Recruiting Intelligence

It's like a sea of alphabet soup. NAFSA, NACAC, OACAC, ICEF, AIEA, AAIE, EAIE, EIEIO...the list goes on and on. (And of course we are kidding about that last one!) What is a new international admission, advising or services professional to do when encountering this vast array of professional organizations? While all of these organizations are reputable, educational, and professionally minded, it would behoove you to spend some time researching where your interests and skill set would be best met. It will be impossible (and cost prohibitive) to join every organization that exists. Yet with some research you will be able to discover which organizations will best advance your career and expose you to the most relevant research and professional discourse.

How important is response time and turn-around time for your success in international student enrollment?   Let me tell you why I am thinking of response time in marketing. I had two recent experiences that made me focus on the topic.  During a side conversation at a conference with the owner of a for-profit college, he mentioned that they follow up with a phone call within seven minutes of a registration on their web site (almost 24-7). Wow.  Then I needed a garage door repair, signed up on a website for recommendations for repair companies and received three recommendations to fix our garage door problem.  While I picked up the phone, the first repair person from that recommendation list called me.  The follow up happened within 30 seconds.  AMAZING. 

Sometimes I try to imagine what it was like before I could Google everything I ever wanted to know. It's hard to believe that such a time existed considering our reliance on internet searches. I Google restaurants, maps, colleagues, stores, toys for my children. You name it, I've Googled it. And you can be sure if I'm traveling I conduct a series of Google searches. If I'm heading out of the country Google is my best resource for information. Google images takes it to the next level with pages of images to accompany any search I can imagine. 

You are reading an excerpt from our e-book "88 Ways to Recruit International Students" (Click here to read the entire book) 

41. Overseas recruiting offices

You are reading an excerpt from our e-book "88 Ways to Recruit International Students" (Click here to read the entire book) 

This blog focuses on the alignment of your marketing resources in light of your current recruitment channels and the desired mix of student enrollment channels in the future.  We will focus on the alignment of the geographic, as well as, the marketing channel mix for this analysis. For the purpose of this article and analysis, we are going to exclude other important enrollment criteria such as the ability to pay, English capabilities and academic level and preparedness. 

• Audit your external brand perception, visibility and content

You are reading an excerpt from our e-book "88 Ways to Recruit International Students" (Click here to read the entire book)

EducationUSA offers a whole range of distribution channels to universities, one of which is this  weekly RSS feed with news from universities.

11. Virtual college fairs

You are reading an excerpt from our e-book "88 Ways to Recruit International Students" (Click here to read the entire book)

You are reading an excerpt from our e-book "88 Ways to Recruit International Students". 

II. Armchair recruiting

Don’t underestimate what you can accomplish from your office in Dubuque, Syracuse or South Bend.  Even if you are chained to your desk, figuratively we hope, you can pursue numerous recruitment strategies with potentially great payoff.  If your institution is just beginning to explore international recruitment, many of these methods can help you wet your feet in the international sector.  Or if your institution has already made inroads in some markets, these methods can help to cultivate additional regions. Let’s begin.