Building a sustainable international recruitment model is about more than just filling seats. Students without adequate preparation from their counsellor for the destination and program they’ve chosen may require additional assistance from their institution, or they may not successfully complete their studies.
With this in mind, ApplyBoard has made a two-year commitment to invest a minimum of US$10 million in training and enablement of the sector. Trained and vetted recruitment professionals are vital to the international recruitment ecosystem. Many students are unaware of their study abroad opportunities, and many more miss out on an international education due to mistakes made during the complicated application process. Recruitment professionals help solve both those issues.
Key Insights at a Glance
- TrainHub generally decreases the time required for training and onboarding for new student counsellors at agencies by more than 50%, allowing quicker and more efficient services for students.
- ApplyBoard’s Top Recruiters Workshop in June 2022 will bring together more than 1,000 industry leaders, including recruitment professionals, institutions, service providers, and thought leaders.
- There have been more than 6,600 completions of ApplyBoard Counsellor Courses, and nearly 7,000 more are in progress.
Our initiatives, such as the acquisition of TrainHub, hosting of the Top Recruiters Workshop (TRW), investment into the ApplyBoard Counsellor Course (ABCC) curriculum, and creation of a Canadian Visa Calculator, aim to increase efficiency by building stronger foundational knowledge for our recruitment partners (RPs). Innovations in efficiency are the next big step for the professionalization of the industry.
TrainHub Innovates the Training Process
ApplyBoard recently acquired TrainHub, an international education industry training ecosystem, software platform, and proprietary technology. TrainHub provides schools and agents a platform for sharing consolidated resources and on-demand training modules. The platform enables users to complete modules—each broken down into bite-sized chapters to prevent information overload—to earn certificates and prove their qualifications to students.
Consolidated and on-demand training resources are a significant innovation for the industry. The reliability and consistency of these resources enables TrainHub users to eliminate unconscious bias, reduce individual research time, and curb time redundancy during periods of turnover. This allows RPs to generally decrease onboarding time for student counsellors by more than 50%.
Students and schools both directly benefit from this increased efficiency. RPs with more time and a better knowledge base can have more personalized discussions with students. This personalized approach allows RPs to ensure more students arrive on campus well-prepared, thereby helping reduce culture shock and setting those students up for success. Thus, TrainHub strengthens talent mobility and international student pathways, thereby supporting the growth of global economies.
TrainHub has a network of 150 global partner educational institutions, allowing for unprecedented scalability of training and approved materials for RPs.
Thought Leadership through Top Recruiters Workshop
ApplyBoard’s Top Recruiters Workshop (TRW) is one of the largest thought leadership-led events for international education in South Asia. With prominent keynote speakers, partner presentations, and countless networking opportunities, TRW addresses the latest trends, opportunities, and challenges in the international education sector. Ultimately, the TRW aims to build strategies and best practices for improving the student experience of studying abroad.
In 2022, TRW will be bigger and bolder than ever before. Hosted from June 13 to 15, TRW is expected to attract over 1,000 attendees. This would double the size of the last TRW, held in 2019. TRW will also feature schools from Canada, the US, and the UK. This triples the number of countries represented by institutions in 2019. Through this diversity, TRW will provide schools exclusive reach to RPs, and vice versa. TRW is an invite-only event.
ApplyBoard plans to expand the TRW model into other regions in the future.
ApplyBoard Counsellor Courses Offer Market-Specific, Foundational Training
Students inadequately informed about their market of choice are less likely to succeed than students properly prepared. With this in mind, we designed the ABCC program to provide our RPs with foundational and professional training to help them guide students to the best study abroad decisions for themselves and their families. ApplyBoard has invested more than US$1 million in the ABCC curriculum. There have been more than 6,600 completions of ABCC curriculum, and nearly 7,000 more are in progress.
The ABCC courses are free multimedia e-Learning modules that educate users on region-specific information. The four regions users can currently learn about are Canada, the US, the UK, and Australia. Key points of focus for each course include:
- Critical information about studying in the destination country, such as choosing an educational pathway and seeking employment
- Unique programs available in the destination country
- An introduction to student visa and study permit processes specific to that country
- Practical tips for preparing to travel and moving as a student
ABCC is our commitment to ensuring individuals throughout the international education industry are as knowledgeable as possible when advising students on their study abroad journey.
Student Visa Calculator Gives RPs Access to More Data Than Ever Before
In December 2021, we unveiled our state-of-the-art Canadian Visa Calculator. The Canadian Visa Calculator harnesses big data technology to allow RPs quick and efficient access to historical approval rates to determine the likelihood of a student being approved.
The Canadian Visa Calculator, like the launch of ApplyProof in 2020, is yet another tool we’ve designed at the forefront of EdTech. The efficiency with which our RPs can estimate approval chances creates more time for our RPs to provide students more personalized guidance.1 Thus, the Canadian Visa Calculator is a valuable tool as it helps RPs choose the right destination, study level, and program for their students.
The tool is still too new for us to provide meaningful usage data at this point.
Looking Forward
Since 2015, ApplyBoard has helped more than 300,000 students from over 125 countries apply to programs at more than 1,500 partner institutions in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. We work every day to develop new and innovative tools, courses, and support systems for our students, RPs, and partner schools.
ApplyBoard offers our partners a large network of foundational knowledge and resources. We’re here to strengthen the sector and make student support and success a top priority. And, we believe this starts with building access to information and professional development.
We’re excited by the multitude of investments we’ve made and the positive responses and engagement we’ve received from recruitment partners and institutions. We will continue to make these investments into increasing the training efficiencies of our vetted RPs. These innovations allow us to reach the strongest students across a diverse set of markets, and ensure our students have the highest likelihood of success during their study abroad experience.
Digital marketing is cost-effective and easy to implement, allowing for more personalized ways to connect with students and more data accumulation to ensure fewer drop-offs. As thought leaders in the EdTech space, we’re excited to see more institutions take advantage of these benefits than ever before, as the more personalized approach of digital marketing ultimately helps more students find the right fit for their study abroad experience.
Connect with us to find out how we can help your institution recruit top students from around the world.
Published: April 7, 2022
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FOOTNOTES:
1. Note that the visa calculator is not a supplement for immigration or visa advice. The results of the visa calculator simply measure the likelihood of visa acceptance based on historical trends. Actual visa approval chances also depend on factors that are not considered in the visa calculator.
