SYP scraps age limit for mentor scheme

The Society of Young Publishers (SYP) has reopened its Mentor Scheme for 2016 and scrapped the age limit for applications.

The scheme is open to young publishing professionals who are already working in the industry and need advice on how to further advance their careers. Prospective mentees must be an SYP member, have an established role in publishing or agenting, and be able to attend meeting in London in order to be eligible.

This year, the organisation has scrapped the age limit for applications, in order to open the scheme up to members of all ages who are "perhaps career changers or returners" as the SYP believes "more diversity in mentoring groups will benefit all".

The society will build the mentoring streams around areas of interest which the mentees express in their applications, asking candidates to state which areas they are interested in before confirming mentors, in an effort to ensure that the scheme is meeting members' needs.

Instead of being a one-to-one session, each SYP mentoring meeting is built around a small group of young publishing professionals of five to 10 people per group. Each group is assigned a mentor - a young, dynamic, publishing professional who has already achieved a "remarkable" level of success in his or her career.

Each group will meet their mentor five to six times over a period of six months, beginning in March and be completely free to organise their mentoring sessions as they see fit. The SYP will support all mentors and can provide a rough outline for the scheme if required.

Mentees will be able to apply for the scheme by completing an online application form and providing their CV. All applications will be reviewed by an SYP panel, which will try to pair mentors and mentees as much as possible based on their job description, interest and choices on the application form.

Applications can be made through the Society website. Deadline for Applications is Friday 11th March 2016.