Nicola Stead is a peer mentor for the Queen’s Young Leaders scheme, supporting future young talent to work in the media.

‘I am proud that my mentee is now getting paid work experience on TV’

I wanted to be part of this scheme with the Media Trust and BBC Outreach so I could help someone gain confidence, help bring out the skills they already have, and find out what skills they need more experience in to join the industry.

I know how hard it is to express what you can do and where you wish to work. What exactly are my skills? How could working in a shop help in a production job? Well, quite a bit actually!

There are so many jobs here at the BBC and in the industry as a whole, so it can be difficult to know where to start.

The QYL scheme has a wide range of people on it, from different backgrounds and different levels of experience.

It can be frustrating at times if your mentee cancels appointments or doesn’t show up. My mentee couldn’t meet me for the first couple of months due to personal issues and though at first I just wanted to get stuck in with working with her, I knew that the best thing to do was to keep contact through email and take it at her pace – as this is the scheme for her – not for me. I am here to help her.

There are things I am not too sure about myself within the industry. For example, my mentee wants to work in drama and although I have not worked in that department myself, we have looked at the skills needed and then ways in and contacts. You will be quite surprised with what you do know yourself.

It is all about being there for someone to talk to and for them to trust you. You are never on your own and there is a huge network of people who can help you as a mentor.

So if you don’t know an answer to a question, you can ask your QYL networks, who are always very happy to help.

The main thing I have found is to be able to help give confidence. You don’t have to be a producer or someone on a high grade to be a mentor. I am a researcher and using my skills, experience and background I am able to help someone in ways that at first you think you can’t.

I am proud that my mentee is now getting paid work experience on TV programmes and also has paid work as a production assistant on a film. It is about encouraging her to network and let her know she is doing the right thing. Again, building confidence within herself.

I am so proud of what my mentee has achieved already.

Affie Jeerh is one of the BBC’s peer mentors with the Media Trust’s Queen’s Young Leaders programme. She works at the BBC Academy in the Entry Level Talent team.

'It’s so important to have an open and honest conversation about what you both expect'

Agreeing to be a mentor has been a very personal journey for me and I hope it inspires others to do the same. Offering employment advice, which could change the circumstances for someone, is a big responsibility which I embrace - knowing I am part of the journey for them to discover and tap into their full potential.

It’s a good fit for my role – I am part of the BBC Academy’s Entry Level Talent team; we are concerned with attracting people interested in BBC apprenticeship and trainee schemes in Journalism and Engineering.

Across all the schemes we’re really looking to bring in budding new talent. We want the BBC to reflect the wide range of audiences that we serve – everything from Radio 1Xtra’s Fire in the Booth to BBC Two’s Newsnight programme - and everything in-between. The way to do that is by having a broad mix of people who can reflect our audience’s different interests and passions.

My first mentoring session, I met my mentee, Letitia (I've changed her name), 19 years old, who has already been through quite a lot in her family and personal life – she completely blew me away with her resilience.

It is so important for us to build a mentoring relationship of trust, respect and judgement. People don’t want pity but someone who can help them unlock their true potential. Really focussing in the sessions helps us to establish what’s important to her and what is obtainable but also understanding it can’t be done overnight.

I believe keeping things relaxed eases the pressure, especially when meeting for the first time. It’s so important to have an open and honest conversation about what you both expect from the mentoring sessions and agree when setting the goals.

For me the objective is to listen and when I mean listen, I mean listen and NOT hear what you think you want to hear, if that makes sense!

After our first session, Letitia didn’t waste any time to apply for a recent opportunity for one of the gold-standard BBC training schemes. We will be meeting up soon and I can’t wait to hear what else she has been up to. I’m excited!

Sally Williams from BBC Inside Out volunteered to work with a group of young adults developing their CVs and interview skills at the BBC in Salford. A day long workshop helped them reassess their key achievements to date. They were part of the Queen’s Young Leaders programme, which is for 18-25 year olds interested in working in the media.

‘You could visibly see their confidence soar as they rewrote their CVs’

As a 15 year old at a large Comprehensive School on Merseyside, I was laughed at by the visiting careers officer when I told her my ambition was to work at the BBC. “You’re a pretty girl, have you thought of being a hairdresser?” she said with a waft of her hand. The BBC, it seemed, didn’t employ people from my background or from my school. The BBC wasn’t “for me”.

It took almost 10 years to realise my ambition when I was accepted on the BBC’s prestigious Trainee Reporter Scheme. It took a further 10 years for me to realise they hadn’t made a mistake and I wasn’t going to be found out and turfed out of the Corporation for having been to the wrong school in the wrong city.

The careers teacher was wrong; the BBC was for me, just as it’s for everyone of us. It’s this sense of injustice and anger that young people could be discouraged from pursuing a career at the BBC that made me sign up to help at the workshop. I feel very strongly that if the BBC is to remain relevant, it must be staffed by people who reflect our audience.

Queen's Young Leaders gaining confidence at the BBC in Salford