at all stages of their education and career.

Having previously volunteered on similar projects, I jumped at the opportunity to become one of the 18 volunteer coaches at BBC Outreach’s employability event at the BBC in Salford.

I was to work with a group of four young people from a local sixth form college where they are at a crucial bridging point between education and work. We would carry out reflective activities around employability and career aspirations to help them to approach their next steps with confidence.

It was with some trepidation that we read through the briefing notes beforehand, realising that we staff – who, let’s be honest, are still eighteen in our heads – had been entrusted with having something valuable to offer to the next generation!

But as soon as we met the young people, the brief helped to ease us in and the students were great in offering lots of thoughts and questions to keep the activities flowing.

Most valuable, in my eyes, was the time spent thinking about their personal strengths and aspirations. Yes, employability is about CVs, cover letters, and interview techniques, and having the tools and techniques to convey your strengths and potential fully to an employer - but it is also about unlocking awareness of that potential, and its incredible market value in an economy which needs young people.

Following a mind-map activity around strengths, the previously doubtful students were genuinely surprised at the picture they had built of themselves once they had considered the full range of their activities – some of the young people had already had several part-time jobs, carried out a range of work experience placements, volunteered in nurseries and hospitals, and had hobbies ranging from dance to art and design.

It seemed that many of the students’ perceptions of their employability still rested upon their academic ability, in spite of their wide range of other achievements. If the young people took anything away from the event, I would hope it was: 'I have something to offer'.

We spent an hour with the young people – and this can leave room for doubt about whether we had a significant impact in that time. But in my view, much of employability is about sparking curiosity.

If a young person had one new idea, made one new change to their CV, or came away with a greater sense of their potential, I will consider my contribution to have been valuable. As always, I will return to my role with a renewed sense of the importance of reaching young people at an early point in their careers and promoting high aspirations.

BBC Outreach ran employability drop-in sessions for young people in Salford, Birmingham and London, harnessing the skills and expertise of BBC staff volunteers, the BBC Academy, and the Job Centre.

The BBC’s own apprenticeship schemes are open for recruitment from 14 March to 18 April 2016 – more details at: bbc.co.uk/getin