Having recently secured a job as a Production Management Assistant at the BBC, Lashawn reflects on the impact of Babbasa’s mentoring scheme in helping her achieve her goals.
My name is Lashawn and I am 20 years old. I first heard of Babbasa through a family member. Some of my hobbies include reading and writing when I feel inspired, I also really enjoy drawing but I’m still learning and developing my art skills so it’s fun to see how I’m improving as I learn more. Acting is another interest I’ve had for as long as I can remember; it used to be something I wanted to do professionally but I’d consider it to be more of a hobby now even though I still want to work in the TV/film industry.
My short-term career goals were to gain an entry level position for a production company; long term I wanted to advance through the editorial career path and eventually be a Series Producer. I think some barriers I’ve personally faced are a lack of knowledge when it comes to looking for entry-level positions in my preferred career. I always struggled with where I should look and it’s very easy to fall into the trap of signing up to sites that ask for payment in exchange for this knowledge.
Joining Babbasa was a big part of breaking through these barriers. Before I got my mentor, I felt like I needed more guidance from someone who had experience in the TV/film industry and could share the knowledge they’d learned along the way. My mentor motivated me to push for what I wanted and helped me build the confidence to not just look for the positions I desired but to take the first step in contacting people to create new, lasting connections in the industry.
The mentoring programme first asked what I wanted to gain from it which was great as it showed me that their priority was to make sure I was getting what was best for me. Following this I was Introduced to someone that worked in the industry I wanted to get into and from there my mentor and I discussed my goals, both personal and professional. Each week we would meet and work our way towards achieving my set goals. For example, a short-term goal I had was to be confident in writing a cover letter so for the first few weeks we would go over how to put one together, what I should include, what a possible employer would like to see etc. till I not only had a solid covering letter but also had the knowledge on how to write one well should I need to eventually do another.
I am feeling very positive about the future. Babbasa has helped me gain work experience, a great mentor who continues to offer support and guidance and my first job in the TV/Film; all of this is more than enough to make me look forward to what the future will bring for my professional life.
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