Public Relations: A Global Enterprise

At the most basic level, public relations are meant to facilitate the communications between one group of people and another, but though we mostly think about public relations as crossing the gap between company and client, what about the idea of going overseas? The truth of the matter is that public relations is growing, slowly but relentlessly, into something that is more of a world phenomena, and the people who are getting involved with it right now might end up shaping the community for years to come. What does being a public relations representative abroad mean and what are your job prospects going to be like?

The first thing that you need to think about when you are looking at public relations is the fact that more and more domestic companies and PR firms are beginning to realize that they need an international presence. They are hiring representatives with an eye towards placing them on foreign shores, and though the growth that this type of placement is experiencing is slow, it is there. Remember that you are dealing with a service business and that you are going to be fulfilling a purpose overseas. The larger the firm is, the more likely it is to have a presence abroad. That being said, there are still openings in small niche firms which are looking to compete.

What could your work be like? When you are looking to act as a public relations representative abroad, you are going to find that you need to work with how your company comes across in a foreign country. For instance, consider what happens if your company would like to sell shoes in another country. What are the social, political, and economical implications of marketing in that country? What needs to happen before the campaign can go live, and what does the company need to know? You'll discover that you are essentially going to be your company's first point of contact with that country and whether the campaign is going to go through.



Remember that if you are looking to do PR work on a global level that you need to be an impressive communicator. Whether you are using a phone, a computer, or a PDA, you'll find that the more closely you can stay in contact with people, the better. You will be dealing with culture shock and time zone differences, and at the end of the day, you will find that you still need to worry about how you are going to get your point across. Unless you are going to be an independent worker and are willing to put in a lot of time and effort to keeping in touch, this might not be the job for you.

Take a moment to consider what you need to do to get an international PR job. Remember that every agency has a different model of how it hires and that the best way to get good results is to do your research. You may be in a position where you need to work your way up and where you need to have a certain amount of experience, so take some time and really consider what your options are going to be. This might be the career opportunity that changes your life!