Today we are pleased to announce that we are teaming up with three community-based organizations to launch a U.S. domestic-focused admissions tool, one that builds upon what we have learned serving admission officers and international students for the past 7+ cycles while also preserving college access at its core.
We’re calling it the Elevator Pitch, and it consists of a chance to upload a 90-second video, combined with the two virtual stars that have proved to be so popular in international admissions. Three CBOs have signed on to be a part of the launch (ScholarMatch, Evanston Scholars and Boston HERC), and we welcome others to come and join us.
The price is a reasonable one-time fee of $22, but fee waivers are broadly offered as well. Most uniquely, 50% of the revenue from the Elevator Pitch is distributed back to participating CBOs.
We are thrilled to welcome Amy Jarich to the InitialView team as our first "Dean-in-Residence." Most recently, Amy was the assistant vice chancellor and director of undergraduate admissions at UC Berkeley. Amy will provide InitialView with high-level input and play a critical role as it improves current products and launches new ones.
Amy said: "I've seen first-hand at Berkeley how much InitialView assists US universities with technology and processes that improve admissions outcomes. And, throughout my career, I've been very fortunate to work at institutions that have allowed me to fulfill a personal mission related to access and transparency in the admissions process. Thus, when I learned about InitialView's upcoming projects, I felt like it was a particularly good fit for me."
The "Dean-in-Residence" position at InitialView was created to provide successful senior admissions individuals with an interim opportunity to both provide InitialView with strategic input while experiencing the operations of a fast-moving, technology-focused organization. It is inspired by the "Entrepreneurs-in-Residence" positions at many top venture capital firms.
Today, in partnership with the American Chamber of Commerce in China, we announced the InitialView Global Job Platform with the goal of connecting the thousands of students who pass through our interview platform each year with employment opportunities in their home country.
This has been a request for a while. Every year we have students email us about employment opportunities in China, and we have observed for several cycles that it's often challenging for international students to make connections with employers in their home country.
The “GloJo” platform has some unique features: for example, students have only three “darts” that they can use to apply to only three opportunities at a time. Companies must respond within seven days; otherwise they lose the opportunity to connect. When a company responds, regardless of whether it is a yes or a no, the student gets their dart back and can continue their search.
Students get a process for applying for a job, and companies get a pipeline of qualified applicants. Here’s a quick video:
(If you are not able to watch the above video on Youtube, please try YOUKU)
We’re teaming up with the career services and China-focused student groups of each of the universities below in order to hold launch events at each. While we already have a great group of companies participating, if additional organizations want to participate in the fall they need to aim to get us their JDs before October 12th.
University of Virginia (10/29)
Georgia Tech (10/30)
Vanderbilt University (11/1)
Northwestern University (11/5)
University of Chicago (11/5)
UC Berkeley (11/6)
We look forward to again supporting the students we know well while also supporting our higher ed clients as they look to increase the ways their students can take advantage of their diploma back in their home countries.
We’d like to welcome the new InitialView Fellow to Beijing! Jaclyn Mandart, an admission officer from Union College, arrived recently and is already off to the races with interviewing (and getting used to the food!).
“It has been great learning about China from the inside. I’ve already met some great students while conducting the interviews in Beijing and am looking forward to traveling to find great students all over the country. We know that this year is already shaping up to be our busiest yet, so I know that I will get to meet many, many more from not only China but also other countries as well.”
“When I left MIT undergrad admissions, I told my friend that there was only one place I wanted to work: InitialView. I had used their interviews as an admission officer, and I felt they were the only ones trying to improve international admissions for everyone.” -- Jungrok King, Quality Assurance Manager at InitialView
We know that the challenge of growth is maintaining consistent interview quality. In response, we continue to make interview quality the primary focus of our day-to-day operations. Our global team of interviewers is headed up by Natalie Keyes and Jungrok King. Through a combination of self-developed training materials and bespoke software systems, tens of thousands of interviews are able to pass through our system. Our global team of interviewers go through standardized training to understand our unique way of interviews, the background of the students, and the purpose they serve in helping admission officers understand critical communication skills while letting students tell their stories. Each interviewer receives individual feedback on numerous mock interviews that they complete as part of their training. Every interview after it is completed is reviewed by a member of the quality assurance team in order to ensure it is consistent with our standards and goals.
Natalie mentioned: “The challenge and joy of working with our team of interviewers each year is seeing how our growth can be a catalyst to improve. When we stop and take stock of what we are doing we are often surprised to see ourselves operating on a scale that would have been difficult to imagine even a few cycles previous.”
