October 17th through October 21st is our International Careers week. We’ll be highlighting our resources and featuring events to help those of you who want to study, volunteer, intern or have a career abroad or in international relations. All of these highlights are in preparation for our International Opportunities Fair on October 25th (save that date!). To help shed light on a career path abroad, we welcome alum Irene Tieh on Wednesday, October 19th to @PennCareerDay on Twitter. She is currently a marketing and education consultant, and has vast experience living abroad and working with international clients. Read more about Irene below, and don’t forget to follow her on the 19th!
Irene Tieh spent her lifetime bridging the East and West. She studied, traveled, lived and worked in China. After graduating from UPENN with a MA and BA, Irene earned a full scholarship to study at Beijing’s Language and Culture University where she taught Chinese professionals English as well as coached students on how to prepare for their studies in the US. She then moved to New York to pursue a career in global marketing where she worked for the pioneers of consumer product marketing and branding- Estee Lauder Companies and L’Oreal USA.
After years of traveling around the world, Irene was ready to return to China as an expatriate. She took an executive position at Education First Professional English Division to develop a Career Services program, which evolved into a department of 4 business units that expanded across 4 Chinese cities. To differentiate Education First (formerly English First) from its competitors, Irene spearheaded the departments’ strategic branding by identifying key business partnerships, and by producing media-covered programs and events that encouraged students to use English confidently in real-life situations. Through her work in branding and marketing, Irene realized a strong correlation between marketing and launching products with helping people in their careers. Just as businesses go through different cycles of development to stay relevant and current to their market, people go through different stages of life to evolve and transform themselves. Given her corporate and education background, Irene has developed an effective marketing approach to help individuals with the next phases in their college or professional endeavors.
In addition to helping UPENN admissions and career services, Irene is a sought-after Cross Cultural Expert specializing in China and US. After working in China, she became an advocate for human capital and leadership because people or talent remains the biggest challenge for employers in that region. She works directly with CEOs of major corporations as Co-Chair of the Membership Committee for CEO Connection, an exclusive membership organization that connects the best business leaders worldwide. She is an experience lecturer who presented to the Beijing Olympic Committee as well major Chinese universities and corporations.
