The Bulgarian Chevening Association (BCA) is pleased to announce call for Mentees for the Shapers of Tomorrow Mentoring Programme established in 2018. The Programme is supported by the British Embassy in Bulgaria and the UK Chevening Alumni Programme Fund in cooperation with British Bulgarian Business Association and British Council.
To apply please complete the Mentee Application here or
https://forms.gle/pMtUA7fLyuHy8NCEA and submit it by October 30th 2019. We will send a confirmation email after reviewing it. If you intend to participate in the meeting at the Embassy, please register until 10.10.2019.
Committing time to mentoring can help you get ahead and make the most of your mentoring relationship. This year the programme is also opened to mentors and mentees from the Western Balkans region and the South Eastern Europe region.
The Mentoring Programme is a voluntary scheme aiming to support the professional and personal development of students in the UK or recent graduates and encourage a community of engaged and skilful youth to lead the social change and shape civil society of tomorrow. This year the program is also opened to mentors and mentees from the Western Balkans region (primarily Chevening communities) and the SEE region.
The Bulgarian Chevening Association is a non-for-profit association of Chevening alumni in Bulgaria, who have received an additional degree or specialization in leading UK universities. Chevening is the UK Government international scholarship scheme aimed at developing global leaders and is funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and partner organizations. Since 2007 the scheme is no longer open for Bulgarian applicants.
What is the mentoring programme about?
The six-month Mentoring Programme (October 2019 – March 2020) designed to include around 6 working sessions/meetings, which may include online meetings (e.g. email, messenger, viber/whatsapp, skype, etc.) and face2face meetings.
Our mentors are highly experienced individuals who are motivated to share personal achievements, including the steps of successful professional development and realization, professional experience and/or experience during their study/training in the UK.
Mentors and mentees with similar study/-and or career interests and professional aspirations will be matched. Mentees ought to be committed to engage in a professional relationship, where the mentee will be jointly responsible for the effectiveness of the mentoring including willingness to listen, learn, collaborate and take initiative. We expect mentoring pairs to develop and submit a strategic work plan, communicate with each other consistently, and hopefully establish a long-term relationship. Comprehensive on-line training, resources and ongoing support will be provided to each mentoring team.
Each mentoring team will be asked to provide mid-term and final evaluation of the mentorship progress and status updates to the BCA.
The Mentoring Programme also offers meetings of mentors and mentees aiming at leveraging networking within the participants, exchange of ideas and approaches and further ease the mentoring process itself.
Save the date: Mid-Term Mentoring Networking Event to be held tentatively December 21st, 2019 in Sofia, Bulgaria.
All successful mentoring teams are to be awarded with a certificate for participation. Save the date: Mentorship Awarding Ceremony to be held tentatively March 20th, 2020 in Sofia.
Benefits of being a Mentee:
- Access to a professional network and individual interaction with a professional from their field of interest or study;
- Gain valuable insight into the next stage of your professional and personal development including career paths;
- Exposure to new experiences, culture, etiquette;
- Professional, honest, thoughtful advice on your portfolio (resume, elevator speech, presentation skills, cover letters, core competencies, shadowing on the job and etc.);
- An opportunity to network (connecting the mentee with colleagues, participate in civic events) and meet new friends across the mentees group;
- Assistance in identifying career options;
- Improve your social and professional confidence and professional communication skills.
- Receive full support and guidance throughout the programme
Meeting in London
Meeting with potential mentees is arranged on 11th of October 2019, at 5pm at the Bulgarian Embassy, 186-188 Queen’s Gate, Kensington, London SW7 5HL, UK. Registration deadline – 10.10.2019.
Bulgarian students studying in the UK or recent graduates are invited to attend the meeting to understand more about the programme. You can also send an email to Chevening.bg@gmail.com
Sincerely,
Bulgarian Chevening Association
More information @:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/chevening.bg