Mentor, Mentee Applications Due Nov. 19

Applications for participation in the 2010 NPC Mentoring Program are due Friday, Nov. 19.

Volunteers are especially needed to serve as mentors. This is a one-year commitment aimed at benefiting members at all stages of their careers. The program is open to journalists and PR professionals.

Once matches are made, mentors will be given a copy of the mentee's application to the program. After meeting at a kick-off reception and based on what the mentee said in the program application, mentors and mentees can mutually agree on how often they would like to have contact and under what circumstances. At minimum, a mentor should allow for roughly two hours of interaction a month. Some relationships may involve
more, some less.

Mentors can expect to be asked to critique reporting/writing, help with a resume, act as a sounding board, provide a reference, advise on navigating the ways of Washington any maybe even have a drink at the Reliable Source.

For mentees, be as expansive as possible in answering questions on the application so the best possible match can be achieved.

Past mentees have gone on to land assignments writing front page stories at USA Today, reporting from Iraq and more. Each year, there are normally more
individuals seeking to be a mentee than there are mentors, so please consider being a mentor to a young member if you have the time. This year, we are particularly in need of veteran club members with experience in public relations or public affairs.

The program is sponsored by the Professional Development Committee at the Eric Friedheim National Journalism Library; to apply, fill out the online application at: http://press.org/services/professional-development/national-press-club-mentor-program.

For questions, contact Rod Kuckro at [email protected]