Insights from Digital Student Recruitment — Disruptive Tech Solutions, presented by the PIE Live
The pandemic has upended university recruitment across the globe as travel came to an abrupt halt. As a result, many institutions quickly turned to burgeoning tech platforms to connect with international high school students when face-to-face recruiting events were no longer possible. This shift has highlighted the significant advantage of online recruitment.
While COVID has been the primary factor driving a shift to digital, it won’t be the only one as we move forward. Other factors, including budget cuts and Gen Z’s focus on climate change, are prompting institutions to make long-term investments in virtual recruitment. This investment signifies the importance of digital transformation in education.
As the world slowly returns to a post-COVID “new normal,” the trends indicate that there will be no going back to the “old ways of doing things.” Innovative recruiting solutions like Cialfo are becoming must-haves for universities seeking more creative ways to attract international students in a highly competitive landscape. This is where the advantage of online recruitment becomes apparent, offering numerous benefits to university recruiting programs.
Our CEO Rohan Pasari recently shared his thoughts on these benefits and more with PIE (Professionals in International Education) CEO Amy Baker and a panel of other ed-tech innovators during a PIE LIVE session titled: Digital Student Recruitment — Disruptive Tech Solutions. The session explored various aspects of the digital recruitment process, with insights from leaders in the field.
The vision for Cialfo was inspired by Rohan’s own frustrating and overwhelming experience while exploring his post-high school possibilities. Without a clear vision of potential international programs to choose from and no dedicated counselors at his high school to assist, his primary option at the time was to enlist the assistance of agents. However, the agents he turned to only added more confusion to the process by providing biased advice based on their locations or the universities they were trying to promote. This experience underscored the need for efficient digital recruitment tools.
Ultimately, Rohan found his perfect match when representatives from Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University came to his high school’s University Fair. Drawing from his own experience, Rohan knew there had to be a better way to drive direct connection and engagement between universities and students at scale by harnessing the power of technology. Thus, Cialfo came to life, eliminating the need for agents or middlemen and opening up unexplored paths to education for millions of students. This story highlights the advantage of online recruitment and its transformative potential.
Each of the panelists went on to tell their own unique story, and then the discussion turned to current trends in college recruiting and how universities can make the most of these powerful digital tools. One of the most interesting exchanges examined how universities can leverage digital tools like Cialfo to increase their engagement and reach more students.
As Rohan noted, “Engagement is not a one-time event; it’s a process,” a concept that was also addressed in Inside Higher Ed. There will be a new focus for admissions staff to perfect the digital engagement process with students, just as teachers are learning to connect with their students on Zoom versus the classroom. This ongoing engagement is a key advantage of online recruitment.
While in-person events can be inflexible due to time and space constraints, Cialfo provides universities with creative ways to connect with students, counselors, and their families and keep the conversation going to showcase their schools and programs in the brightest light. Optimizing engagement and the ability to connect directly with students is just one of many benefits digital recruitment tools like Cialfo offer.
Some of the other key benefits for universities that the panel touted include:
- Taking advantage of actionable data insights these platforms offer to help benchmark their brand and drive recruiting strategies.
- The ability to fuel more creative outreach with the use of customized content.
- Attracting more diverse applicants from often overlooked international markets that would otherwise be out of reach with face-to-face events due to resource and budget limitations.
- Building more personal and authentic connections with applicants through multiple touchpoints versus a one-and-done brochure or emails that may end up in a junk folder.
In addition to the obvious and not-so-obvious benefits of digital solutions, the panel offered many fantastic takeaways and insights into the future of recruiting — here are the ones we found most interesting:
Universities will be able to maximize their budgets while reaching more international applicants by incorporating a mix of highly targeted in-person and customized virtual events. Rohan noted that we are now seeing more long-term investing in digital recruiting, and the future of recruiting is “blended” at best. The technology offers admissions programs new ways to reach students across the globe by thinking outside the “virtual recruiting booth.” Multiple student engagement and re-engagement opportunities pre- and post-event keep students tuned in and interested without needing costly travel to vast areas of the globe. This mix is a perfect example of how digital recruitment can be integrated into traditional methods.
With direct access to universities and a streamlined application process using digital recruitment tools, students are better equipped to navigate the process. This means international students may no longer be as reliant on education agents. This streamlined process is another advantage of online recruitment.
The pre-COVID model of sending large recruitment teams to feeder schools worldwide might well be a thing of the past. We are more likely to see centralized virtual teams engaging directly with students and counselors while sending smaller numbers of face-to-face representatives to regional markets identified beforehand using digital data. This shift underscores the importance of higher education recruitment adapting to new realities.
Content is king.
These technologies present universities with endless options for creating unique content tailored to the students or region they are working with. Udentity’s Jeremy Nguyen-Phuong emphasized the advantage of creating custom content for universities, saying, “Having more relatable content makes students, parents, or even counselors see what makes a university unique and goes beyond just academics or studying overseas.”
Leverage the data. For example, Cialfo’s Explore offers an end-to-end solution (from market exposure to receiving applications) that provides vital data insights from the more than 400,000 students currently using the platform. Salesforce’s Jane Armstrong emphasized her belief that as competition for students continues to increase, “it will be more critical than ever for universities to have data to make more strategic decisions while continuing to be agile. This data also allows them to be more innovative to pivot when needed” (sometimes instantly as we’ve experienced during the pandemic). Data-driven strategies are crucial in the digital recruitment process.
One of the key questions the PIE LIVE panel sought to answer was “is this type of pandemic-driven digital recruiting here to stay?” According to Rohan and his co-panelists of visionary tech leaders, the trends all point to a resounding “YES.” The overwhelming consensus is that once the pandemic is a thing of the past, there will be no going back to “business as usual.” This sentiment underscores the enduring advantage of online recruitment.
Digitalization of education, including recruitment, is no longer the future; it’s the “now.” The world has been taking advantage of digital disruption in other industries like e-commerce and ride-sharing for years — the acceleration has taken off in education as well. Schools that have already embraced these technologies are discovering the creative ways they can leverage them to access previously hard-to-reach potential applicants. Now that digital recruitment is here to stay, it’s the perfect time to make the most of the tools’ innovative capabilities and embrace all they have to offer. This is the essence of digital transformation in education.
Here at Cialfo, we’re looking forward to helping even more universities surpass their recruiting goals by connecting them with students from around the world. This commitment to higher education recruitment showcases the importance of adapting to new digital realities.
FAQs
- What is the main advantage of online recruitment?
The main advantage of online recruitment is the ability to reach a wider and more diverse pool of candidates efficiently. Digital recruitment tools allow universities to connect directly with students from various regions, bypassing geographical and logistical barriers.
- How does digital transformation in education impact recruitment?
Digital transformation in education has revolutionized recruitment by integrating advanced technologies that streamline processes and enhance engagement. This transformation allows for more personalized and data-driven approaches, making recruitment more effective and scalable.
- What role do higher education recruiting firms play in digital recruitment?
Higher education recruiting firms facilitate the adoption of digital recruitment strategies by offering expertise and tools that universities may not have in-house. They help institutions leverage digital platforms to enhance their recruitment efforts, ensuring they stay competitive in the digital age.
- Why are digital recruitment tools essential for modern universities?
Digital recruitment tools offer scalable solutions for engaging with prospective students. These tools enable universities to create customized content, gather actionable insights, and maintain continuous engagement, which is crucial in today’s competitive education landscape.
- What are the benefits of the digital recruitment process for international students?
The digital recruitment process simplifies the application journey for international students by providing direct access to university information and resources. It reduces reliance on intermediaries, making the process more transparent and efficient, a significant advantage of online recruitment.
This webinar was hosted by The PIE, and featured Rohan Pasari, CEO of Cialfo; Amy Baker, CEO of The PIE; Jeremy Nguyen-Phuong, Co-founder of Udentity (China); Jane Armstrong, Senior Director, Education Industry Solutions International with Salesforce, Global; Craig Fernandes, CEO and Co-founder of Lock&Stock; and Meti Basiri, CMO and Co-founder of ApplyBoard (Canada).
Image credits: Anna Shvets and Jody Hong
