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Never underestimate the power of junk mail. Er... direct mail. Send paper posters around to the departmental offices at as many schools as you can. It would

Never underestimate the power of junk mail. Er... direct mail. Send paper posters around to the departmental offices at as many schools as you can. It would not be hard to compile the postal addresses yourself, however you can rent such mailing lists quite cheaply. A "tested" list, which is regarded as high-value, rents for ten cents per name or so, but a "compiled" list, as this would be, is much cheaper, like one cent per name. However if you have specific contacts at a school, and can address a cover letter to the contact by name, they're more likely to actually help you out by putting your poster up in a visible location. Also consider advertising in student newspapers, student radio stations, as well as radio stations that while not run by students, are in the communities where schools are located. Sometimes you can get free advertising just by sending around a thoughtfully-worded press release.

m52go 12y ago
Hehe, true about direct mail. A scrappy approach is clever. I've reached out to my alma mater and they're generally not too difficult about posting items around campus. Thanks a bunch for the tips!
- notahacker 12y ago
  Is your alma mater prestigious? At least in the UK, major graduate recruiters that focus their efforts on particular schools are willing to spend on brand-building for surprisingly low-eyeball audiences (sponsoring specific student societies). You can then pitch a low traffic site with emphasis on the "set up by former and current XX students" angle to at least get badges on the site. If your site is targeting current students, there's likely more revenue in brand-building "sponsored content" from major graduate recruiters than a pure jobs board since students, almost by definition, aren't actively looking for a job for most of the year. That doesn't make your revenue model easier...
  - MichaelCrawford 12y ago
    In the US, it's uncommon for recruiters to focus on specific schools. I do see it done from time to time - specifically for Stanford, MIT and Berkeley - but it is uncommon. Also they don't target specific schools that are just as good, if not better, like Caltech or Carnegie-Mellon, nor schools in other countries - like Cambridge or Oxford!

m52go 12y ago

Hehe, true about direct mail. A scrappy approach is clever. I've reached out to my alma mater and they're generally not too difficult about posting items around campus. Thanks a bunch for the tips!

notahacker 12y ago
Is your alma mater prestigious? At least in the UK, major graduate recruiters that focus their efforts on particular schools are willing to spend on brand-building for surprisingly low-eyeball audiences (sponsoring specific student societies). You can then pitch a low traffic site with emphasis on the "set up by former and current XX students" angle to at least get badges on the site. If your site is targeting current students, there's likely more revenue in brand-building "sponsored content" from major graduate recruiters than a pure jobs board since students, almost by definition, aren't actively looking for a job for most of the year. That doesn't make your revenue model easier...
- MichaelCrawford 12y ago
  In the US, it's uncommon for recruiters to focus on specific schools. I do see it done from time to time - specifically for Stanford, MIT and Berkeley - but it is uncommon. Also they don't target specific schools that are just as good, if not better, like Caltech or Carnegie-Mellon, nor schools in other countries - like Cambridge or Oxford!