Student recruitment is a fundamental quantitative and qualitative indicator for any educational institution of higher education. Therefore, one of the most important areas of development of any university is to strengthen its image and determine its worthy place in the educational services market.

Having developed the right strategy for career guidance, educational institutions can directly or indirectly influence the decision of applicants in choosing a specialty and university as a whole.

The study of the motivations of the professional choice of applicants and 1st year students allows us to determine the most profitable program for the university to attract applicants and optimally build the process of interaction between the future student and the teacher, as well as the higher educational institution and students.

Having analyzed the reasons for choosing a university, it is possible to identify criteria for the attractiveness of higher educational institutions for applicants, which will allow correcting the created image of an educational institution among students, presenting the university in a favorable perspective among other higher educational institutions.

In the period from September 02 to September 06, 2024, in accordance with the work plan of the Department of career guidance and admission at the Institute of Industry Technologies of the West Kazakhstan University of Innovation and Technology, a survey of first-year full-time students in all educational programs of the Institute was conducted among 1st-year students.

234 students took part in the survey. According to the results of the survey, it can be noted that for the 2024-2025 academic year, the number of applicants in the West Kazakhstan region was 23.5%, from the city of Uralsk – 43.5%, 8.5% – from Atyrau region, 11.5% from Mangystau region, 8% – from Aktobe region, and 1% – from Astana, Almaty, Kyzylorda, Turkestan regions.