Short interview with Zjef De Loose from HOGENT
HOGENT’s slogan – 18,000 students, 12 campuses – already says a lot: Give the world the best of yourself. Students, teachers, and alumni are called ‘HOGENTenaars,’ and as we read further, it’s clear they are a breed apart: full of character, passionate about their field, and determined to achieve their goals. One thing is certain, HOGENT sets the bar high. This also applies to their recruitment, says Zjef De Loose, communications officer at HOGENT and an early adopter of Hippocampus.
So you must know Hippocampus quite well by now…
Absolutely, I work with it all day long after all. And from the very beginning, we have been providing structured feedback. Anything that can be improved, we point out. And if something is missing, we let them know as well.
And is something done with that?
They really want to know, because it only makes Hippocampus better. We have a single point of contact, and she always responds quickly to our emails, whether it’s a suggestion or something that needs to be adjusted for us.
Which features do you use the most?
First, I would say the brochure requests. Many prospective students still want the information bundled together. Physical brochures are also requested, which we then send by post. For us, this is an important way to collect data, which we can also easily follow up on. For this follow-up, we like to use the integrated mail tool, so we can keep prospective students informed and invite them to everything that helps with their study choice: from info days to open class days, and even Instagram takeovers where students and alumni show what professional life looks like for a day.
Secondly, the registrations for our Info Days, where we give prospective students the option to put together their own daily program. In addition, we scan visitors at our booth during the SID-in education fairs. They want to stay informed, so the opt-in is automatically 100%. Across all registrations in Hippocampus, we achieve an opt-in rate of 75%. Of course, we also ask visitors questions to better support them and gain insight into their current situation. And it turns out to be quite diverse.
Can you explain that…
A prospective student is often a young person, but certainly not always. At HOGENT, we believe that people continue to develop throughout their lives. So we also take into account career changers, people looking to switch careers, or those combining work and family with a study program. These individuals visit our campuses less often, as that is less relevant for them. They mainly orient themselves online. For this group, we therefore offer separate activities, such as online information sessions. These still run on another system, but we manage the registrations or sign-ups for those online sessions, as well as the confirmation and reminder emails, entirely with Hippocampus.