We run an Apprentice Scheme for persons up to age 30 and a Mentoring Scheme for those over that age. Both are for students and those recently qualified who don’t yet have sufficient work experience for full membership of the Chartered Governance Institute. These schemes provide the opportunity for younger people to become members of the Company and benefit from the skills and experience of our members on a one-to-one basis.
The apprentice/mentee group and their apprentice masters/mentors meet regularly in both social and professional settings, allowing the group also to share experiences with each other. Longer term we hope our student members will decide to become Freemen of the Company.
If you would like to join one of the schemes, please return the relevant completed application form and include a passport-type photograph. The application will be acknowledged and we will then seek to match you with an Apprentice Master or Mentor whom you would be invited to meet to make sure you would both be able to work together in the event your application is approved.
The next step would be for you to appear before the Master’s Advisory Committee (MAC) for an interview lasting about 20 minutes (no preparation required). That Committee makes recommendations to the Court (the Company’s governing body) about which candidates should be granted membership. The meetings take place every three months, or as necessary.
If the MAC panel agrees that your application should go forward it would be considered by the Court at its next meeting following your interview. Once the Court has approved an application candidates and their Apprentice Masters or Mentors are invited to a formal admittance ceremony which may take place at a Court meeting or before one of our Professional Networking Evenings. At that stage you would be asked to pay a yearly subscription. Details of this can be found in the Fees section.
If you’d like to meet and discuss in person an application or have further questions do please contact the Clerk, who will be happy to help.