While she enjoyed her job at BBC Sport, Salford based Sangeeta Chana felt she wasn’t learning anything new. After six years in the role, she felt slightly ‘stuck in a rut’ and wanted to take the next step forward but was unsure of which direction to take. “I wanted an external point-of-view on my situation – some guidance from an outsider who would have a neutral view on things. I was particularly looking for someone who had been in the industry for a long time, had lots of experience and was, preferably, female.”
She discovered the ScreenSkills supported TV talent north mentoring programme and felt that this support framework could help her address issues such as navigating a male-dominated environment and progressing her career. Through the programme Sangeeta was paired with an experienced industry professional who was on hand to help develop her career path.
“My mentor was a really good match. She is a freelancer but was currently working inside the BBC, so she had a broad industry perspective.” Sangeeta and her mentor planned around half a dozen mentoring sessions. “She’s an expert in her field, and she passed on lots of good tips and advice. She was really good at following the structure set out in the mentoring guidance – which helped me to think strategically and creatively about what I want to achieve.”
Sangeeta felt she particularly benefited from a growth in her confidence. “My mentor was challenging, but in a really supportive way – she is calm and warm. It was useful when my she challenged me about how I put myself down. It helped me to reframe things, which really boosted my confidence. My self-confidence has improved through mentoring in ways I hadn't expected – I’m more self-assured.”
On the wider benefits of the mentoring partnership, Sangeeta said: “As well as being a really good sounding-board, and giving me lots of good professional advice, my mentor shared useful guidance about balance and wellbeing. She was really patient and non-judgmental, particularly when I was getting into a bit of a flap about my attachment opportunity. I was able to talk about some sensitive personal things, and I found my mentor was kind and supportive. I’ve learnt to be kinder to myself.”
She believes that the mentoring partnership has “without a doubt” helped with her career planning and progression. “I feel I’ve made terrific progress, and I’m keen to keep pushing forward and keep trying. It’s has helped me to look at my career in a different way – including how I can continue to grow through professional skills training, additional qualifications and wider development. My mentor has been a role model, and I now understand what I need to do to progress my career. Beyond the career progression support I feel that mentoring has given me more courage in my convictions, it’s added an extra layer of support.”
“I now acknowledge that I’ve worked hard to get to where I am. I can see how much I’ve learnt so far and how the skills I’ve gained on my attachment might make my substantive role more fulfilling. I am still learning and developing in my role, and I now understand how to position myself to be eligible for other opportunities.”
“Without ScreenSkills mentoring support I’d have had to look for an informal mentoring relationship in the BBC, find training opportunities through the BBC Academy and do my own online research and training. This mentoring opportunity made everything more achievable. I couldn't have asked for anything else from the mentoring – other than more in-person contact with my mentor and other mentees, if it hadn’t been for the pandemic, as it would have been good to develop a network that way.”
Since finishing the mentor programme, Sangeeta has been promoted into a new team within BBC Sport. A change, she says, that will “involve me learning a completely new skillset and working to various Heads of the department and supporting various technical teams in delivering operational requirements for major sporting events.
She explained how the mentoring helped her take on a new role, “This is a major leap of faith, completely out of my comfort zone and a decision that I don’t think I would have taken or even had the opportunity to take if it hadn’t been for the support from my mentor. She has even offered ongoing support should I need it and I am forever grateful that I had the opportunity to learn from and work with her.
“There will be many new challenges and struggles, but I’m certain that if I continue to utilise the skillset and learnings that I received through my mentor relationship then I will be able to progress in the way that I have been hoping for a long time.”
The ScreenSkills Mentoring Network is supported by the BFI, awarding National Lottery funds as part of the Future Film Skills strategy.