I was recently invited to participate in a presentation on the future of international recruitment. While doing my research and preparing my presentation, I looked back at the past 2 years of this global pandemic, and now the war in Ukraine. I soon realized that prophecy is indeed for fools, so before discussing the future of international enrollment and recruitment, I considered challenges in the field and how to solve them.
There is No Future without the Past
The best way to do this is to start with a brief history of our company. This will help you understand how I gained the knowledge and expertise to develop and evolve my company over the years into applywave.com
I was an international student in the US from 1995 to 1999. Upon completion of my studies, I started an agency in 2000 to help students from Israel study in the US. Our company grew steadily to support students from Israel, Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, and MENA. Fast forward to 2019, we were confronted with more demand than we could handle. While we were brainstorming ways to help more students and maintain our high quality service and integrity, we realized institutions were facing challenges of their own. Let’s take a closer look at some of those challenges below.
Challenge # 1 – Recruiting during a Pandemic
The pandemic caused frequent changes in leadership, restructuring, staff layoffs, and new policies. Many voids have occurred such as expired agreements, zero communication, dissolution of international networks, or movement elsewhere. This has inevitably led to a strong decline in international applications and enrollments.
Challenge # 2 – How to stay competitive?
The pandemic has created a new reality. Virtual recruitment & online events have leveled the playing field. More and more schools around the world are joining the international recruiting game. Institutions today not only compete against the university next door, they’re up against schools from all over the world.
International students now have many more options than in the past, a wider array of academic programs/doctrine, and legal access to more countries. In the eyes of an international student, the differences between schools are blurrier than ever and the opportunities are overwhelming.
One effective and efficient way to attract students in this global market is to outsource some of your recruiting efforts, however, this brings us to challenge number three.
Challenge # 3 — What options are out there?
If an institution decides to outsource, the first challenge they face is understanding all the different partners, providers and services available. There are so many providers including Agents, Super-Agents, Aggregators, High School Counselors, Consultants, Pathways, Virtual Fairs, In-person Events, Platforms, Portals, Marketplaces, Lead Generators, Lead Nurturers, Organizations, Associations, Online Exams, Credential Services, Money Wires, Enrollment/Admission Software, CRM's and the list goes on. The options are overwhelming and it can be hard to distinguish one from another, bring us to the fourth challenge.
Challenge # 4 — Which provider to use?
I often hear that all providers are very similar, but in fact, there are fundamental and substantial differences among them. Their philosophies, visions, cultures, locations, history, structures, ownership, leadership, methodologies, and business models create a highly diverse market with seemingly few discernible differences. It’s true that international enrollment managers, admission officers, and recruiters of today need more and more skills, knowledge, and experience to navigate this chaotic landscape, but this is a reality in every booming industry. In order to find out which providers to work with, we start with identifying the differences.
- What purpose does each provider serve? Do they offer international visibility, brand name exposure, connectivity with students, recruiting events, admission technology, and other necessary attributes?
- What is their focus? Do they recruit in a specific country or region, specialize in secondary or higher education, operate in the financial markets or education enrollment? Which services actually compliment your work and which services overlap with current tasks? What ROI should be expected and is it aligned with your current strategy?
Answering these questions incorrectly can create more work, new tasks, and disappointing results. However, answering them correctly will make your job easier by taking many assignments off your plate, streamlining your process, and bringing positive results.
Crack the code
Before you start working with a service provider or partner, it is important to identify who you are. Here are some guiding questions to help you:
What type of institution are you? (e.g Public/Private/Affordable/Competitive/Religious/Military/Elite)
What differentiates you from the others? (e.g Location/Programs/Affiliations/Weather/Size)
What's your budget?
Do you have support from leadership?
How big is your team?
How much can and/or do you want to handle internally vs. what can you outsource?
Identify who your students are?
What are your institute’s objectives? (e.g Increase numbers and/or add diversity)
What are your institute’s targets?
What regions are you focusing on?
What are your incentives or value proposition?
Are you looking for high achievers or diverse learners?
Are you wanting graduate students or fully paid bachelor students?
Finding the right Service Provider
As I mentioned in challenge number four, you need to make sure your service provider fits your needs. At ApplyWave.com we use the motto “Be Smart & Keep it Simple.” We know it's challenging to make the complicated simple, but very easy to make something simple complicated. Executing this motto will require you to go back to the basics. This motto builds on the “Crack the Code” section of identifying who you are: once you understand your X factor, your service provider can help you find international students who are a good fit for your school.
At Applywave.com we focus on good fit because it has proven to be the most successful recruitment method for long-term retention. To demonstrate a good fit I always like to use my experience in the car industry. I bought my first car with my then small budget, so my options were limited. When I had more money I wanted a cool car (whatever that meant back in the day). But I had moved to live in a city with virtually no parking and had to settle for a compact car. When I got married I simply bought a practical car and, with the arrival of my third child, had to purchase a 7-seater SUV. Goodbye dream, hello reality! When applying this example to the education industry, you’ll discover that with international students, good-fit is key.
I hope this article has proved useful for you. Learn more about Applywave.com below.
By David Adler
CEO, Ustudy Global
Co-Founder, applywave.com
About ApplyWave.com
In 2020 we successfully launched our technology solution and called it applywave.com. Applywave is an International Student Recruitment Pathway: an End-to-End solution guiding students from a lead to enrollment. It’s powered by a technology developed in Israel's silicon valley but is enhanced by industry professionals around the world. This platform not only solved many of the challenges we faced during expansion, it has also addresses many of the challenges institutions face in 2022. We decided to share it with others by allowing a curated list of agents to use the platform and take advantage of our resources.