Your institution’s various departments should integrate into an alumni platform. It is a key strategy for developing your network. In our discussions with the various alumni managers, we regularly hear that it is difficult to convince other departments at the school to use the platform. Each department has its own tools and operates almost autonomously.
Yet your Alumni platform has great potential. Its functionalities make it easy to federate the various departments of your school/university (corporate relations, communication, continuing education, internship office, student life, sponsorship, etc.) and optimise your collective productivity and performance.
To illustrate this point, we will draw on the experience of our partner ESMOD Alumni. The integration of the institution’s various departments into the alumni platform has maximised the network’s potential. Using the ESMOD Alumni project as an example, successful integration can transform your platform into a central tool for communication, networking and career management. And all the while strengthening the commitment of your alumni and students!
- Context and objectives of the integration of the ESMOD Alumni platform
- Strategies for centralising services and results achieved
- Dedicated services and features of the ESMOD Alumni platform
- Webinar replay (english subtitles)
Context and objectives of the integration of the ESMOD Alumni platform
Genesis of the ESMOD Alumni project
When the ESMOD Alumni platform was created, the objectives were clear. Firstly, to create a community site to bring together alumni. Secondly, to set up a job board to put students in touch with recruiters in the fashion sector (who are potentially graduates). And finally, to use the platform as a statistical tool to exploit the available data and create a social network to facilitate meetings and exchanges. Enguerrand May, coordinator of the ESMOD alumni network, explains: “We wanted to recreate a link with our alumni, in particular via our career centre to put our graduates and students in touch with each other. In short, to create a real community between students, alumni and the school“. He stresses the importance of creating a real community between students, alumni and the institution.
The platform’s strategic importance
The ESMOD Alumni platform has rapidly taken on strategic importance. It has become an essential reference point for networking with members directory, including the French and foreign schools of the ESMOD group. By facilitating communication and mutual support between users from different campuses (5 in France and 17 abroad), the platform has effectively united the ESMOD community worldwide.
Strategies for centralising services and results achieved
Specific needs and pooling of resources
ESMOD has identified a number of specific needs that have motivated the centralisation of services on the platform. These needs include a number of management requirements:
- finding speakers and experts
- identifying alumni in specific companies or sectors
- the renewal of an alumni association and their involvement
Enguerrand May emphasises that the idea was to be able to centralise all the resources in a simple and effective tool. “The careers module, for example, meets a wide range of needs, particularly when it comes to contacting lecturers“.
Actions taken to centralise the system
To convince the various departments to integrate their services into the platform, ESMOD is taking a number of practical steps. Internal communication is being stepped up to present the benefits and features of the platform. Training and tutorials are offered to familiarise teams with the tool and maximise its use. Finally, monitoring tools and statistics are used for detailed analyses, making it easier to take decisions and optimise communication strategies.
Concrete results of integration
The results of this integration are significant. Thus, the rate of activation of accounts on the platform is impressive, with 75% of students activated and a total of 5,000 accounts activated. The centralisation of services also means that events can be organised efficiently, such as the ESMOD Paris integration evening in 2023, which attracted 414 participants. As for the careers area, more than 8,000 job applications have been posted on the platform since it was launched, with 750 active recruiters.
This tool has been particularly well received by the community, as “in terms of user experience, the site is really well designed and intuitive“, explains Enguerrand May. It’s easy to use and get to grips with, so there are no barriers to adoption, and the member engagement rate is maximised.
Edwin Hermel, coordinator of student life, adds that “the platform is a powerful tool for communication within the school, for both internal and external events, news, exhibitions and fashion shows…“.
Dedicated services and features of the ESMOD Alumni platform
Career center
The ESMOD Alumni career center plays a central role in facilitating the search for internships and professional opportunities for students and alumni. It also allows recruiters to post job offers and search for specific profiles. This feature is particularly popular with final-year students, who benefit from daily access to relevant job and internship offers. Enguerrand May says that “the careers area is the number one feature of the platform, especially for our final-year students. We feed it daily, in addition to partner feeds such as Welcome to the Jungle“.
Communication and events
The platform enables centralised, efficient communication using advanced emailing tools. This centralisation of services has resulted in substantial savings compared to using other services such as Mailchimp. It also makes it possible to improve the quality and relevance of communications thanks to segmentation options and tailored templates. Edwin Hermel points out that “75% of students have activated their account on the platform. As a result, they can take advantage of the special offers available exclusively on the platform, such as tickets to prestigious fashion shows“.
ESMOD also uses the mobile application. “It’s more in line with what our students use and is already part of our communication strategy“, confirms Enguerrand. It’s an important communication tool. Notifications via the mobile application are an excellent reminder tool. Complementary to mailings, it makes it easier to reach all members very quickly.
Lifelong learning and statistical analysis
The tool can also be used to promote continuing education offers and carry out statistical analyses. This makes it possible to monitor performance and optimise communication and engagement strategies. The platform has become a central point for alumni, facilitating access to relevant, up-to-date content and enabling efficient management of the database.
Webinar Replay
Watch all about our discussions (in French with English subtitles) with Enguerrand May and Edwin Hermel on the ESMOD Alumni project. Many thanks to them for the time they gave us and for their daily commitment!
Integrating your institution’s various departments into an alumni platform is a strategic move. It will transform the way you manage your relationships with your alumni and students. As ESMOD Alumni shows, this centralisation not only improves communication and networking. But it also centralises resources and maximises your institution’s day-to-day efficiency.
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