Fulfil Your Potential
Become a mentee with Animated Women UK
AWUK is proud to present The Animated Women UK Mentoring Programme in partnership with Disney UK & Ireland and Prospela. The programme is intended to connect students and professionals in various stages of their careers with high-calibre VFX & Animation employees for careers advice and inspiration online, anytime and anywhere!
Becoming a mentee | All your questions answered
We’ve had lots of questions about becoming an AWUK mentee, so have pulled them together in one place.
If you still have questions, please leave a comment or email mentoring@animatedwomenuk.com and we’ll add them in.
Q: What are the benefits of being Mentee?
Not sure if mentoring is for you?
Read our FAQ which we hope has all the answers.
http://hillaryaugustine.com/wordpress A: Our mentorship program pairs women with VFX and Animation Industry experience with women looking to learn more, and start or progress their careers within one of these industries. Some of the benefits mentees will gain from this program are listed below:
- Career and personal development advice from women with industry experience
- Developing communication skills (e.g. listening, asking questions)
- Growing your network
- Developing your self-awareness
- Expanding your CV
- Learning from the ideas, experiences, and perspectives of someone who could be from a different generation, background or have different interests, life experiences or expectations, stage of career, etc
- Setting challenges and receiving feedback from someone who is not your line manager
- Advice on developing strengths and overcoming perceived weaknesses.
- Helping to develop a clear sense of direction.
Why get a mentor?
Our programme pairs women with industry experience with women looking to learn more, and start or progress their careers within the VFX or Animation industries. You can gain a great deal from getting a mentor:
- Access career and personal development advice from women with industry experience
- Improve your communication skills (e.g. listening, asking questions)
- Build or grow your network
- Develop your self-awareness
- Expand your CV
- Learn from the ideas, experiences, and perspectives of someone who could be from a different generation, background or have different interests, life experiences or expectations, stage of career, etc
- Set challenges and receive feedback from someone who is not your line manager
- Receive advice on developing strengths and overcoming perceived weaknesses.
- Develop a clear sense of direction.
Q: Do I always have to maintain the same level of commitment?
A: Your relationship with your mentor is unique. You can agree on a level of commitment and communication with your mentor that works for both of you and review it over time. This relationship should be built on mutual trust, respect and open communication between both parties.
Q: How should I be communicating with my mentor?
A: Our programme is designed for you to interact with your mentor over a 1:1 web-based chat channel provided through the Prospela website. We’d encourage you to keep your communication on there, but over time you might look to connect with them on LinkedIn and perhaps interact over different platforms on occasion. Keeping your communication on the Propela 1: 1 chat channel enables us to track the success of our programme which is critical to its ongoing support by our sponsor.
Q: How often should I be speaking to my mentor?
A: This is up to you and your mentor. You should discuss this with them so that the plan is clear. In general, we find that communication is more regular when you are first establishing a relationship and can then become slightly less frequent. It can be a little intimidating at first opening up to someone you don’t know, but interactivity is the key. It’s important to invest time upfront getting to know each other, building trust and understanding what everyone is hoping to get from the relationship.
Q: What makes a good Mentee?
http://mshanhun.com/login A: An ideal mentee wants to focus on their personal and professional development.
A mentee has goals and objectives they want to achieve, challenges they want to overcome and is looking for a mentor to help guide them.
As a mentee, you can expect support, encouragement, challenge, feedback and ideas from your mentor.
Interested in learning more about becoming a mentee? Check out ScreenSkills FREE 20 min course: Being Mentored (for mentees)
Q. I am already working in the industry, can I still get a mentor?
A. YES! Any AWUK Member is welcome to apply to get a mentor! We have a wide range of mentors and aim will pair mentors and their mentees accordingly to match experience levels, skillsets and desired outcomes.
Q. Do I need to be a member of AWUK to become a mentee?
A. Yes, all mentees must be a member of AWUK. Membership only costs £30/year. If you are not a member yet you can SIGN UP HERE.
What are you waiting for? Sign up as an AWUK mentee through Prospela here.
How do I apply?
Please note that we can only accept mentee applications from AWUK members.
Membership is only £30 per year. Become a member here.
Our mentoring programme is facilitated by Prospela.
Disney UK & Ireland
Disney UK & Ireland are the kind sponsors of the AWUK mentoring programme.
Prospela
Our AWUK mentoring programme is powered by Prospela.
Prospela is an online platform that provides on-demand access to experienced E-mentors for career discovery, inspiration, and action planning. Mentees will enjoy live industry insights, build an actionable career plan and form or grow their professional network to help them progress.