Cyber Recruitment
NAFSA Annual Conference | 29 May 2008
Cheryl Darrup-Boychuck, USjournal.com
cheryl@USjournal.com
Viktar Khotsim, educationUSA
advising@amcenter.by
Martin Bennett, Ball State University
mabennett@bsu.edu
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Effective Use of Technology
for a Dynamic Demographic
We hope to help you:
• Become tech-literate not a techie
• Communicate with students using
their preferred tools
• Share success stories
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The Digital Divide
• Only 1/5 of the world’s population
has regular online connectivity.
• Only 43 countries have an Internet
penetration rate of 50% or more;
226 countries do not.
• Advertising online represents an
Affluency Filter.
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Precision Marketing
Desktops and Laptops
• Language (without regard to geographic borders)
• Geography (points of latitude and longitude)
… and Handhelds
• Carrier (NTT DoCoMo in Japan, China Mobile…)
• Device Manufacturer (Nokia, Samsung…)
• Device Capabilities (streaming video…)
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Global Statistics to Consider
 In 2008, the Internet will be more
frequently accessed on mobile phones than
on Personal Computers (PCs).
 In Japan and Korea, 90 percent of all cell
phone users use their device to browse the
Internet.
 There are three billion cell phone
subscribers worldwide (three times the
number of PC users), who use their phones
at least daily.
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http://vco-edusa.net
Advising Without Borders!
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VCO Project Now
 Team of 36 advisers from 21 countries
 Seven templates
 1,000 IPs daily
 7,800 incoming questions
 5,219 subscribers
 One hit per second
 Extension to the two new language versions
 The VCO on-line consulting technique
 Supported by one tech specialist
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English
CC
Russian
CC
Arabic
CC
NAFSA GS-013: Cyber Recruitment 2008
Spanish
CC
Chinese
CC
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Objective
To develop a classification
of incoming questions and,
accordingly, to prepare
a set of concrete
recommendations.
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Classification
of incoming questions
• Very basic
• Labor-intensive
• Concrete
• Miscellaneous
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Very basic questions
• 75% of all incoming questions
• Student has never been to EAC
• New and under-served category
of our potential clients
• Just curious about education in
the USA
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Very basic questions:
Recommendations
• Inspirational sentence
• Simple and brief explanation of
the application process
• Use of template answers
• Refer to the nearest
EducationUSA Advising Center
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Labor-intensive questions
• 15% of total questions
• A prospective student who finally
decided to take the first step in the
application process
• A prospective student who
somewhere heard about this
opportunity and is wondering
where to begin
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Labor-intensive questions:
Recommendations
• Avoid “digging too deep” when
answering question
• Instead of doing search for student,
show only direction where to find
the answer (directing answer)
• Present direct link or contact
information
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Concrete Questions
 5% of total questions
 Coming from students who are in the
active phase of the application process
 Requires a “tailored” answer
 Allow advisers to demonstrate expertise
in a certain field
 Doesn’t require too much time
 A collection of concrete questions is the
most valuable part of the project’s
question archive.
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VCO and
U.S. Educational Institutions
• Refer interested applicants with
questions not specific to a U.S.
institution to the VCO web portal
• Let your current students and alumni
know that they are welcome to
participate in the “forum” and other
sections of the VCO project
• Place the VCO banner on your website
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http://vco-edusa.net
Advising Without Borders!
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Key Issues for Universities
 How easy is it to find your site online?
 How many clicks from your school's homepage?
 How important is the web in your international
student enrollment plan?
 How do you respond to prospects electronically?
 Are you using DVCs?
 Are you chatting, using videos, or presenting to
parents?
 Can students check the status of their applications
online?
 What percentage of your international students apply
online?
 After admission, what do you do to keep these
students interested?
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International Website Basics 101:
What do you have to have?
 Focus groups with your current internationals
 Review of U.S. State Department’s “How to Have an
Internationally Friendly Website”
 School description with costs and housing information
 International undergraduate / graduate admissions
 Proportion of international students at that university
and class profiles
 Quotes from international students
 Requirements and documents that apply to
international students
 Visas: Up-to-date information
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Prospects to Admitted:
Maintain Communication
 Change things up every so often — student profiles,
video interviews, alum interviews, promotional videos
 Send e-mails to prospects when new information is
added
 Online application form a must
 Look into in-house or third-party chats
 Develop a web-based status check for applicants
 Offer video interviews to departments admitting
GA/TAs (Skype, Live Messenger, DVC)
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Admitted to Enrolled:
Be Proactive
 Chats
 Emails to accepted students
 Online forms to confirm enrollment
 Arrival Info – Transportation to campus
 Info about what to bring, health insurance, and
other issues typically raised at orientation
 Things to do in the community
 Orientation schedules
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DVC (Digital Video Conferences)
 Recruitment fairs with state consortia of
colleges and universities
 Service-topics / on-demand workshops
 Local institutions connecting with colleges
and universities
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(insert video clip here)
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Chat Products
• Group Chats
• Online Chats with EducationUSA Centers
• Instant Chats
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Social Networking Sites
 Country-specific networks
 Worldwide options (MySpace, Facebook, etc.)
 How to use these networks: Signing up,
configuring appropriate privacy settings
 What you can do: Advertising, posting
electronic resources
 Example of use: Destination Indiana Facebook
group
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Facebook Users Worldwide

6th most-trafficked website in the world

people in Australia
2,904,760

2nd most-trafficked social media site in the
world

people in Israel
508,820
Users In Facebook
70 million active (users who have returned to the
site in the last 30 days)

people in Mexico
847,260


people in the United States
25,945,340

people in Egypt
711,180

people in the United Kingdom
10,200,200

people in Italy
325,700

people in Saudi Arabia
223,380

people in Pakistan
204,640

people in Canada
9,203,260

people in Switzerland
323,500

people in the United Arab Emirates
329,880

people in New Zealand
350,300

people in France
1,839,800
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Continue the Conversation via
NAFSA’s M&R Network
Go to http://www.nafsa.org/
• Click Knowledge Community Networks
and Resources
• Click Recruitment, Admissions, and
Preparation
• Click Marketing and Recruiting
• Click Discussion Forums
• Click The M and R Idea Factory
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Cyber Recruitment
NAFSA Annual Conference | 29 May 2008
Cheryl Darrup-Boychuck, USjournal.com
cheryl@USjournal.com
Viktar Khotsim, educationUSA
advising@amcenter.by
Martin Bennett, Ball State University
mabennett@bsu.edu
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