An educational recruiter is responsible for gaining the attention of students who are interested in a post-secondary education for undergraduate or graduate studies. They can work through either their institution, or through a private recruitment company. Those who work for a school, work on finding students that are interested in their institution for specific types of programs. Whereas a private recruiter is hired by an institution to recruit a specific type of student for any program. A private recruiter works for a variety of institutions, not just one, as they are paid per student. Since they work on a student basis, they can join high school fairs and walk around recruiting students, as they are more eager and ambitious with their endeavors. However, both recruiters ultimately have one goal; connect students to the best institution for them. The most common elements that an institution recruiter and private recruiter do are: 

• Set goals either for an institution, or between themselves and an institution. 
• Meet students online, in-person, and at high school fairs. 
• Answer any questions that a student may have regarding post-secondary education. 
• Help students complete their applications for post-secondary. 
• Help students complete all their required documents if they are studying abroad. 
• Travel to meet students and to look for possible recruits. 

Although their jobs seem quite simple, there are various problems that may arise when recruiting new students. However, at Worldwide College Tours, we want to make it easier for every recruiter to achieve their student goals. Here are some of the common problems that arise as an educational recruiter and solutions to help prevent these problems from arising. 

Not Meeting Department Goals 

With the goals that are set in place to help an institutions student number rise, there may be times when their goals are not met. In fact, most institutions have a set goal for international students to help diversify their student population. These goals will focus on region, gender, and programs; depending on where an institution wants their numbers and goals to be improved upon. For example, if an institution wants to recruit more students from Asia, they will focus all their efforts on recruiting students from Asia. However, some of the problems that may arise with recruiters just focusing on one specific area, are: 

• All aspects become limited due to the lack of companies that host recruitment fairs specific to only Asian countries. Which means recruiters will have to set up their own recruitment fairs, which can end up being extremely expensive and time consuming. Recruiters will have to do extensive research on how to reach out to students from another country with possible language barriers and set up their own high school events which will include accommodations. 
• Due to the ongoing pandemic that has impacted countries all over the globe, many recruiters have not been able to travel since April of 2020. This puts a staggering halt to a recruiter’s ability to travel and meet students and take part in high school fairs. 
• With traveling being halted, recruiters could do everything through online marketing, but again, there are limitations that are upheld with departments and institutions. Most recruiters need to have a whole collaboration set in place for marketing, which includes having a specialized team, budget, and online platforms to make it happen. There is also the largest factor, which is that sometimes online marketing is not as effective as talking to a student and giving them one-on-one time conversation to inspire them. 

Although there is the possibility that a recruiter does not meet department goals, there are some solutions that can prevent this from happening. First solution is to try and organize marketing that is specific to a demographic location. Although this can be time consuming, it is better than having no results. The second solution is joining a regional fair that is specific to a country that your institution is interested in. At Worldwide College Tours, we host regional fairs which allow recruiters to connect with students from specific locations an institution is interested in. 

Not Being Able to Meet Students 

Due to the ongoing pandemic, recruiters are not able to travel as they usually would during the year. Since April 2020, traveling to different locations has become quite difficult from country to country because of restrictions that have been implemented. A lot of institutions and recruiters were traveling around to different high schools as their only form of recruitment; however, due to the pandemic they are put into a difficult position because they never had any other form of recruitment to consider as a back-up. If a department has been impacted by this, that means that there has most likely been a turnover, which means their recruitment efforts have suffered. What we mean by that is, due to COVID, it may be tough to find or even convince staff to travel again until they know it is one hundred percent safe. 

Some schools have been trying to find their own solutions, which means hosting virtual fairs or open houses. But not many students are joining, which means it is taking a lot of money and time out of the department's budget to try and find a solution for low admissions. However, the solution to this problem is joining virtual fairs that are hosted by supporting educational companies. This will save a department time and money and allow recruiters to meet students from all over the world without leaving their country or having to do their own research. During our virtual fairs, a recruiter has a booth set up, chat and video options, and the opportunity to host webinars with colleagues. We make it easier to meet students around the globe. 

Small Budget 

It is common knowledge that larger colleges and universities have a bigger budget for recruitment. However, community colleges and private schools may not have that kind of budget, so they are unable to gain the reach that larger institutions do. Smaller institutions would like to be able to gain the same reach as their larger counterparts, however, they need students to be able to do so. 

The solution to dealing with a smaller budget as an institution is joining a virtual fair. These tend to cost less than in-person fairs and can usually be taken care of by supporting educational companies. This means that the recruiter must pay the entrance fee to join the virtual fair, then they get the opportunity to meet interested students. Not only will this help those with a small budget, but it also gives a recruiter the chance to bring in more admissions from different countries, rather than just one country, if they had done an in-person fair. 

Not Meeting Quality Students 

There are times that the effort a recruiter puts into finding students ends up declining due to unqualified students. If students cannot get their visas, cannot afford to move, cannot afford the finances that come with post-secondary in another country it tends to put the recruiter behind in their admissions efforts. When a recruiter is looking for students, they tend to look for those who are interested in undergraduate studies and are as quality as local students. Since a recruiter must invest in staff, marketing, and time into the students they meet, their aim is to ensure that the students will offer some return on investment (ROI). 

Although recruitment has gotten easier due to advanced technology, there are still cases where disruptions may arise. Educational recruiters are one of the most beneficial tools for students and parents who are trying to learn more about an institution and find the best option for themselves or their children. However, there is the possibility that problems may arise like the ones listed above. With the help of companies like Worldwide College Tours; students, parents, and recruiters can join our virtual fairs to meet new students. Our fairs reach out to students all over the world and help them connect with recruiters and institutions. We host global fairs that have a large reach; however, we also have country specific fairs to help institutions in specific countries. If you want to learn more about how you can gain more from virtual events, contact us today. We have admissions representatives joining our fairs from all over the globe to help students, parents, and educational professionals learn more about their international education options. 

We want to help recruiters gain access to students all over the world to continue diversification in campuses, so Explore New Opportunities with Worldwide College Tours.