An editorial just published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine warns that sitting for prolonged periods – even if you also exercise regularly – could be bad for your health.

Just how bad are we talking? Well, according to research, several studies suggest that people who spend most of their days sitting are more likely to be fat, have a heart attack or even die.

Pretty bad, then.

Elin Ekblom-Bak from the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences says that, “after four hours of sitting, the body starts to send harmful signals,” explaining that genes regulating the amount of glucose and fat in the body start to shut down.

The health warning is supported by a study published last year which tracked more than 17,000 Canadians over approximately a twelve year period. Researchers found that people who sat more had a HIGHER DEATH RISK, independently of whether they exercised or not.

Is it just us and everybody else we know that spectacularly fails when it comes to taking a break every few hours, let alone 45 minutes? So, as self-appointed ‘arse ambassadors’ (it’s a bum job but someone’s got to do it), we have compiled our top ten butt-busters.

1. A Mexican Wave. Repeat every 45 minutes.
2. Grab a coffee / tea / beverage of your choice. Note: beverage must be out of reach for maximum effect.
3. What goes in must come out. Take 5 and skip to the loo, my darlings.
4. Do the locomotion. It didn’t do Kylie’s rear end any harm. Gold hot-pants optional.
5. Don’t send your office colleague that E-mail. Get radical! Walk to their desk. Speak to them.
6. Smile! OK, you don’t have to go that far.
7. Lunch at desk? So 2009! Lunch breaks much more 2010. Get with it.
8. Loo again, especially for those who have made drinking 2 litres of water a day their new year’s resolution. Or was that just us? Seriously, who’s got the time?!
9. Water cooler moment. Think TV schedules! Think gossip! Think of your health!
10. Fat genes starting to break down: is that a good or a bad thing do you think? We’d rather not take the risk. Break time!
11. Laxatives. Only for the truly desperate / constipated. Not entirely beneficial to overall bottom health.

We’d love to hear any other suggestions you may have, all in the name of science of course. E-mail us at recruit@the-works.co.uk.

Scan the first few paragraphs of this month’s Rising Star interview though and you’ll also discover that unlike many, this company follows through. It takes its mission statement seriously – from corporate communications right through to the staff it employs. In the hiring of Mariyam Rawat, Senior Vice President, FD Santé is most definitely a company that walks the walk too.

But exceeding expectation isn’t Mariyam’s only defining career feature. She’s also an inspiration to anyone with a transferable skill set. Read on to find out how she swapped the test tube for a keyboard, making the leap from scientist to SVP of a leading communications company.

Name: Mariyam Rawat

Position: Senior Vice President

Company: FD Santé

Can you summarise your career path to date?

I began my career as a scientist for the Boots company following graduation. I moved into a medical advisor role which gave me my first taste of PR via issues management.

My comms career truly kicked off in 2006 when I became Global PR manager at Reckitt Benckiser – an incredibly intense role, but an exciting one. Given the global nature of the position, it included a lot of travel but also issues management, medical communication and external relations. It was my job to develop the global PR strategy, rolling it out to local markets and tailoring the plans to suit varying levels of market sophistication.

In 2008 I became Director of Communications & Investor Relations at Sinclair pharma where I was responsible for developing a group-wide integrated communication strategy encompassing investor relations, corporate communication and brand communication. I worked directly with the CEO and CFO, and also attended management board meetings.

Following these two in-house positions, I was ready for a fresh challenge and joined FD Santé in my latest role. It’s given me an opportunity to learn new skills and develop professionally.

Describe your role:

As Senior Vice President, my role involves providing support and direction for a major, complex, international PR programme. As well as helping to develop and lead Santé’s Media Relations strategy and networking programme, I’m responsible for a major global product launch, providing strategic counsel to clients, stakeholder engagement, team and business-wide training such as the development of junior staff, financial management and, like any responsible, forward thinking organisation, preparing clients for potential crises.

What’s been your career highlight to date?

There have been several highlights throughout my career as each role brings something new. However, a key highlight for me was achieving an MBA with commendation after I negotiated full corporate sponsorship (instead of corporate contributions) for the MBA in 2004, something which had never previously been done. Combining a challenging day job whilst studying for an intense masters’ degree had its moments but the sense of achievement when I graduated was phenomenal!

And greatest challenge?

Making the move from a technical role into a commercially focused role was an uphill battle. Technical people are not always taken seriously by the marketing teams within industry but my sheer perseverance paid off and I won respect from peers and senior management.

And your ambition?

I am a very driven and ambitious individual still wanting to set the world on fire!

My ambition is to continue working in roles that I find exciting and challenging and to always be the best that I can be.

What advice can you offer to other comms professionals who want to get ahead in the current climate?

If you’re good at what you do and passionate about it, the doors will open for you. Take a targeted approach in finding your ideal role by partnering with a good recruitment consultant who will take the time to understand you and your needs. This will cut out the necessity to attend interviews for unsuitable roles as they will only recommend roles that are a good match for yourself and the prospective employer.

How do you feel about what you have achieved so far in your career?

I feel very lucky to have worked for several amazing companies and having the opportunity to learn from some of the most talented people in business. My career path has been an interesting and at times surprising journey and led me to discover that working in PR is where my passion lies – vastly different from wearing a white lab coat and testing medicines. Although my comms career is still in its infancy, I feel I have achieved a great deal in a relatively short time and look forward to building on this.

What recent current affairs issue are you most interested in, and why?

Obama’s healthcare changes in the US. The bill would expand coverage to 97% of Americans, at a cost of $900bn (£540bn). Whilst the premise is ideologically sound, how the reform is actually funded is another matter hence the opposition to his current proposal. The final strategy implemented for funding this proposal will potentially have a global impact, providing learning’s for other countries who are reviewing their healthcare systems which are facing increasing pressure from an ageing population.

What challenges are you facing in your current position?

Having always worked on the client side, the biggest challenge is adapting to a role consultancy side and getting to grips with the back office aspects.

Do you have an unusual, impressive or inspirational career path? Are you able to offer sage career advice to other communications professionals? If so, we’d love to hear from you! To nominate a colleague or be featured as the next ‘rising star’ yourself, contact us at: sarah@the-works.co.uk or tel. 020 7559 6690. Alternatively, click on our website at: www.the-works.co.uk

53% of companies recruiting staff have rejected potential candidates who have posted provocative or inappropriate photos or information about themselves according to a survey by Career Builder.

The research found that:

• 45% of employers currently use social networking sites to research job candidates (up from 22% last year). One in ten employers search blogs, 29% use Facebook, 26% use LinkedIn and 7% follow Twitter to check out potential candidates.
• Of these employers, 35% have found information (e.g. badmouthing previous employers, poor comms skills, or lying about qualifications) on social networking sites that have caused them not to hire candidates.
• Other application no-no’s include those that used emoticons or text speak in their e-mails or covering letters.
• “With more market competition for less jobs, don’t let your social media presence be the reason a potential employer takes you off the shortlist”, advises Lynne. “At the very least, ensure your privacy settings are set up correctly”.

The latest IPA / BDO Bellwether survey revealed that whilst overall marketing spend fell by 7.2% during Q4 2009, the ‘all other’ category, into which PR fits, saw just a 4% budget decline. Budget cuts were also the slowest since Q1 2008.

Kingston Smith W1’s Financial Performance of Marketing Services Companies Annual Survey also expected PR agencies to survive the recession better than other marketing sectors.

The Public Relations Consultants Association (PRCA) Trends Barometer for the last quarter in 2009 reports that 62.5% of respondents (from the top 40 agencies) reported feeling more optimistic for their consultancies, while 43.7% saw client budget increase during the quarter.

Packed with career advice, candidate tips and market analysis from the some of the recruitment industry’s leading pundits (including our very own managing partner), click on http://www.corpcommsmagazine.co.uk/news/550-time-for-a-new-job for the full story.

Heading up our consumer desk will be Ami Oza, a PR professional who has clocked up over 8 years experience working on high-profile consumer accounts for agencies such as Cow PR and Frank PR.

Joining her is Paula Simmons, who will be fronting our corporate desk. Paula, a former PR Director and communications consultant has extensive agency background covering corporate comms and community investment.

“It’s a hugely exciting time in PR and Comms recruitment, particularly as we’re seeing more candidate and client activity than the preceding fifteen months. As a result, we’ve bolstered our team with staff who know the PR industry inside out, inherently understand often complex issues and can swiftly pinpoint the talent needed to plug recruitment gaps”, says Sarah.

Both Ami and Paula will be on board later this month. On behalf of all of us, we’d like to give them a big Works Welcome.

If you’d like to get in touch to find about job opportunities, please contact us on recruit@the-works.co.uk or call us on 020 7559 6690. Scroll down to ‘the jobs’ section to find out more.

According to Sarah Leembruggen, managing partner, the number of CVs being received by The Works has risen by a staggering 90% since the start of the year, 50% more than the number received in the same period in 2009.

“Whilst January is traditionally a peak time for job-hunters to send out their CV’s for speculative or specific positions, the flood we’ve received this year is unprecedented and certainly indicates that market confidence is returning”, says Sarah.

Although The Works have been surprised by this surge in candidate interest, what makes January 2010 even more noteworthy according to Managing Partners, Lynne Wilkins and Sarah Leembruggen, is the quality of applications.

Talented candidates are also coming out of the woodwork and throwing their hat in the applications ring. “CV quality is hard to quantify, but we’d say that the bar has been raised at least 20% in the past month alone in terms of a candidates’ background, experience and ability to do the job.”

As a direct result of the rise in candidate quality, the number of interviews being conducted has also doubled.

Our jokes may be rubbish but there’s nothing flaky about Keren McCarron’s transformation from journalist to senior corporate communicator. Read on. Be impressed.

Name: Keren McCarron

Position: Corporate Communications Manager

Company: United Biscuits

Can you summarise your career path to date?
I started my career in journalism before starting my comms career as External Relations Manager at the UK Passport Service, which involved all kinds of marcomms work, including a very exciting short secondment to the Home Office Press Office Newsdesk. I then worked for Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service, looking after their press office, events and the graphic design team. Having decided that I wanted to focus more on press, I went for a press office role with an education charity called the Teacher Support Network. This gave me a great opportunity to build good contacts with the national and trade journalists in the world of education. During these previous roles, I also studied for a part time Diploma in Nutritional Therapy during which I developed a love of all things food and health related. So, when the job came up at the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) for a Media Officer, I jumped at the chance. After two years in an incredibly varied role, dealing with all kinds of food issues from food scares to manufacturers’ community initiatives, I was promoted to Media Manager at FDF. I was in that position for a year and have just started at UB.

Describe your role:
My role at UB will involve managing the press office – dealing with national and regional press; leading on campaigns around food issues, for example on sustainability and health and wellbeing; and managing crises, should they occur.

What’s been your career highlight to date?
In 2009 we took on a new project at the Food and Drink Federation, promoting food and drink exports. This provided the perfect opportunity for us to target the national press with a good news story at a time when all of the papers were filled with economic doom and gloom. It’s also a rarity to have the chance to engage with the media about a positive story about the food industry. I worked with FDF’s members, several of whom are Britain’s best loved brands, to get some brilliant case studies to back up the statistics, and managed to land a fantastic news story. We had a full page in The Sun entitled ‘Feed the World!’, a leader column in The Times, and pieces in The Telegraph and Mirror, and a comment in The Guardian.

And greatest challenge?
When I was promoted to Media Manager at FDF it was an opportunity to really shake things up in the press office and change the way we worked. I worked hard with my team to change the way certain things were done to make us a more efficient and proactive office, jumping at every opportunity we had to engage with the media about issues that are key to FDF and building up key relationships. These changes have really made a difference this year – correspondents on our key trade, and some national publications, know me and my team by name, and feel free enough to come to us with their enquiries, even if they’re just speculating; they know we will always do whatever we can to help.

And your ambition?
At the moment I’m just looking forward to getting to grips with the exciting Comms challenges at a big food company like UB.

What advice can you offer to other comms professionals who want to get ahead in the current climate?
I know it sounds like a cliché, but do something you love. If you’re passionate about your work, it’s easier to communicate the right message. Work hard; develop good relationships – both internally and externally with stakeholders such as the media if you work in that area. Always remember – meeting face to face is always better than email – and never forget to have some fun along the way!

How do you feel about what you have achieved so far in your career?
I’m glad that my previous roles have given me a good grounding in the whole marcomms area, which led me to discover that working in PR is what I particularly love. I also love dealing with the variety of issues that the food industry faces day to day – no two days are ever the same, so there’s never any reason to be bored! I feel I’ve come along way since starting at FDF as a Media Officer three years ago, to working for a big food company producing some of Britain’s favourite brands.

What recent current affairs issues are you most interested in, and why?
The challenge of packaging waste reduction is something that has fascinated me during my time at FDF. Food companies have really embraced the challenge of coming up with new ways to address this problem and to come up with some truly innovative solutions such as minimising the packaging that consumers take home.

I am also interested in the area of ethical sourcing. There’s been quite a bit in the news recently about sustainable palm oil and food companies stepping up to the mark in this – for example, UB has just announced it is one of the first food manufacturers to secure a supply of sustainable palm oil to ensure the oil used in their products is from sustainable plantations.

What challenges are you facing in your current position?
Adapting to a role in a big corporate, having worked mainly in smaller government or trade organisations before, will be an interesting challenge – one I’m very much looking forward to!
Do you have an unusual, impressive or inspirational career path? Are you able to offer sage career advice to other communications professionals? If so, we’d love to hear from you! To nominate a colleague or be featured as the next ‘rising star’ yourself, contact us at: sarah@the-works.co.uk or tel. 020 7559 6690. Alternatively, click on our website at: www.the-works.co.uk

According to a poll of 1,000 opinion leaders which included CEOs, Whitehall secretaries, media execs and leading figures in the public sector, radio – specifically, BBC Radio 4’s ‘Today’ programme – has more influence than any other media platform on corporate reputation. Television was second, followed by print, leaving online (shock, horror) in fourth place.

The ‘Thought Leadership Index 2009′ provides interesting reading for any PR involved in reputation management. Yep, that’s all of us, then.

For more information click on
http://prweek.com/uk/News/MostDiscussed/969367/TLG-Thought-Leadership-Index-says-radio-most-influential-medium/

“It seems that market confidence has returned in quite dramatic fashion,” says Sarah Leembruggen, Managing Partner, The Works, great news for any job-hunter seeking a new position who has been biding their time for the last year and a half.

“We are handling 54% more new briefs compared to this time last year, a level which is comparable to the much more buoyant 2007 market.”