Xbox has revealed a new ‘Kickstart Your Career’ mentoring programme

Xbox has announced Kickstart Your Career, a new mentoring programme aimed at young people looking to pursue a career in gaming.

Leaders from across Xbox will serve as mentors on the project, which will include virtual coaching sessions.

Among the mentors that will lead the programme are Xbox social marketing manager Hailey Heller, Xbox category manager Mie Koshimizu, Everwild executive producer Lousie O’Conner and The Coalition producer Venessa Nyarko.

Those interested in taking part in the programme can register here. The deadline to register is April 17 and the participants will be selected towards the end of the month.

To coincide with the announcement, O’Conner, who is the UK mentor for the programme, shared what she called the best advice she has received in her career.

“Invest in rapport,” she said. “Get to know the people around you, understand them and their personal circumstances.  The games industry is small, so it matters to take the time to be curious about the people you work with, on every level. It’s important to recognize every single individual contributor to what makes a game work and remember that everyone moves at a different pace.”

Earlier today, Xbox, Minecraft and the UK’s Environment Agency released Rivercraft, a new mode in Minecraft: Education Edition that seeks to teach children about climate change.

Rivercraft is described as an “immersive virtual learning experience” based on the Environment Agency’s £54.7 million flood defence scheme in UK’s Preston and South Ribble, which will aim to reduce flood risk to 4,700 homes once complete.