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The Language of Leadership Women in the communications sector are failing to reach the boardroom due the differences in communications styles commonly used by each gender. The issue is predominantly one of language, rather than skills, argues Julia Meighan, Chief Executive of specialist corporate and marketing communications recruiter, VMAGROUP. Julia Meighan suggests that f...

“Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference” – Winston Churchill Scrolling my way through LinkedIn recently, an image caught my eye. The image was intriguing – if the letters A-Z are of equal value to the numbers 1-26, then the values of each individual letter of ‘KNOWLEDGE’ equals 96%. ‘HARDWORK’ equals 98% and ‘ATTITUDE’ 100%. The image testifies to the fact th...

The blurring of lines - are you giving your team the skills to thrive? As a consultant at VMAGROUP I spend my days talking to Directors of Communications across all sectors and industries. A regular theme is how best to develop their team and deploy, often stretched, resources appropriately. This is backed up in our bi-annual Business Leaders in Communications Study. One of ...

So you landed your dream job and you start next Monday. Congratulations - you beat out dozens of candidates that applied and set yourself apart from the handful that got interviewed. It is now time to live up to the expectation created and make an impact with your new employer. Hopefully you have a good indication from your recruiter or their HR contact about what to expect ...

Have you ever heard someone say: “I can’t believe they didn't give me the job, I have all the experience they want, I could have done it standing on my head”? Working in recruitment for the last ten years, I've heard this statement an awful lot… What a lot of job seekers fail to realise is that even though they have the experience to do the job, it’s never a guarantee of get...

In a fast paced business, there is an expectation that employees should want to progress their careers. Managers invest significant resource in people development, attempting to nurture their employees and reward high performers. It is, however, incorrect to assume that everybody and wants to move up the career ladder as fast as possible. Very often, competent, skilled emplo...

When attending a job interview, many individuals let nerves get the better of them and focus solely on trying to impress the interviewer with their relevant experience. It is important to relax and remember the employer does not hold all the cards. This is particularly true as we move to a candidate-led market with more opportunities. The interview is really a chance for bot...

This article was first published in Real Business Magazine, 8 May 2014. In the past few years, business leaders seem to have accepted that social media is one of the most important channels in terms of communicating with your target audience. Recent data revealed that as much as 77% of Fortune 500 companies were active on Twitter in 2013 and 70% had Facebook pages. Now it se...

As communicators, we advise CEOs on how to make an impact in their first 100 days – but do all of us, follow the same school of thought when starting a new role? We know that in this early period, the reputation you bring will either be validated or discredited. Everything you say or do will be scrutinised and perceptions will be formed about your approach. With this in mind...

This is my eighth month at VMAGROUP as a consultant in Europe. I have learnt various things whilst being here from my time working in the UK offices to moving over here in Europe. Certain recruitment terms were all double dutch to me at one point (no pun intended). Since joining VMA I have had the opportunity to be part of great discussions with top communications directors ...