English key to PR Success

Friday, 01 February 2008
By Diana Al Jassem and

Kholood F. Al-Rhamah

JEDDAH - English is a prerequisite for success in public relations operations in Saudi Arabia, according to participants in a two-day PR Forum here last week. Such is the need for the lingua franca of global communications that local PR companies spend hugely to train their staff accordingly.

"Our company pays each employee SR22,000 for special training courses in the New Horizon institution," said Salah Al-Rimi, media relations manager in Al-Taalok International Company for Public Relations and Media.

For young Saudis looking for jobs, PR is a bright option because the starting salary is good - five figures even - if one is fluent in English and has the right personality.

But, said Saud Saleh Al-Mesibieh, a writer, media researcher and PR expert, "It does not depend on the personality only. PR has many requirements and the language is the main one, especially in these days of globalization where new communication methods shorten the distance between continents."

Hanan Mufti, a PR executive for Saudi Aramco on the Western Province, said his grasp of English is a plus.

"I'm considered successful in the PR field," said Mufti. I graduated in English from Umm Al-Qura University in Makkah, so I already had the perfect language to help me enough in my career."

At Mobily, PR manager Abdullah Al Kharboushi, said learning English is one of the main requirements, for which they have special training courses.

In addition to English, one needs a certain skills set to excel in PR.

"Many companies lack the professional PR employee so they just have one employee who is professional in English," said Zahra Al-Khaldi, a marketing executive in Intellect Media Company.

PR jobseekers in Saudi Arabia generally range from high school graduates to others with higher qualifications and specializations, but seldom in PR itself.

"Preparing the PR employee differs from company to company," Al-Khaldi said. "For example, our company focuses on teaching the PR employee how to treat consumers and meet with journalists - in fact we do not have special English training courses."

More than 400 PR experts and top executives from government and business attended last week's forum that concluded with the following main recommendations:

Encourage PR companies and other businesses to commission research so as to assess the value of PR campaigns, and weigh costs against the results of such campaigns.

Urge universities to embark on Mass Media training for PR staff in cooperation with the private sector.

Urge PR executives in government to provide full scale services.

In the next forum, focus on new media platforms and electronic communities so as provide educational opportunities aimed at making good use of these platforms for PR activities.

Urge speakers and panelists next year to present locally produced success stories and examples that better serve the delegates.