“I exceeded and reshaped my goals with my mentor.
They were able to give me insight and knowledge for
work and beyond.”
Previous Mentee
FST Full & Individual Members: FREE
Individuals Supported by a Non-Member Organisation and Associate Members: £200+VAT
Non-Salaried and Freelance Staff: £80+VAT (includes 1 year of FST membership)
Applications to be mentored through the Programme open on Monday 2 December 2024 and close at 5pm on Friday 10 January 2025.
If you have any questions, please contact Change Programmes Lead,
Youcef Hadjazi at youcef.hadjazi@scottishtheatre.org
- Increase your social and professional confidence
- Improve your communication and listening skills
- Develop strategies for dealing with professional issues
- Become more empowered to make decisions
- Identify goals and establish a sense of career direction
- Grow your professional network
About FST’s Mentoring Programme
FST has been running a transformational Mentoring Programme since 2008, with an impressive roster of performing arts professionals currently trained as mentors. The goal of the Programme is to nurture and develop leaders in the performing arts. This, in turn, aims to help build a vibrant, diverse, and equitable Scotland for the future.
FST partners with Andonella Thomson from Kingscavil Consulting on this who delivers a bespoke Programme designed to meet the evolving needs of Scotland’s performing arts sector. All mentors on the FST Mentoring Programme are trained by Andonella. Each mentor takes the expert knowledge and experience gained through their training into their sessions with mentees.
What is mentoring and why should you apply?
Mentoring is an opportunity for you, as a mentee, to achieve success in your work through review and reflection. For example, there may be something in your work life that is important to you, but you feel reluctant to share with your manager or work colleagues. Mentoring is the ideal opportunity to explore this kind of tricky situation.
Core to the success of the mentoring relationship is that the mentee drives the process and sets the agenda. Setting the right goals from the start will make a big difference to how quickly progress is made. It also provides energy and focus for both people.
Mentoring takes place over a 9-month period, made up of between 8 and 10 sessions. We recommend sessions run approx. 1 hour, although this is for mentor and mentee to agree at the outset. The sessions can take place online or if you both prefer, in person in a venue that is agreed.
If there are any queries or challenges, please let Conner know and he will do his best to help.
“I was extremely anxious and lacking in confidence in my role when I started working with my mentor. Part of the work we did was to identify what parts were things I could work on, and which parts were institutional and required a specific approach. My mentor really helped me re-find my voice and to strengthen my belief in the approach I take to work.”
Previous Mentee
Who can apply?
Mentoring is open to individuals at any career stage, employed or freelance/self-employed working in a range of areas of the performing arts. This includes but isn’t limited to artistic development, production, audience development, technical, education, and all aspects management and administration. It’s important to note that this opportunity isn’t exclusive to more junior or emerging professionals. The programme is open to everyone who feels they will benefit from it, regardless of experience.
The Mentors
We have a fantastic group of newly trained mentors this year, with a range of experience to help support you to achieve your goals. We also work with previously trained mentors who wish to continue being a mentor. Through the training aspect of the Mentoring Programme, they have honed their skills in empathising and listening, so they are better able to support you in trying out new ideas, help you learn from your experiences and challenge your assumptions. This has the ultimate aim of helping you grow and flourish in your career.
This is not a role-to-role mentorship scheme, but instead it is a two-way partnership of mutual respect, between someone with experience and someone looking to grow in their career. It is an opportunity for mentees to achieve success in their work through review and reflection.
Click below to find out more about this year’s mentor cohort!
How to apply
Selection process
In a short application form at the bottom of this page, we will ask you to tell us:
- How you will benefit from support in your current role
- How mentoring will benefit your longer-term career development and progression
Andonella and Conner will then undertake a matching process, using the answers you provided to the application questions and our knowledge of the mentors. Once selected you’ll be given your starter pack and paired with your mentors to choose dates and times to meet that work for you both.
FST will check in with you at various points during the process to see how things are going, and you will always be able to get in touch with Conner if you have any queries.
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
FST recognises the centrality of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion as a legal and moral duty, and that improving EDI is vital to the vibrancy and success of the performing arts in Scotland. To achieve this, it is critical that we support artists/practitioners who are currently under-represented within the sector to develop their professional practice. We encourage applicants from different backgrounds and with different experiences and skills to apply for FST Mentoring.
Key Dates
2 December – Applications Open
10 January – Applications Close
21 January, 10am till 12pm – Mentee briefing session
27 January – Matching Process Meeting
31 January – Mentees Informed of their Match
Mid February Onwards – Mentees and Mentors introduced
“My Mentor was exceptionally skilled and supportive, and I benefited immensely from this mentoring. It was a surprising, interesting and thoughtful process and has given me some great tools to use.”
Previous Mentee
Sorry. This form is no longer available.