Advertise on podcast: Don't Shoot The Messenger

Jo Coxhill is on a mission to make work not suck. An expert in employee experience, organisational culture and internal communication, Jo helps companies boost performance and build happier, healthier, more engaged teams.  She’s also a burnout advocate, speaker, and fellow of the IoIC, known for her authenticity and results-driven approach. In this episode - a guest expert session from our Get Hired! coaching group for comms professionals - we explore: 📣 Why burnout is still rife in corporate life, even with all the wellbeing talk 📣 The real causes of burnout, and the influence communicators can have 📣 The five stages of burnout, from healthy striving to full-blown crisis 📣 Practical strategies for prevention and recovery Send us a text You can find me here: Website LinkedIn All resources

Here's the latest 'Job Search SOS' episode. I'm back with Lucy Cairncross, MD of VMA GROUP to tackle the questions keeping job seekers up at night. This episode is packed with straight-talking advice on: 📣 Cover letters: why they still matter (despite what everyone tells you), and what actually works  📣 How to explain a disjointed career without badmouthing your toxic ex-boss 📣 Getting your CV to the top of the pile (and why hiring a CV writer is definitely not the answer) 📣 Following up on applications without looking desperate 📣 Convincing hiring managers you're not overqualified and you won't get bored (code for 'too expensive' or 'flight risk'). Job searching is brutal and can feel lonely - but you're absolutely not alone in this. The questions we received show that even the most experienced comms professionals struggle with the same challenges. Let me know what other subjects you would be interested in hearing about from a career coach and a comms recruiter. You can send me a DM on LinkedIn. Send us a text You can find me here: Website LinkedIn All resources

This week I’m bringing you another Job Search SOS episode, a recording of a Q&A webinar I ran in mid January 2025, with Lucy Cairncross. the MD of VMA Group, the recruitment specialist for communications, marketing, digital and change roles. We answered questions from the communications community, and provided an update on the state of the job market. Topics included: 📣  How to talk about a long gap in your CV 📣  Whether to talk about your current salary during the interview process 📣  How to negotiate when you don't know what package is on the table 📣  A proactive strategy to your job search 📣  Using LinkedIn intentionally If you'd like to find out more about my LinkedIn Unlocked online course, to help you get noticed and get hired via LinkedIn, here's the link. Listen to the episode for your 20% discount code to buy LinkedIn Unlocked for less than £80. Thank you to those who attended for your courage in sharing your challenges. Job searching is brutal and can feel lonely - but you're absolutely not alone in this. We will continue to run these sessions if there's an appetite for them. Please send me a DM on LinkedIn to ask your questions, or to join the waiting list for the next webinar. Send us a text You can find me here: Website LinkedIn All resources

Nessa O'Gorman is a global product and marketing strategist who has had several career pivots. From an early career as an interpreter, she moved into marketing and product development, launching Expedia's first loyalty programme across 14 countries. And now Nessa has a new passion - wellbeing as the foundation of sustainable performance in work and in life. In this episode we talk about: 📣 How to bounce back from burnout 📣 The foundations for a healthy and fulfilling life 📣 Information overload and the trend towards personalisation in marketing 📣 A shocking personal story about the danger of business travel in Russia. Send us a text You can find me here: Website LinkedIn All resources

Lucy Cairncross is the MD of VMA GROUP, the specialist marketing and communications recruitment and executive search firm. In this special episode of the podcast, I'm bringing you a recording of a Q&A session Lucy and I hosted for our communities of communications professionals, frustrated by the state of the job market and the horrendous application process. We answered a multitude of questions, including: 📣  Should I be honest with a recruiter about my toxic boss? 📣  How do tap into the 'hidden' job market? 📣  Is gendered ageism real? 📣  What should I include in my cover letter? 📣  How do I answer questions about my salary when I don't know what salary is on offer? And many more. If you'd like to find out more about my LinkedIn Unlocked online course, to help you get noticed and get hired via LinkedIn, here's the link. You can get 20% off the cost of LinkedIn Unlocked until 21 November 2024 using the promo code FRIEND20 at the checkout. Thank you to those who attended for your courage in sharing your challenges. Job searching is brutal and can feel lonely - but you're absolutely not alone in this. We're thinking of making this a regular thing. If you would like to be invited to the next one, DM me on LinkedIn and I'll add you to the list. Send us a text You can find me here: Website LinkedIn All resources

Louisa Houghton is Head of Communications at VMO2 Business. She is a storyteller and writer at her core. And having worked in the fast-paced world of telecoms for most of her career, she has experienced the speed of change from the inside. In this episode, we talk about how her mission to achieve harmony between her work life and busy home life, has informed her career decisions. And also: 📣 The experience of working with people who behave completely differently to you 📣 Knowing when to talk away from a job that isn't working 📣 How it feels to go 'around the world in a week'  📣 A retro idea for internal communications pros Send us a text You can find me here: Website LinkedIn All resources

Nicole Bearne had a fascinating communications career in Formula 1 and is now a board director at Motorsport UK, and an employee experience consultant. Working in an organisation with such big budgets and high profile has given Nicole so many unique experiences (bumping into Brad Pitt at work being one of the perks). Amongst other things, we talk about: 📣 Turning your passion into a profession 📣 The dangers of ignoring the employee (and the candidate) experience 📣 From the glamour of working with the A list to ‘jumping off a cliff’ into self-employment 📣 Organising the most epic leaving do ever, with pyrotechnics, fireworks and flamejets You can get in touch with me at [email protected] or find me on LinkedIn. Nicole’s website is www.comms-exchange.com Send us a text You can find me here: Website LinkedIn All resources

Shan Chatoo calls herself a communications warrior. Alongside her work as a comms professional, she now combines the skill she’s developed in communication, with her passion for weights, to empower women to build mental and physical resilience. In this episode Shan will inspire you with her epic achievements, and how she picked herself up from her lowest ebb, when she was being bullied at work. We talk about: 📣 How she developed a no-nonsense, no BS approach to life and work 📣 The amazing mental and physical benefits of lifting heavy, and I mean HEAVY weights 📣 The experience of being bullied at work, which led her to question everything 📣 New beginnings - combining her two passions, and what they have in common. You can get in touch with me at [email protected] or find me on LinkedIn. Send us a text You can find me here: Website LinkedIn All resources

Polly Evans oversees UK audio production for the world’s largest interactive audio platform for kids. She started her career at the BBC, moving into reporting and becoming a TV news anchor. This episode is about a life and career-changing moment that happened to her on live TV, in front of hundreds of thousands of viewers. We talk about: 📣 How the worst possible thing can happen, and how she navigated her way through major personal change 📣 Redefining her priorities and rebuilding her career 📣 Putting herself in the path of luck, leading to amazing connections and unexpected opportunities 📣 A terrifying and exhilarating stunt in a bi-plane. You can get in touch with me at [email protected] or find me on LinkedIn. Please subscribe and leave a review if you enjoyed this episode. Or you can send me a text message. Send us a text You can find me here: Website LinkedIn All resources

We're back with series 3, and starting strong with internal communications consultant Olivia Lawson. Olivia's career has had several twists and turns, and a couple of sliding doors moments.  In this episode we talk about:  📣 How reading one book can change your life 📣 The impact of having entrepreneurial parents 📣 Being a natural networker who was afraid of LinkedIn 📣 There being no such thing as a wrong job 📣 Whether it's better to be in the fish suit, or to be next to the person in the fish suit. You can get in touch with me at [email protected] or find me on LinkedIn. You'll find more information about LinkedIn Unlocked, the self-paced online course to master LinkedIn and accelerate your job search here: www.vickimarinker.com/linkedin-unlocked. Please subscribe and leave a review if you enjoyed this episode. Send us a text You can find me here: Website LinkedIn All resources

In this, the last episode of series 2, I talk with Jenni Field, business strategist, author, podcaster and founder of Redefining Communications. We cover a lot of ground in this episode, including corporate culture, the challenges facing the physical workplace and how to future-proof your career in communication. We discuss: 📣 The role of communicators in establishing a positive corporate culture 📣 How to recruit for culture fit and build a diverse workforce 📣 Toxic cultures - how they develop and what to do about them 📣 Balancing wellbeing and productivity in organisations post-COVID 📣 A pitch to the Queen and a flammable catsuit in a hot air balloon. If you have any suggestions for guests for my next series, please get in touch at www.vickimarinker.com Send us a text You can find me here: Website LinkedIn All resources

In this episode I talk with Tony Stewart, Head of digital at scarlettabott and self-confessed digital geek, about how to get your digital strategy right in a Covid world. We discuss: 📣 The 7 fundamental pillars on which to build a winning digital strategy  📣 How success leads to behavioural change 📣 The technical challenge of ongoing remote working 📣 A great example of using gaming technology to support a business challenge 📣 Being responsible for Boris’s presence on Twitter If you’d like to get involved, please get in touch at www.vickimarinker.com Send us a text You can find me here: Website LinkedIn All resources

In this episode, I talk with Robbie Sommerville, Director of ESG Communications at Credit Suisse about the impact of COP26 and the evolution of environment and social issues in different regions. We discuss: 📣 The impact of COP26: moving from the focus on carbon to a more diverse range of environmental topics 📣 Regional priorities across the ESG agenda and juggling those needs in a global organisation 📣 The push and pull of profitability and purpose 📣 Internal engagement as a driver of corporate responsibility 📣 Encouraging leaders to champion diversity, equity and inclusion while avoiding tokenism 📣 Ringing a gong to announce dinner If you’d like to get involved, please get in touch at www.vickimarinker.com Send us a text You can find me here: Website LinkedIn All resources

In this episode I talk with Sheena Thomson, an expert in international relations, reputation and crisis management, who started her communications career with the Royal Navy, about what the corporate world can learn from how the Navy manages a crisis.  We discuss: 📣 Being thrown into the deep end, handling crisis communications for the Navy 📣 How to keep a rational head when all around you are losing theirs 📣 What constitutes a corporate crisis, and if it’s ever as bad as what happens at sea 📣 Rescuing a disastrous press trip and ensuring journalists got their story 📣 An incident with a dead parrot and pretending to be Anneka Rice If you’d like to get involved, please get in touch at www.vickimarinker.com Send us a text You can find me here: Website LinkedIn All resources

In this episode I talk with Sam Bleazard, Employee Communications and Engagement Lead at Fortnum & Mason about the unique challenge of working in retail communications We discuss: 📣 The challenge of working strategically in an environment where results are examined on a weekly basis 📣 How retail has been affected by COVID, e-commerce, Brexit and the sustainability agenda 📣 What goes on behind the beautifully curated shop floor of a high-end destination like Fortnum & Mason 📣 How to nearly kill your CEO. If you’d like to get involved, please get in touch at www.vickimarinker.com Send us a text You can find me here: Website LinkedIn All resources