RMIT University accelerates recruitment strategy with IDP Live

In July 2021, we launched our offer in principle service, now known as FastLane, to match prospective international students to suitable universities and courses around the world at the click of a button. We recently sat down with Tom Gifford, Head of Student Recruitment (Domestic & International) at RMIT University to learn more about their priorities for 2022 and how IDP Live aligns with their recruitment and marketing strategy.

Why did you decide to become an IDP Live partner and how does it support your recruitment strategy?

RMIT worked closely with IDP in many of our international student recruitment markets and they have played a real key part in terms of how we embed our strategy and ensure that we are working closely with students that are interested in studying in Australia and RMIT University.

When we heard about this new product, we were really keen to be involved because a) it allows us to work even more closely with the IDP team that are on the ground, particularly at a time when many of our staff are unable to travel and b) we know that international students are always really interested in their eligibility for certain programs, so the concept that we could empower IDP counsellors to have more certainty around our entry requirements and be able to provide that to students more timely was really attractive for us at RMIT.

What gives IDP Live and its fast-tracked recruitment capabilities an edge in the market?

We know that students and parents and all of us today want everything quickly and in a really timely manner, so this enables us to do is be more proactive and we don’t have to wait for a student to contact us or to contact IDP and so on.

This really allows us to give IDP counsellors all the information they need to then be able to give that information to the students as well. For me, it’s really about having a more proactive approach to admissions and eligibility and then empowering IDP to help a student more quickly and in a timely way.

What synergies do you see between IDP Live’s student-centred approach and RMIT’s values and key strengths?

RMIT has a really long history of being forefront of technology and for us, what we want is to really showcase that technology we have at RMIT – not just to our current students, but really show our strengths earlier on in that student journey. For us, what that allows us to do for a student interested in studying at RMIT, the way that we’re working with IDP now allows us to use technology in a more meaningful way.

The interfaces between RMIT and IDP are better connected which means students can have more information when they need it and that helps students make their decisions, and it helps parents have more information at an earlier stage in their journey where they are considering studying. We think it is a good mix because RMIT is well-known for technology and what we’re doing here is weaving that technology straight into the way we can connect and talk with students earlier on in their consideration phase for study.

IDP continues to innovate through leading tech coupled with human connections. How does that align with innovation at RMIT?

As a university, it is something that we’ve had to work hard on in the last two years is building our digital infrastructure. Luckily at RMIT, we are well known for technology and design which meant when we had to move all our programs online, we were in a strong position to do that. Something that we have been working hard on is over the last two years how we support new students, but also our current students, to create a community.

With lockdowns and students overseas, we’ve had to do that in a digital environment. So, a lot of the work we’ve done has been really creating online digital communities and support services which has helped students have a positive experience, inside and outside of the classroom. We had to ask the questions…how do we help students make friends? How do we help students with troubleshooting? How to help students have some element of face-to-face support?

We’ve delivered a lot of initiatives to support students and what we’re really optimistic about is that as the campus is opening, as we’re anticipating students to return, if we can really blend the digital support we’ve got in place with that face to face element, we can then offer students what they want in the format they want it. If they prefer digital support, they will have access to that. Likewise, if they prefer face to face and digital blended approach, then they’ll have access to that as well.

I think it’s an exciting year ahead because as universities, the last two years have been heavily focused on improving that student experience and we’ve been able to do that. Now we can broaden that out to support students in they way that they want to be supported. What we’ve been able to do with IDP Live is blend that face-to-face and technology support, so we can give prospective students an offer in principle quickly, and then allow them to carry on with their application journey.

Why do you think it’s important that innovative technology, like IDP Live, is leading the sector rebound in Australia?

I think it plays an important part because we know, that particularly for an international student, it can be difficult and complex to navigate university systems, university websites, to be able to find clear details of their program and clear details if they meet the eligibility requirements of each university.

On top of that, if students are considering 2, 3 or 4 universities it can make it quite difficult to understand what they’re looking to study and how they can then start their journey in terms of applying to a university and then considering their offers. I think this scheme is important to allow students, quickly and easily, to ascertain information that they need to be able to find information about studying abroad.

It allows us to understand the student’s interests, programs they’re interested in and then go back to the student with additional information that they will need. So, if we’ve got that Offer in Principle, that allows us to provide relevant content and information to that student to give them a more personalised experience.

What would be your advice for institutions considering coming on board?

My advice would be for institutions looking to come on board is that IDP Live is something that students want and need. It allows us as institutions to provide students through IDP with an Offer in Principle which gives them certainty. I think it’s valuable and the way forward as it allows us to be more proactive in our admissions approach.

There is a bit of work that goes into the set up and that fell into the admission teams, but it puts us in a strong position to put RMIT front and center when agent counsellors are talking to the students about studying at RMIT.