Globe-Trotting

Globe-Trotting

To many students of public relations, working for an international agency sounds like a dream job filled with endless travel to exotic locales, priceless cultural experiences and rare opportunities to communicate to publics across the globe. However, as with most dream jobs the initial task of entering into this arena seems incredibly daunting (if not impossible). How does one just pack up and move to an entirely different country and get an entry-level position at an international agency? Not to mention all the worries that come with housing, food, insurance, visas, student loans, bank accounts, travel expenses and an almost endless list of other things that are normally taken for granted when just getting a job in one’s home country. For the purposes of this post, let’s just explore the first steps of getting the dream job. After all, in order to get the housing, food, insurance, visas… etc, one must have a job opportunity waiting for them.

The PRWeek website has a job search feature that is available to any registered user. There is a PRWeek site for the US, the United Kingdom, Germany and people in the Asian-Pacific region as well as affiliates in Russia, Argentina and Poland. This is perhaps the most straight-forward way of stepping closer to an international career. A similar job search tool can also be found at the Monster.com Global Gateway which has an ever-expanding list of job opportunities from a variety of countries.

Another International Public Relations site features links offering information on global agencies, communicating across cultures and PR organizations all over the world.

A blog called PR Conversations gives fascinating perspectives about the PR industry from bloggers around the world. Staying up-to-date with global trends of this nature could be very beneficial in the interview process for a world-renowned company.

I, personally, would like to begin my international career in the United Kingdom. However, it would not be in my best interest to send a possible employer my traditional one-page resume. This is where a curriculum vitae (CV) would come in handy. Any employer located in a member state of the European Union will expect an applicant to provide a CV.

It may seem as though finding a job on the other side of the world is just a pipe dream. However, with some research and motivation, anyone can be on their way to becoming a globe-trotting PR practitioner. As the world becomes more connected through advancements in technology (particularly in the realm of communications) it is becoming increasingly important for public relations practitioners to expand their skills to communicate with publics globally.

-Michael Maldonado, 9/10/07