Recruiting Intelligence

Danger zone of travel: the misperception among your colleagues that your global trip is just another boondoggle.  

It’s a common experience for international student recruitment teams. Jet-setting itineraries make it hard for some travel-hungry colleagues to see your grueling business trip as anything other than a junket. But a junket it is not.  Below we share an 8-point guide to the "why of international travel".

We know images of far-off places seem “luxurious” to those not on your team, which is why so many of you no longer post those photos from your trips on social media. Never mind the 3am (local time) touchdown in Dehli that led to your 7am scramble to the student fair starting in 2 hours where you spent the next 8 hours repeating the same conversation with 122 different students until it was time to cap off the day with a working dinner with your in-country agent. A day lounging at the beach, right?

Our next opportunity to meet!   
NAFSA Region XI, Hartford, CT, Oct 27-29. The Intead team will be there presenting on Admission Process Analysis, Marketing Data Analytics, and Marketing Study Abroad Programs with university partners from our New England region friends from Quinnipiac, Johnson and Wales, Clark, and Emerson. Practical strategies and creative tactics to hit your enrollment targets.  Hope to see you there! 

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Here’s the truth. We talk a lot about armchair recruiting and the undeniable advantages of digital marketing around the world. And we stand by that. But for institutions that can afford to, purposeful travel absolutely builds your recruitment strategy in robust ways. We know you agree. But does your provost? 

This week, from-the-field insights on recruitment travel from recent conversations with our SIO colleagues David Di Maria, Ed.D., senior international officer and associate vice provost for international education at UMBC, and Jill Blondin, Ph.D., associate vice provost for global initiatives at Virginia Commonwealth University. Plus, the key conversations that will help you make the most of the travel you do have budgeted. Because you never want to waste a good trip. Read on…  

Whether you’re new to the international recruitment game or a veteran traveler, you know that extended international travel can be draining ­– physically and emotionally. This strain is doubled when you are keeping a hectic schedule and meeting many new faces every day. But then again, this process is energizing, too! That’s why you got into the industry, right? To eat all that amazing food...oh, and meet and expand the futures of young people all over the world  ;-)

So, we do encourage you to to take care of yourself as you travel the world and expand the global perspectives of tomorrow's leaders. And as you begin planning your next recruitment trips (as well as a trip to California in January to attend our annual International Student Recruitment Bootcamp!), we hope you will consider implementing some of these tips and tricks that we have compiled from our friends and colleagues over the years. This is an ever-growing list so we hope that you will add your comments and suggestions as well!

Read on to see if your travel acumen includes these five time-tested gems...

If we said it 1,000 times—and we probably have —it still wouldn’t be enough. Audience Segmentation is the fuel that drives your email and digital marketing to the next level. By segmenting your prospective international students based on geography, academic interest, TOEFL scores and other demographic information, your creative content will engage them in a way that stands out from your competition.

Here’s the thing, of the 4,000+ universities and colleges in the U.S., only a handful are doing this level of marketing. So, if you are wondering if you should make the effort…uhm, YES!

So the Intead team has created a worksheet that spells it out in 9 steps. Want to download a copy to share with your staff? Read on...