Honorary president: Judith Butcher Honorary vice-president: David Crystal OBE
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Mentoring
Mentoring and tests director
The SfEP's mentoring scheme offers supervised, practical training to associates and members of the Society who are new to professional proofreading or copy-editing.
Experienced members act as mentors. They provide copies of existing or past jobs for the mentee to proofread or copy-edit, and then review the work, giving feedback and advice, and answering any questions.
In addition to its value as training, mentoring can be used as a step towards upgrading your membership.
Becoming a mentee
Before becoming a mentee, you must have had some initial training. You're normally expected to have successfully completed two SfEP training courses:
- Introduction to
proofreading and Proofreading
problems
or - Introduction to copy-editing and Copy-editing problems (transitioning to distance learning).
The Society accepts the Publishing Training Centre distance-learning courses – Basic proofreading and Copy-editing – in place of the SfEP introductory courses, but all applicants must complete the appropriate 'Problems' course. Each of them includes an informal assessment process to ensure that potential mentees show some aptitude and have acquired sufficient knowledge to make the best use of further training with a mentor. No other courses are normally accepted in lieu of the SfEP or PTC courses. If you have any further questions, please read the mentoring FAQs or contact the .
Mentoring helps you upgrade
Successful mentees can gain up to 10 points towards upgrading their membership. The number of points gained depends on the mentor’s answers to five questions about the mentee:
- Are they literate? (grammar, sentence structure, vocabulary, spelling, punctuation)
- Are they business-like? (prompt, clear, efficient, follow brief, communicate well)
- Are they accurate? (spot and deal with 60–79% of typos, 40–59% editorial errors)
- Do they use appropriate mark-up? (BS5261:2005, plus PDFs or Track Changes if used)
- Do they use good judgement? (level of queries, frequency and extent of intervention).
For questions 1, 2, 4 and 5, if the mentor answers ‘Not really’, the mentee will be awarded 0 points; if they say ‘Good enough’, 1 point; if they can confidently answer ‘Yes’, 2 points.
For question 3, the mentee’s performance – as shown by a representative sample of their work – is measured against that of the mentor, who has already identified the problems in the material and how best to deal with them. So the mentor will average the mentee’s success rates on typos and editorial problems, with 2 points given for successfully handling 70% or more, 1 point for 50–69%, 0 points for anything below 50%.
Mentees will be told their marks. Receiving 10 points will now mean ‘above average in all aspects’, allowing for a mentee’s limited experience.
Costs
Through the Whitcombe Training Fund, the Society pays half the cost of mentoring. Mentees pay the other half:
From 1 March 2013
| 1 instalment | 2 instalments | |
|---|---|---|
| Proofreading | £140.50 | £145.60 (£72.80 x 2) |
| Copy-editing | £269.80 | £280.00 (£140.00 x 2) |
If you pay in two instalments, the second is due 30 days after the mentor sends out the job. All prices are inclusive of VAT.
Any mentor and mentee can make private arrangements to continue training beyond this.
How to apply
When you successfully complete the relevant 'Problems' course, you'll be offered the chance to apply for mentoring. You must fill in the relevant application form:
Send your completed form to the SfEP Office, marking the envelope 'SfEP Mentoring'. If you have any questions, contact the or ring the office on 020 8785 6155.
How mentoring begins
There's a waiting list for mentoring, and it may be several weeks before a mentor becomes available. Your mentor will then contact you direct, like a new client offering you work, and you'll discuss the task, agree a deadline and start the job.
Becoming a mentor
If you're an advanced member and would like to become a mentor in either proofreading or copy-editing, or both, please contact the . The SfEP is always looking to recruit and train new mentors, especially to replace existing mentors when they retire or when new subject areas need to be covered.