Recruiting Intelligence

Graeme Menzies, Director of Marketing Communications & Social Media at The University of British Columbia, joins Michael Waxman-Lenz, Intead CEO and co-founder, to share his vast knowledge of marketing and social media in the higher education realm. Higher education professionals seeking to improve their marketing, communications and social media strategies will gain a great deal of insight through Mr. Menzies discussion.

Welcome back to Intead Insights. We are refreshed by our summer hiatus and eager to share our perspective on an extremely valuable report out of MIT (just a stone’s throw from our Boston office if you have a really good arm).

MIT published an incredibly exciting, insightful and highly promising report about its future plans.  The report developed 16 recommendations that are worth reading- even if you choose not to read the 200 pages of appendices.   ;-)

Q: How much is an international education worth?

A: $5 Trillion.

If you haven’t started utilizing gamification for the purposes of attracting, recruiting and enrolling students both domestically and internationally, you should. University websites toting lists of information and a couple pictures won’t cut it in the competitive market that is international recruitment today. Nowadays, in a world where young adults are almost obsessively focused with devices—and the app games available on them—you need to cater to those interests in order to be noticed.

We all know the cost and logistical challenges of meeting international students face-to-face can be prohibitive. We also understand their value: Personal meetings are compelling and can convince students to enroll. So how can you create personal and influential interactions with potential students, even from far away? 

Project 211. Project 985. Do you know about these two Chinese government-run education projects? If you don't, you should. Read on to learn more.

According to Best Practices in International Student Recruitment and Retention in Anglophone Countries by Hanover Research, the U.S. recruits international students mainly from Asian and South Asian nations. “Asia currently generates 62 percent of America’s international students, and 74 percent of those students come from India, China, Japan, and South Korea.” As shown below (Figure 1), 11.2% of international students are from South Korea. Therefore, recruiting South Korean students can be an effective marketing strategy for colleges. How can US universities better attract Korean students?

The season of new ranking releases will be upon us again soon. Admission departments worry that their school's U.S. News & World Report ranking will be lowered and student, faculty, and alumni will let their displeasure be known. 

How cutting edge is your institution's career services office? When key reports are published is the data considered for future planning? What is YOUR career services department doing with the Glassdoor report regarding employers hiring by sector?

International travel and attending fairs is an important recruitment channel and is a major investment for many universities.  Last week, we shared data with you on how lead generation for prospective students is affected by the quality of the services provided by fair providers in our blog post: Will Your Student Fair Provider Deliver Value This Recruiting Season?