Public relations plays an important part in the running of any organisation, regardless of their geographic location. International organisations in the recruitment and teaching sector must use PR and marketing as an essential tool to reach their global and diverse target audience. Liam (aka myself), a PR student at USW, travelled to China to become a vital part of the PR team, alongside teaching English as a second language and v-logging.
International PR has become a relatively new and growing sector within the industry that requires a strong and tailorable brand message. A sector that requires fluidity within audience segmentation and a specific set of skills, strong business acumen and cultural knowledge.
International PR has become extremely popular amongst Chinese-based teaching agencies that focus on the recruitment of teachers and English professionals worldwide. Or more than likely Chinese organisation just love the fact that a caucasian ‘Englishman’ is working for them. Yes, they thought Wales was in England.
JayRay Oriental Education is a Beijing-based education recruitment agency that scouts the globe to find enthusiastic and well educated degree-holders. Successful applicants would be flown to china and re-located to one of many JayRay locations, including Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu.
I was initially approached for an English teaching job in Beijing, however, after 7 months JayRay Oriental Education uncovered my passion for the PR and Journalism industry. I used a variety of PR and marketing tools to create brand awareness, including event speaking, social media marketing and videography.
My Journalism degree did come in handy after all… 2 years too late.
Public speaking on behalf of an organisation helps to build credibility and resonate with the target audience on a more personal level and creates that level of human interaction that isn’t available through social platforms.
I was proactive in my search for events that would be beneficial to JayRay Oriental Education. As a Native English speaker, with a confident level of Mandarin vocabulary, and experience in the recruitment and education sector, I was deemed a credible individual that caught the interest of many event participants.
I mean what can I say, I nailed it.
In this day and age, visual storytelling is in high demand and it’s easily accessible through social platforms such as Facebook and Snapchat.
Video consumption is easily attainable on a global scale with the help of social sharing that creates a domino effect amongst the online web of connections.
I am graduate Multimedia Journalist, who was previously trained in creating video content for a variety of clients and I used my skillset to create unique and inspiring videos to market JayRay online to potentially increase brand awareness and encourage aspiring teachers to join the team.
With more and more organisations determined to reach a global demographic, international PR is on the incline. Becoming a successful and multi-national company is an aspiration close to many business owner’s hearts but only those with a solid foundation of PR and Marketing employees will reach the very top.
If all else fails with your job here in the UK, what should you do?
Yes, thats right.
Re-locate to China.
– Liam
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