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Our Careers in Ideas mentoring scheme, established in the autumn of 2021, aims to help would-be recruits navigate their way into the IP professions. Mentors in IP-related careers offer their time for free to provide a fixed number of mentoring sessions and answer questions about applying to join the UK’s IP sector: where and when to look, the skills you’ll need, how to frame an application, what to expect of the recruitment process, etc. The scheme is designed in particular for mentees who don’t already have access to this information through, for example, family, friends, school, university or careers advisers.

The Careers in Ideas logoLike everything else to do with Careers in Ideas, our ultimate aim is to attract a more diverse range of recruits into the IP professions. We want to help people access these fantastic careers when they might not otherwise have been able to.

There’s some initial information about the scheme in this information sheet for mentees and this one for mentors. You’ll find more below.

Careers in Ideas is the outreach and access arm of IP Inclusive. You can find out more about Careers in Ideas generally here.

Are you considering a career in IP?

Information for mentees

Are you a recent graduate or professional seeking advice on a career in IP, a grad student or postdoc nearing the end of your training, or someone having trouble getting your foot in the door in the IP professions? Would it help to connect with existing IP professionals?

If you think you could benefit from a Careers in Ideas mentor’s help, please sign up to the Careers in Ideas Mentoring Hub via this link. You’ll be asked some simple questions about the type(s) of IP career you’re interested in and what you hope to get from the mentoring sessions. Once registered and accepted, you’ll be able to select from a number of available mentors depending on who you’d most like to speak to. This isn’t a permanent commitment; if the relationship doesn’t work out you’ll be able to change your mind.

We use the online MentorLoop platform to host our hub and administer the mentoring programme. On the hub you’ll find information about how the programme works and what you can expect from it, for example the number and duration of mentoring sessions you’ll receive. You’ll communicate with your mentor, for example to organise sessions, via the hub. You’ll also find information there about data protection, confidentiality and other safeguards – and about some limitations to the scheme which mean that mentors are not able to help you with specific job applications, only to provide general guidance.

Our mentors are busy IP professionals who volunteer to do this work in their free time. The number we have will obviously limit the number of mentees we can help. We will operate a waiting list if we’re unable to accept you onto the scheme when you first apply, and will give priority to mentees who we think are most likely to benefit from Careers in Ideas input.

If you’ve any questions or concerns before you get started, please contact the scheme leader Carol Nyahasha ([email protected]).

Sign up to the Careers in Ideas Mentoring Hub (link for mentees only)

Can you help someone find their IP career?

Information for mentors

If you’re interested in becoming a Careers in Ideas mentor, you can find some basic information about the scheme in this information sheet and some more detailed information here. Do take a look.

And if you’d like to get involved – or have some questions before you do – please contact the scheme leader Carol Nyahasha at [email protected].

Access information for mentors

This is a new scheme...

Please note that this is a relatively new scheme which we’re still trialling. We apologise if not everything goes exactly as it should to start with, but we’ll be working in the background to improve it and will always value feedback from both mentors and mentees.