Unit Description:
The Undergraduate Student Services team at the DeGroote School of Business supports undergraduate students in the Commerce and Integrated Business and Humanities (IBH) programs. The team provides services that include recruitment and admissions, program management, academic advising, student retention strategies, career and professional development, work-integrated learning opportunities, international exchange, skill-development programming, and support for student life and club activities. The BCom Academic team, in particular, supports a growing and increasingly diverse undergraduate population. The Commerce and IBH degree programs are designed to equip students with the knowledge and skills they need to pursue their career of choice upon graduation, and they benefit from the strong support from Student Services and key campus partners.
The incumbent will work with undergraduate program peers, faculty, and the Registrar’s Office to serve current and prospective students. This requires a high degree of empathy, active listening, and institutional knowledge to include the appropriate Student Services team member, or university department, when resolving issues. The incumbent must demonstrate problem solving and proactiveness in anticipating and mitigating potential issues. The school, faculty, and staff are committed to building an inclusive community supporting all individuals. Programs are delivered on McMaster’s main campus and benefit from significant support from the Student Services team and resources from our campus partners.
Job Summary:
The Recruitment Assistant (Academic) supports established recruitment and conversion activities and processes that will attract high-quality applicants into the Faculty’s undergraduate academic programs. This role contributes across the full recruitment lifecycle, including brand awareness, prospective student outreach and cultivation, admissions assistance, applicant conversion and registrant engagement.
The position builds and maintains strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders in a highly competitive recruitment environment. It coordinates and supports regional, national, and international recruitment activities, requiring the ability to work effectively in cross-cultural settings.
The Recruitment Assistant provides comprehensive administrative and operational support for recruitment and admissions activities across all Faculty undergraduate programs, ensuring processes are delivered efficiently and in compliance with Faculty and University policies and procedures.
Purpose and Key Functions:
- Support the implementation of marketing plan for annual recruitment activities ensuring the image and reputation of the Faculty and University are maintained.
- Coordinate on campus school visits, university-wide preview days, and information sessions (both in person and virtual) to potential students, families, guidance counsellors, and university staff and faculty.
- Assists in the hiring, training and coordination of approximately 100 student ambassadors annually. Acts as the first point of contact for the ambassadors.
- Responds independently to inquiries via phone, email, and in-person which are specific in nature and require thorough knowledge of University and departmental, admissions, policies and procedures.
- Collaborate with marketing and communications teams to create, update, and maintain recruitment websites, promotional materials, displays and outreach resources.
- Create and update recruitment resource materials to support workshops, presentations, and engagement activities for prospective students.
- Research and analyze recruitment strategies and practices used by peer and competitor institutions to inform recruitment planning and continuous improvement.
- Assess recruitment-related requests and inquiries, triaging and prioritizing tasks across the recruitment team based on urgency, sensitivity, and operational impact.
- Works collaboratively with staff across the University and Faculty to support the recruitment of students.
- Meet with and respond to inquiries from potential students, parents, guidance counsellors, faculty and staff.
- As requested, attend education fairs and school visits within Ontario to represent the Faculty and promote all undergraduate programs.
- Reviewing candidate documentation and preparing recommendations for review by others.
- Maintain accurate recruitment and admissions data through timely and precise data entry in established student and recruitment databases.
- Ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and appropriate use of student and applicant information in compliance with University policies and privacy requirements.
- Setting up displays at recruitment events.
- Supporting the development of learning and training materials for contract staff and student ambassadors/volunteers involved in undergraduate recruitment within the Faculty.
- Coordinates and schedules all back-end requirements for events including room bookings, food orders, phone and video links, using established scheduling software.
- Summarizing information from a variety of sources and documents and preparing reports for review by others.
- Running database queries and analyzing applicant data and generating a variety of ad-hoc reports and reviewing and summarizing data for review by others.
Supervision :
- Ensures adherence to quality standards and procedures for short-term staff (less than 12 months) and volunteers for events and activities (may include staffing for short-term needs).
Assets:
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, Outlook, Word, Teams).
- Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
- Ability to manage high-volume communications and respond to inquiries with accuracy and professionalism.
- Strong attention to detail and ability to maintain accuracy in time-sensitive, policy-driven processes.
- Effective communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to support recruitment team and collaborate across teams.
- Demonstrated problem-solving skills and sound judgment in handling complex or sensitive situations.
Ability to adapt to evolving priorities and contribute to continuous improvement initiatives.
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