More Mentors Needed for NPC Program
Today is the deadline for participation in the spring 2010 mentoring
program.
A dozen members have applied to be mentees, and nine to be
mentors. Experienced journalists and PR pros who are willing to donate
time to help young communicators develop are especially welcome. We need
one mentor who has background in television production.
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.
After 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 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://npc.press.org/training/mentoring.cfm .
Unlike your taxes, this program only costs your time! If you have any
questions or concern, please contact Rod Kuckro at [email protected]