Sarah Jade King, Class of 2012

Sarah Jade King, Class of 2012

University attended: Bachelor of Arts (BA) Communications and Psychology, Monash University Malaysia

Current profession: Digital Marketing Strategist at Nexus International School Singapore

 

Congratulations to Sarah Jade King, a member of Class of 2012 who in May of this year was part of a ‘Marketing and Entrepreneurship’ panel, and her very first, at Nexus International School Singapore where she talked about her career and described her early experiences with the advertising world. 

The panel discussion focused on three main topics which highlighted the importance of doing something you love, how one will continuously learn new things about their field of work, and the benefits of stepping out of one’s comfort zone. 

Join us as Sarah takes us on her journey from her days in Garden International School up until today where she is currently a Digital Marketing Strategist at Nexus International School Singapore!

 

Tell us more about your career, or what are you currently up to, describe your experience abroad to us as it will be super insightful for our students looking to pursue a similar pathway!

During my time at University, I took a Summer unit where you can do an internship for 3 months and it counts towards your final degree. I started off as an intern at a digital agency called Company27. I was employee number 12 at the time. 

After the internship, they asked me to finish my degree and offered me a place once I graduated. I started my career as an Account Strategist and after a year, moved into the role of “Ideation Specialist” where I got to work closely with the CEO across all accounts, organising and running brainstorming sessions, categorising ideas. This was a fantastic opportunity as I learned so much, in such a short amount of time. 

As marketing is so fast paced and relies a lot on learning tools and platforms, I found that university prepared me in terms of the theory behind marketing and communications but not so much about the tools, analytics and strategy side.

Because of this, I highly recommend that anyone who wants to go into Marketing or Advertising starts their career at an agency. Commit yourself to 2 years and you will learn so much.

Truth be told, I found that the advertising life wasn’t for me. I didn’t like that I only saw snippets of projects and wanted to be more involved in the branding / business side of things.

I then moved to the “client side” which is where I have been since.

I have worked with startups in beauty, cosmetics and fashion (Social Media and Digital Marketing) and my job before this was with a designer toy brand “Mighty Jaxx” (Social Media, Digital Marketing and Product Strategy). This was a really cool role that taught me a lot about international markets and working with IPs and different company’s branding. I got to work on projects with IPs that I liked / was familiar with like Spongebob Squarepants, Sanrio, Jujitsu Kaisen, and with some of the biggest designer toy artists and streetwear brands in the world!

After that, I moved into my current role (which brought a full circle moment) at Nexus International School Singapore, which is also a part of the Taylor’s Education Group.

At Nexus, I manage the social media and digital marketing channels. This job is different from my previous jobs as there is so much variety in terms of things that are happening around the school. I get to attend lots of school events and have learned so much from them. For example, Square Roots’ Co-Founder & CEO Tobias Peggs visited Nexus to speak about their use of AI in urban farming and the talk was absolutely fascinating! This is also a job where I feel I get to be creative and do a lot of hands-on work. 

 

What role did extracurricular activities or special programmes play in your overall experience at GIS?

I took drama as a subject all the way through my secondary life, including as an IGCSE and A level. This was a massive part of my experience as you end up putting in a lot of extra hours for rehearsals. 

My A-level drama class consisted of 5 girls with different personalities. We worked together really well and it taught me a lot about the importance of teamwork. My drama teachers, Ms Lee and Ms Whelan also gave us a lot of creative freedom when we designed our plays.

Performing also helped with my confidence which contributed a lot to me deciding to pursue performing music.

 

 

 

Share your time at GIS, any fond memories? Feel free to mention friends and teachers names!

One of my favourite memories was our Year 12 play, The Red Shoes. It was a dark fairy tale about a dancer who can’t stop dancing and chops off her feet to make it stop. I really appreciate that they let us perform plays that were less traditional. It really helped us to develop our skills as I feel we were given a lot more freedom to explore the creative and technical processes behind Drama. We also got to perform in KLPAC which was a professional theatre venue so that was a really cool experience. 

Another favourite moment would be winning best original song in Battle Of The Bands.

How did GIS shape you to become who you are today?

The university readiness was a big help. Having to work on writing an extended essay prepared me for writing university assignments. Understanding how to effectively conduct research and build a bibliography put me ahead of others in my first year of uni.

Taking ICT as an A level has also been a massive help in my career. Don’t take Excel and formulas for granted! The ability to sort through data and build filters and forms will definitely give you a leg up as a marketer. 

 

What would be your best advice to current students who will be graduating soon?

Don’t waste your free time. 

Want to learn an instrument? Want to learn about digital marketing tools? Want to take a walk in the park? Want to go on a day trip? Appreciate the time you have. 

Also don’t wait for university to end to prepare yourself for the working world. Find an internship, learn as much as you can about your interests.  The internet is an amazing resource and there are so many free courses, podcasts and videos available.

Don’t let fear hold you back.

I went to a workshop recently that was all about fear and how it really holds you back. Fear stops growth, fear stops opportunities

We think “I’m not good enough to apply for this”, “I’m not confident enough to ask this person for advice”, “I’m too scared to share my ideas” – But in each of those situations, do you know the actual outcome if you do ask or do those things? No. So why not try? 99% of the time, the outcome is never as bad as you think it is.

 

 

A huge ‘Thank You’ to these inspiring Alumni, who generously shared their time and experiences with our students, despite their busy daily schedules.

If you are interested in sharing your journey post-GIS, then please get in touch with us at alumni@gardenschool.edu.my – We are always updating our page with news from the Alumni community across the continents and would love to hear from you and share your stories. Please get in touch via Facebook, or LinkedIn. We can’t wait to hear from you!

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