Student recruitment events are perhaps the most important dates in an admissions department’s calendar; they enable universities to showcase their facilities, campus culture and academic achievements, and are the perfect platform for communicating what makes an institution special.
A successful university admissions event will need careful planning, expert execution and of course, thorough evaluation afterwards to ensure the next one is even better. Measuring the success of your event is crucial, not only because it enables you to adjust your marketing approaches and the direction of your next event’s content , but also because you can use these metrics to showcase insights to the rest of your team.
If you look around for open day guides, you’ll find plenty geared towards prospective students, generally explaining why they should attend them and how they can make the most of them. But tips for having a successful open day aren’t only useful for aspiring learners — after all, there’s no shortage of heated competition between educational institutions trying to attract interest.
An open day is an opportunity to show your prospects what student life is like at your university. It’s a chance to show off your campus, let prospects meet faculty members and encourage them to imagine what it would be like to study on one of your programmes.
Info sessions are an integral part of any university’s marketing strategy. They provide a way to inform prospects about your university and encourage them to progress through the recruitment process.
As a 2015 MBA alumnus working in the higher education industry, I’d take no hesitation in encouraging current students to attend career fairs and recruitment days. From my experience, these events see visiting companies set up a stall and engage with students through Q&As, talks and interviews, and offer merchandise. For students, these events present new opportunities, new relationships, access to first-hand knowledge, and an opportunity to represent their universities.
This guest post was written by Barbara Coward after she visited Idealist Grad Fair in October 2013. You can follow and subscribe to her blog or follow her on Twitter.
