Wayne Larson, recruitment coordinator at the KU School of Journalism, joined Social Media Club of Lawrence to share his social media networking insights.

As the journalism school’s recruiter, he uses Twitter to connect with high school students. The high achieving prospective students he communicates with online are engaged and passionate in the journalism field (editors of their school publications, influencers in their online communities).

He explained his recruitment strategy in four steps: reach out, connect, sell and celebrate.

• Identify high-potential recruits through shared interests, extracurricular activities using hashtags and keyword searches.
• Connect with prospective students who have already shown an interest in attending the journalism school.
• Sell the benefits of the program
• Celebrate their decision to attend.

Larson approaches Twitter as a one-on-one sales opportunity for high-potential students. He maintains a Twitter list of “future Jayhawk Journalists” to build a community of prospective journalism majors.

He recommends keeping dialogue personal and authentic, and to differentiate networking with a personal Twitter account as opposed to an organizational handle (@KU_Journalism).

Social Media Club of Lawrence greatly appreciates his insights into social media networking and making new connections.

You can follow him @larsonwayne, or @KU_Journalism.