Ten years ago, New Zealand native Reuben Staines was a Kiwi abroad—living more than 6,000 miles from his home in the South Pacific. Following his graduation from Massey University, he moved to Seoul in 2002 to take a job as a Korea Times reporter. Now a senior manager of strategic content for Samsung Electronics, Reuben reflects back on the move and how it eventually led him to an exciting career at Samsung.
After four years at The Korea Times, Reuben decided to apply for a role at Cheil Worldwide, a marketing subsidiary of the Samsung Group, “despite it being a big change in my career path,” according to the former journalist
Reuben Staines enjoys the view from Samsung’s North American headquarters in Ridgefield Park, New Jersey.
“I was excited at the opportunity to work for a technology company that was doing some incredibly innovative things and really emerging as a global brand,” said Reuben. “It was a significant shift from covering international politics as a journalist, but the timing felt right. And Cheil must have seen value in my unique background and global perspective because they hired me as an account executive on their PR team.”
Reuben quickly found that his career trajectory had taken on an incredibly fast-paced life of its own—much like the Samsung business environment he encountered. With Cheil, Reuben helped forge a corporate brand identity for Samsung TV, before being offered a role on the client side. In 2008, he was transferred to Samsung Electronics, where he worked with international media and the global PR network.
“I could speak Korean pretty well,” he said about his time in Seoul. “But realistically, I didn’t have to use it that often. Samsung is such a globalized company that even the Koreans who worked in the Seoul headquarters spoke English fluently.”
Though he began his career before Samsung really took off as a leading international brand, Reuben said he understands why people see it as such a compelling place to work. In addition to fostering a truly global environment, Samsung makes it a point to become a leader in every market it targets, two characteristics Staines believes many job-seekers find very attractive.
In 2012, Staines made the move to the United States to work with the Enterprise Business Division. Though he had spent the last six years on the planning side of PR, he was excited to find that the new role gave him the chance to execute strategy, once again paving the way for a new leg of his career.
“Within just 10 years at one company, I’ve had the opportunities to live abroad, explore my interests and strengths, and be a part of the innovative processes that make Samsung one-of-a-kind.,” he explained. “Our employees are unusually versatile – their ability to pivot and change direction without losing a step is so unique for a company as big as this.”
Today, Reuben is still a New Zealander abroad, leading the development of strategic content to drive demand across Samsung’s enterprise offerings in Ridgefield Park, New Jersey. He is also, not-so-coincidentally, the managing editor of Samsung Business Insights—a blog that highlights the company’s work throughout the business sector—showing that even after moving to South Korea and embarking on his incredible Samsung career, he still never forgot what got him there in the first place.
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