Qualities of a great admissions personnel

If you are in the process of recruiting an admissions manager/ officer to join the team and wondering what to qualities you should be looking for in the right candidate, here are our top three most important traits and skills that we strongly advise schools to consider in order to have a more successful admissions team. (By “successful”, we mean a team that achieves ambitious targets, thus helping the school to grow.)

Forget the standard “attention to detail”, and “good organisational skills” or “excellent data analysis”, which are good-to-haves but not the end-all. The real impact is made when you have someone with these qualities:

1. Values & appreciates education– if your school is an IB school, for example, your admissions staff need to someone who deeply values the IB philosophy and believes in the benefits of this programme. Without this passionate belief in education, it will be difficult to create a desire for your school to potential customers.

2. Exceptional interpersonal skills– they have got to enjoy and be comfortable in meeting and making connections with people. Whether you are an established school or one that is growing, having an admissions member of staff with a warm, enthusiastic and approachable personality will do wonders for your student recruitment targets! As a recruiter, if the admissions candidate didn’t make YOU feel special and engaged, it is very likely that they won’t impress your customers either. As the person representing your school, it deserves to have an enthusiastic, empathetic, warm and engaging admissions personnel.

3. Desire to win– a successful admissions personnel will have that thirst to “win the deal”. They will go the extra mile to ensure customer satisfaction and follow up rigorously in an attempt to convert the customers. They will look for ways to improve customer experience and increase engagement.

The right candidate with the above qualities will not only help the school attract new students, you will find that he/she can contribute constructively to so many different areas of school growth too.

All the best in your search for the right person in your admissions team!

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