Part two: Ready for a career change? Find a charity job you love February 19th 2012
Trying to find a job that you love can be exciting and stressful in equal measures. In part one of my career change guide we looked at some first steps, so here’s part two to help you get a flying start on the road to your new career. I am focusing on the charity sector, but these strategies will also help if you’re working in other sectors. 
Posted in: Career Advice, Personal Branding, Top Tips | Tags: Careers advice, Charity Jobs, Work
Raising awareness of human trafficking: Anya17 January 19th 2012
With only two months until its première on 7th March 2012 in Liverpool, I’d like to spotlight this incredible arts project that I support – a unique, contemporary and highly topical new opera: Anya17.
Composed by ‘British Composer Award’ Winner Adam Gorb to a libretto written by Ben Kaye, Anya17 aims to raise awareness of the secret world of sex trafficking, where up to 800,000 young women and children are trafficked into the EU every year.
Anya17 exposes the intertwined lives of those sold into sexual slavery as they fight to survive.
The opera has its première in Liverpool on 7th March followed by a performance on 9th March at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.
Why I support Anya17
I first heard about Anya17 when I was developing this charity comms and careers blog with designer Anna Celeste Watson. Anna had just started to talk to Ben Kaye about a website for Anya17 and I was shocked to hear about the living hell that trafficked women and children face every day.
NGO’s estimate that there is likely to be a sex trafficking victim forcibly working in a house or flat just 20 minutes’ drive from your own doorstep, no matter where you live in the UK. Just think about that for a moment. It’s a horrifying thought isn’t it, and one that should make us all want to stand up and do something to end this modern day slavery.
With my charity comms background, I’ve been doing my bit with online promotions and helping to recruit the project’s two digital marketing managers. But there’s much more we can all do to get involved. And here’s why we should come together to fight this despicable trade.
Posted in: Campaigns, Charity Communications, Digital Marketing | Tags: Awareness Campaigns, Charity Comms Consultant, Charity Communications
Ready for a career change? Part one January 2nd 2012
Do you find yourself hitting the snooze button on the alarm more than you used to? Are you counting the hours every day – and the days until the weekend comes around?
Sounds like it might be time for a career change!
Changing career can feel like such a huge challenge that it might deter you from even considering new horizons. But you can give yourself the best chance of finding a new career by following a few key steps during your job search. With my 15 years’ experience in communications, including recruiting for great charity communications jobs, here’s the first part of my insider guide to help you with your career change. Although I talk about the charity sector, these strategies will help you if you’re working in other sectors.
Why do you want to make a career change?
Some people know from an early age the direct path their career will take, although most of us have a rather meandering path, if we ever have one at all! If you’ve come to a crossroads and just don’t know where you want to go next, one of the first questions I would ask you is ‘what first attracted you to your current job, and what frustrates you about it now?’ This could be the starting point for you to take a good look at your values, what you want out of your career, and what really makes you get up in the morning – even on these cold, dark January days!
Posted in: Career Advice, Charity Communications, Personal Branding | Tags: Charity Comms Consultant, Charity Communications
