Sorority Recruitment Prepares You For the Real World

Believe it or not sorority life is more than matching tee shirts, fake candid pictures, and themed parties.  Just like sorority life is more than all that, Recruitment is more than a popularity contest, matching outfits, and fake smiles. Being a member of a sorority means you are recruiting 365 days a year, whether it’s through formal recruitment, social media, networking with women in your classes, or the way you act while wearing your letters.  At some point during your time as a collegian, you will experience Formal Recruitment.  I’ve had the opportunity to experience the Formal Recruitment Process both as a PNM, Potential New Member, and as a recruiter. Formal Recruitment requires a lot of preparation leading up to the days filled with rounds of meeting new women. So how can Formal Recruitment help you in the real world?

Time Management Skills: Preparing for Formal Recruitment require long hours of preparation in the weeks leading up to the actual recruitment events.  For Fall Recruitment these days, known as Spirit Days, are crammed into the first few weeks of the year. On top of establishing new semester routines and remembering how to study, you now have to spend hours preparing to recruit your sorority’s future.  This requires time management.  For me, my agenda helps keep me sane during the first chaotic month of the fall semester. Time management is a skill that will help you be successful for the rest of your life.

Optimistic Outlook: Whether you are a PNM or a sister who is recruiting, the Formal Recruitment process can be very long and tiresome.  Sometimes you spend a long time in uncomfortable shoes and clothes, you go hours without eating, and you get hardly any sleep.  While these things sound awful, the experience you are getting makes up for it. There are two ways you can deal with these negative things: with an optimistic attitude or with a pessimistic one. Being pessimistic will make the whole process seem much longer, and if you are a PNM you will have a tough time getting into a sorority because nobody really wants a negative Nancy to be their sister. The better option is to have an optimistic throughout the whole process. Being optimistic will make you happier and allow you to turn the negatives into positives. This is a trait that will get you far in life. Living life with an optimistic attitude will bring you a lot more happiness and positivity, which makes life much more pleasant.

Communication Skills: Formal Recruitment is all about being able to converse with other women.  It is through these conversations that you either figure out the organization you will call home or the women you would like to add to your organization. Without these conversations recruitment really wouldn’t exist. Recruitment teaches you how to have quality conversations and how to communicate even when a conversation is dying. Being able to communicate in awkward or normal conversations is a skill that will help you in the workplace, socially, and on a daily basis.

Appearance: Believe it or not, first impressions are incredibly important.  During recruitment first impressions matter, which is why it is important to be groomed. This means your hair should be done neatly, attire should be on the conservative side, makeup should give off a clean appearance, deodorant should be worn, clothes should not be wrinkled, nails should be trimmed and painted neatly (or not at all), and perfume should be on the lighter side. Learning to make a great first impression through a well-kept appearance is something that is good to know how to do as you will need to do this during a job interview.

Good luck to everyone engaging in the Formal Recruitment process this Fall! Just remember that the experience you are gaining is helping you develop better professional skills, which will help you post college.

Congrats to one of our new writers, Michaela, for this amazing article!! She also blogs as The Shore Life According to M!