Promotion of talent recruitment schemes at international fairs
Using physical and online exhibit marketing can be powerful for higher education institutions to foster their visibility and attract new students and early-stage researchers through the promotion of national and institutional opportunities for study and research.
Higher education institutions can use this channel to communicate externally about their institution and possibilities to engage with it, including existing scholarships, grants and other forms of support to collaboration.
Goals
Improved visibility Improved access to information Better communication and cooperation
Basic information
| Categories | Promotion & Visibility |
|---|---|
| Mobility stages | Pre-arrival phase |
| Delivery schedule | Periodic |
| Importance | Important to have |
| Scale of organizational change |  |
| Target groups | PhD student/Early career researcher R2 - R4 researchers Lecturers (incl. Language Teachers) Administrative staff Management staff |
|---|---|
| Types of contracts of researchers | Full degree student Employee in training (interns, research fellows, postdocs) Exchange student |
| Career stages of researchers | Less than 6 months 6-12-months of experience 1-3-years of experience |
| Lengths of stays of researchers | 0-3 months 3-6 months 6-12 months More than 12 months |
Practice setup
Effective participation in international fairs requires identifying goals of exhibition activity, selecting fairs which will permit achieving the goals, and setting the budget of the exhibition event. Aspects to consider include:
- Identifying priority regions and destinations for international fairs;
- Nominating staff members who will organise and attend exhibitions and represent the higher education institution externally;
- Preparing promotion materials or pre-show communication;
- Marketing the exhibition on social media or via other channels (advertising in pre-show sources).
The focus can be placed on the following activities:
- Promoting national, institutiional and faculty-level opportunities for study and research;
- Promoting institutional and faculty-level infrastructure (e.g. research and academic facilities) and environment or working conditions (e.g. health services, family support);
- Sharing information about the institution and specifying the key information sources available online (e.g. website, fora, brochures, newsletters).
| Cost of practice setup |  |
|---|---|
| Time required for practice setup | |
| Personnel effort required for practice setup | |
| Actors involved in practice setup |
|
| Partners involved in practice setup |
|
| Indicators for evaluating progress/quality of practice setup |
|
Description of collaboration
Internal Actors
For the IRO, it would be important to approach all relevant actors in the higher education institution (e.g. Research Office, Doctoral School, Project Management Office) to collect comprehensive information about the existing opportunities and facilities for promotion and process this information from the marketing perspective together with the PR department.
External Collaborations
Several higher education institutions or research organisations could join forces in representing their institutions or joint collaboration opportunities (e.g. joint programmes, joint use of infrastructure) at one or several fairs for greater visibility and participation efficiency.
Practice delivery
During the delivery phase, attention has to be paid to the following aspects:
- Engagement of staff attending the fair with emphasis on institutional knowledge, openness to interaction and communication skills;
- Use of appealing promotion products and information materials in English-language or local languages;
- The layout and design of the booth in line with university branding;
- Individualised consultations and support.
| Cost of practice delivery |  |
|---|---|
| Time required for practice delivery | |
| Personnel effort required for practice delivery | |
| Actors involved in practice delivery |
|
| Partners involved in practice delivery |
|
| Indicators for evaluating progress/quality of practice delivery |
|
Description of collaboration
@ Other HEI/research organisations in city/region - partner organisations can take turns in representing their institutions at various fairs, provided they have sufficient knowledge of each others' opportunities and have sufficient degree of complementarity. In this case, it would be important to share information about the participating institutions on a more personalised basis to ensure fair exposure to the target audience. Partners could also share related marketing and promotion costs.