Attracting top talent is a strategic imperative for schools looking to stand out in a competitive environment. By optimizing their recruitment process and leveraging innovative recruitment management software solutions, they can build a strong and attractive employer brand. These tools not only improve operational efficiency but also create a seamless and engaging candidate experience. Here are some best practices for strengthening your employer brand through optimized application management.

Summary

1. Create a personalized and interactive candidate portal to stand out

2. Maintaining a personalized relationship with potential talent

3. Mobilizing students and alumni as ambassadors

4. Offer original recruitment events to reveal potential

1- Create a personalized and interactive candidate portal to stand out

Intuitive online application forms

To attract the best students, it's essential to offer them a smooth and personalized application process. This involves implementing intuitive online application forms that adapt to the applicant's profile and desired program. By collecting only key information, such as diplomas, grades, and experience, the process is simplified for the candidate.

These contextualized forms guide students step-by-step through their application. Data entry assistance, consistency checks, and clear instructions at each stage reassure applicants and minimize errors or omissions. The goal is to go paperless eliminating the need to send cumbersome paper applications.

Let's take the example of a student wishing to apply for a Master's degree in Management. The online form will ask them to provide their Bachelor's degree, transcripts from all three years, and any internship or work-study experience. Drop-down menus and pre-filled fields speed up data entry. If there are any inconsistencies, an alert message will appear to help them correct them. They can easily attach the required supporting documents in digital format.

Real-time tracking of application progress

Beyond simply facilitating the application process itself, it's also essential to keep students informed of their application's progress in real time. Implementing automatic notifications at each key stage, such as application receipt, eligibility confirmation, or selection interviews, reassures applicants and maintains their commitment.

A personalized candidate portal allows students to check the status of their application, upcoming deadlines, and required documents or additional information at any time. This proactive follow-up enhances the student's application and strengthens the perceived quality of the institution. The candidate experience becomes a differentiating factor in a context of intense competition between programs.

For example, Sciences Po Paris has deployed and configured an admissions platform for its Summer Schools. Applicants are informed in real time about the completeness of their application, any missing documents, and deadlines. Email and SMS notifications remind them of the next steps. They can interact directly with the team via an integrated messaging system to ask questions.

To streamline the application process for student applicants, here are some best practices to implement:

1. Submit a 100% online application, on all devices (mobile, tablet, PC)

2. Pre-fill the fields with data already known to simplify data entry

3. Display a progress bar and save the information at each step

4. Integrate a chatbot to answer frequently asked questions 24/7

5. Provide real-time visibility on the application status

6. Notify the candidate by email and/or SMS of each step in the application process

7. Go Paperless provides supporting documents with predefined formats, sizes, and qualities

8. Allow the file to be modified or supplemented as long as the deadline has not passed

2. Automate administrative tasks to increase efficiency

Multichannel publication of training offers

Recruitment software allows you to centralize the creation and distribution of training offers on a variety of channels: the institution's website, specialized job boards, social networks... Pre-configured ad templates by type of course accelerate publication and ensure consistency of messages.

This automated, multi-channel distribution significantly increases program visibility and attracts a larger number of candidates who meet the prerequisites. The institution thus covers a broad spectrum of qualified student pools, both in France and internationally, and optimizes its recruitment efforts.

Mines-Telecom, for example, deployed and configured an application management platform to attract apprentices. Thanks to pre-scheduled posting campaigns on a selection of relevant job boards and social networks, the school gains visibility among target profiles. The job offers are automatically removed once the deadline has passed.

Automated sorting of applications according to predefined criteria

Faced with a flood of applications, sometimes several hundred for certain programs, manual sorting quickly becomes time-consuming and prone to errors for admissions teams. Recruitment software allows them to define pre-selection criteria (degree, GPA, key skills, etc.) to automatically filter profiles and identify the most suitable candidates.

This automated scoring system saves teams valuable time by eliminating ineligible applications as soon as they are submitted. This allows them to focus on the in-depth evaluation of qualified candidates. This objective pre-selection stage also reduces the risk of overlooking promising candidates lost in the sheer volume of applications.

Let's consider the case of a top business school that receives over 500 applications for its Master in Management program. Using pre-defined scoring criteria in the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) (level of education, GPA, English test score, extracurricular activities, etc.), the software assigns a score to each application. Only candidates who meet the defined threshold are selected for further review.

Here is an overview of useful features to optimize the selection of applications:

3- Collaborate effectively to expedite the processing of applications

Processing an application often involves several stakeholders: academic advisors, admissions panels, administrative services, etc. Software centralizes all the data and documents in the application, accessible at any time by authorized personnel. No more lost Excel files or paper documents!

Thanks to this unified and secure access, everyone can view information, complete their assessments, and share their comments, all in complete confidentiality. The 360° view of the candidate's journey facilitates communication between stakeholders and accelerates collaborative decision-making. No more time-consuming meetings are needed to decide on a case.

Excelia, for example, has deployed and configured a platform for managing international applications. Administrative teams, program managers, and selection committees have access to a shared and secure space. They can review documents, add comments, assign scores, and communicate via a dedicated messaging system. This allows for a faster and more streamlined admissions process.

Collaborative workflows and team notifications

In addition to centralizing data, recruitment software allows for the definition of workflows tailored to the specific requirements of undergraduate and graduate admissions. Each step, from application receipt to the final admission decision, is orchestrated to streamline collaboration between stakeholders.

Notifications alert each relevant person when a task is assigned to them, along with a priority level and deadline. This unified application tracking prevents oversights or bottlenecks and empowers teams to meet processing deadlines. With a comprehensive view of ongoing admissions, managers can identify potential bottlenecks and reallocate resources as needed.

Imagine a university managing hundreds of applications simultaneously. Thanks to workflows configured in the Applicant Tracking System (ATS), as soon as an application is submitted, a task is created and assigned to the admissions office for an initial eligibility review within 48 hours. Once validated, the application is automatically forwarded to the relevant academic advisors for evaluation. Each advisor receives a reminder notification if they haven't completed the task on time. The applicant is kept informed at each stage.

To strengthen collaboration around admissions, an application management tool must include features such as:

• Customized spaces for each user profile (administration, teaching, jury, etc.)

• A unified view of overall progress and progress by candidate

• Secure access to data, with customizable rights

• An integrated messaging system for exchanging information on files

• Customizable notifications to alert you to tasks that need to be addressed

• A powerful search engine to easily find a candidate

• Visual indicators of processing times at each stage

4- Measure the performance of the admission processes to continuously improve

To effectively manage its admissions strategy, an institution must be able to accurately measure the performance of its actions. Software provides reliable and real-time updated dashboards and key indicators to track the progress of applications at each stage of the process.

Application processing times, conversion rates by recruitment channel, cost per admission... These detailed statistics help identify areas for improvement and focus efforts where the impact will be greatest. Evaluating the return on investment of actions taken becomes easier, enabling better decision-making.

Let's take the example of a business school that runs a targeted social media campaign to promote a new MSc program to international students. Thanks to the dashboard integrated into the Applicant Tracking System (ATS), it can track week by week the number of applications generated by this campaign, the cost per lead, the conversion rate to admissions, and so on. If performance is insufficient, it can react and quickly adjust its approach.

Surveys of candidates to assess their experience

The best way to improve the candidate experience is still to ask the people most concerned for their opinion! Software makes it possible to automate sending satisfaction questionnaires to admitted students, but also to those whose application was rejected.

Gathering and analyzing this feedback is invaluable for tailoring practices to the specific expectations of the target audience. It's also a way to show students that their voices matter and to involve them in a process of continuous improvement. This is a valuable asset for developing an image of an institution that listens and is forward-looking.

Imagine an engineering school with a long and complex application process. By systematically surveying applicants after their admission, the school realizes that many nearly gave up along the way, frustrated by the numerous steps. They suggest simplifying the application process and providing more transparency regarding deadlines. These are concrete ways to revise the process and avoid losing promising candidates!

Here is an overview of the key data to track to measure the performance of your admissions:

By combining an analytical approach and qualitative feedback, institutions can build a 360° view of their recruitment performance and focus their efforts on the most impactful actions.

Conclusion:

Applicant tracking software like Emundus is becoming an invaluable asset for higher education institutions, enabling them to optimize student attraction, selection, and conversion. By automating time-consuming tasks, streamlining team collaboration, and offering a personalized experience for applicants, it facilitates higher-quality and more efficient recruitment. This is a precious advantage at a time when competition between programs is intensifying and student expectations are evolving towards ever-greater digitalization and responsiveness.