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| the latest PR and communications career news |
What a difference a year makes! This time in January 2009, clients were battening down the hatches and preparing for a difficult / challenging / excruciating year ahead. For the few agencies or businesses who weren't culling staff they certainly weren't replacing and didn't job-hunters know it?! Fast forward to 2010 and it's all change - for the better. Actually, make that MUCH better. By far the biggest news story in the PR recruitment sector is Consumer, with 'huge momentum' and 'unbelievable growth' (Sarah's words). Those agencies who were pitching like mad at the end of last year are seeing their hard work rewarded; pitches are coming off and with it a tsunami-type surge in the need to recruit. We're not just talking one or two positions, but ten. In-house roles are also being swiftly filled with companies who haven't recruited for over 15 months! There is also interest for posts at all levels in the financial services market, again, suggesting that business is being won whilst even the financial markets (can you believe it?!) are moving forward by recruiting particularly at the junior end, albeit at a slower place. Meanwhile, ethical healthcare is certainly in better shape than it has been for a while. Out of recession? You betcha! |
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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. New year, new faces It's change at The Works too, with some fantastic new additions to our team. 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. Time for a new job? Make this a must-read! If you've made bagging a new job one of your new year's resolutions, then the following article is a must-read. 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. PR industry 'coping better' with recession A trio of recent surveys seem to indicate that the PR industry is coping better with the (now-ex) recession than other marketing sectors, as reported in PR Week. 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. Why social networking could be bad for your career Regular readers may have already heeded our warnings about inappropriate posts on social media sites but a recent survey acts as a timely reminder, particularly with the job market on the move. 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:
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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 |
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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.
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