Devex jobs: Career advice from a UNICEF communication officer

After more than 10 years working in external, social and behavior change, and public relations communication roles with UNICEF, Mercy Kolok came across a new opportunity at the agency that excited her, one that would shift her focus internally to share stories and perspectives of her colleagues’ work. Though it was out of her comfort zone, she decided to go for it. “Of course, I had my fears as this was something new to me and the location was quite far from home, but that didn’t deter me from pursuing the position,” Kolok said of what would become her current role as a communication officer with UNICEF’s supply division in Denmark. Kolok was based in South Sudan for her first role with UNICEF, and she has also spent time in Papua New Guinea and Liberia for the agency. “Having started my UNICEF career in a country where you see children whose lives are transformed by supplies such as the iconic UNICEF backpack or ready-to-eat therapeutic food used to treat malnutrition in children, it is especially exhilarating to see how these are procured and delivered,” Kolok said. Kolok’s day to day varies greatly, splitting time between the warehouse and various offices and collaborating with multimedia and social media teams to generate content. She also leads the supply division’s emergency communications efforts, focusing on emergencies that UNICEF is responding to around the world, including Ukraine and the Horn of Africa. “My role is to tell supply-staff stories to the wider UNICEF family of more than 15,000 colleagues working in over 190 countries,” she said. Kolok shared with Devex what it is like working as an internal communication officer, what challenges she has had to overcome, and advice for aspiring development professionals looking to work in communication roles. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. What does your day-to-day look like? Every day is different. There are days when I spend all day in the warehouse or working with colleagues to write stories, conduct interviews, and supervise photographers and videographers, especially now, because UNICEF is responding to multiple emergencies around the world. On other days I spend my time in online meetings and interviews with my colleagues in different parts of the world who are doing a great job delivering supplies for children and their families. A constant in my daily life is updating the internal, and sometimes, external communication channels with news or stories about staff and their reflections. I really love this, and the staff look forward to it. Our colleagues tell their stories and engage on these platforms using a mix of serious, fun, and real life. It’s great because we get to see different sides of the people we work with. It’s amazing, I love it! What are the biggest challenges of the job, and what lessons have you learned that help you overcome these? My biggest challenge right now is not having enough hours in a day. I have had to prioritize what is urgent or time-bound and needs to get out quickly. It has led to delays in some more routine areas of my work. But taking one step at a time — sometimes putting in more hours, and considering work-life balance — has made it easier. There is so much to do, especially in support of UNICEF’s emergency response. It isn’t easy to collect content because staff are so busy sourcing, procuring, and delivering supplies. Still, we have to push, and it is important to talk about the work we are doing because UNICEF values transparency. The stories we tell inspire UNICEF supporters, encourage staff morale, and build a sense of community across UNICEF supply colleagues. How do you see the impact of your work? It makes me very happy when I meet staff and they tell me how much they love reading, watching, or listening to the stories and content that I share. It’s even more exciting when they reach out to tell me they want to share their stories or know of a great colleague who should be featured. With many people still working from home, I have not had a chance to get to know many of my colleagues personally. But through my work, I have had an opportunity to connect with many colleagues very closely. It feels nice to see that many people know me because they see my work on a daily basis. It’s heartwarming when I do meet them, and they tell me how much they love what I do. These exchanges often end up with us setting up a meeting to talk about what they do and how we can feature that on our platforms. At other times, we might decide to have lunch or grab a coffee and get to know each other. If you work in internal communications, you need to know everyone and their unique experiences supporting UNICEF’s work. What skill sets have you found to be most valuable, or what skills have you focused on building to progress in your career? I cannot emphasize enough that it is important to have communication skills such as relating, networking, and working with people. You need to have a drive for results, for example, by being persuasive — it’s not easy to get people to talk on camera. The communication field is dynamic and ever-changing. You need to be tech savvy and focused on learning and development. You need to keep up, and you can only do this by learning on a continuous basis. What kind of person is well suited to do this job? Apart from having the right qualifications, such as a degree or experience in communications, you have to be a good storyteller — it could be written, audio, or video — but best if you can perfect the art of excelling in all of them. Your job will focus on telling staff stories, writing news and updates, and generating content for internal and external audiences. You also need to be empathetic and have the ability to bring out the best in people, especially if they do not feel confident about themselves or if they feel vulnerable. You need to have the ability to make people feel understood, appreciated, and listened to. What advice would you have for other professionals looking to work in this type of role? Dive right in! UNICEF has explicitly identified internal communication and staff engagement as enablers for achieving the organization’s strategic goals. Staff who are engaged feel appreciated and can see that their work is valued. Platforms that let them channel their thoughts on their work are essential to a healthy work environment and support them in delivering better results. Internal communications allow you to explore, experiment, and be creative in your communication, the channels to use, and content generation, and gives you the opportunity to really get to know the people you work with at a different level. It’s an exciting ride with new challenges and endless opportunities. You need to be smart and creative and get things rolling.