The Mays MBA Program Office has taken its recruiting to the Internet. As part of a new push to ensure that potential MBA students have as much access to recruiters as possible, the program launched an online chat initiative this spring, giving more than 200 potential students a virtual introduction to Mays.
MBA staff and their guests take questions and welcome students to Mays in a forum that most prospective students have been familiar with for years. Students can also log in to AOL Instant Messenger, an individualized-message system, to send questions and comments straight to the desk of MBA Program Associate Director Wendy Flynn as she works each day.
In a half-dozen two-hour chat sessions that began in February, MBA program staff and guests including alumni and career advisers outlined the benefits and challenges of earning an MBA at Mays. They handled questions ranging from admissions requirements to diversity and minority recruitment, providing an immediate response and finding more information if needed to address each student.
It’s a new connectivity that Flynn says keeps the program in touch with today’s student needs. “Part of the strategy is to help them feel like they have lots of personal attention and have a real personal connection with our program,” she says.