Virtual Student Recruiting

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Institutions have discovered a new realm of college recruiting by hosting virtual career fairs targeted at tech-savvy teens.   Eye4You Alliance, CollegeWeekLive, and the Learning Network (operated through Monster.com) have each hosted an online college fair in the past month.  Although the platforms used by each group are different, teenagers are able to visit with institution/organization representatives, discuss financial aid options, and interact with current students at each college fair.  Here is an overview of the three virtual college fairs:

Eye4You Alliance

Eye4You Alliance is a teenager developed and managed island in the virtual world of Second Life. At the fair, students can interact with school representatives in the 3D virtual environment through avatars (cartoonish looking animals or humans that represent each individual), visit an institution’s booth, and listen to presentations from organizations and college/universities.  The first fair on Second Life’s “teen grid”, for users between ages 13-17, was held in October 2007 and had more than 170 students and 20 institutions/organizations in attendance. This year’s fair, held on October 12th and 13th, had a slight drop in attendance but Ohio State University and the University of Kentucky are a few of the majors institutions that attended.

CollegeWeekLive

The semi-annual online college fair attracts more than 20,000 attendees and 200 colleges and universities. CollegeWeekLive’s fair is an interactive environment that allows students to visit the booths of institutions to collect electronic promotional material, watch live presentations, video chat with current students and institution/organization representatives, and discuss their financial and academic options with counselors.

Education Xpo

Earlier this month I received an email from Monster.com about a collaboration between their Learning Network and Fastweb.com for the inaugural, online college fair EducationXpo. Similar to the CollegeWeekLive event, students, parents, and educators can interact with representatives from social organizations, financial aid groups, and more than 200 schools, and educational service exhibitors. "By using the InXpo Virtual Event platform and services, FastWeb is taking advantage of the latest Internet technologies to provide their communities of students, parents and colleges with an engaging and interactive experience, all without leaving their homes," said Malcolm Lotzof, CEO of InXpo.

Although some people might prefer the direct, face-to-face interaction, recruiting in an online world creates many advantages for both the students and the institutions/organizations. From a business perspective, cost and time has to be the most influential factor. Institutions can also benefit from this format by reaching out to a larger audience and possibly exposing the school to a different market than a traditional career fair. The attendee benefits from the opportunity to research hundreds of schools with minimal effort in a short period of time. It is also very cost effective for the student because all of this can be done from the comfort of their own home.

Second Life provides a unique opportunity for institutions/organizations to promote the brand and make an impression on students through simulated interactions. However, the virtual platform can be difficult for some trying to set up a booth or create collateral that students can copy and take with them. “A lot of people didn’t know how to build objects, and we expected that,” says Kelly Czarecki, technology education librarian with ImaginOn at the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County, who helped run the event on October 20 and 21. “But we worked with them, and we’ll be willing to do that again.”

The format used by Education Xpo and CollegeWeekLive have functionality similar to an interactive website and might be more user friendly for some students or institutions. “Schools interested in getting a booth can be up-and-running in about 30 minutes,” says Michael Lewis, CollegeWeekLive’s vice president of marketing.

Although the popularity of Second Life is growing (see “Higher Education Marketing and Second Life”), you are still targeting a niche market so do not expect for this recruitment method to drastically improve your enrollments overnight. Regardless, promoting your institution/organization through a virtual career fair is a great opportunity to advertise your brand and, more importantly, help a younger generation plan for their future. Expect for virtual college fairs to become more popular for colleges and universities targeting a more tech-savvy generation of teenagers.

Lauren Barack. “Virtual College Fair Attracts Teens”. School Library Journal. November 6, 2007.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6497815.html

Joe Dysart. “3D virtual college fair provides another way to reach prospective students”.  The Green
Gazette. March 2008. http://www.greentreegazette.com/articles/load.aspx?art=794