As the summer draws closer, the dreaded summer job search begins. it is always a tossup whether or not to include your sorority in your resume. The fears of your potential employer thinking you are that party sorority girl or all you care about is drinking and cannot take anything seriously. Yet, what most employers don’t understand is being in a sorority is extremely helpful when entering the real world. You already know how to be thrown into social situations, make valuable connects, and keep a good public presence. When debating whether or not to put your sorority on your resume, do it. But do so in a way that it eliminates the stereotypes and highlights your contributions.
Sell yourself with the level of responsibility you have in your sorority. If you are Philanthropy Chair, state how you are to plan monthly events that display philanthropic efforts to raise money for Breast Cancer Research. Or that you worked with multiple organizations on campus that displayed your leadership skills and event planning to bring awareness to cystic fibrosis in your community. As myself being Philanthropy Chair, it can be stressful to plan successful events that will have a high attendance and raise a sustainable amount of money. Yet, I pushed through and planned a pub night that was one of the most successful events of the year. Highlight to your interviewer that even though you had set back it has taught you important levels of organization and how you dealt with a high pressure situation and responsibility. Don’t forget to relate the skills you have learned through your time of being a sister to the career you are wishing to pursue and be as specific as possible as to what you have done.
As each Greek organization has philanthropy, don’t forget to feature your volunteering experience. State where and for how much time you volunteered. Employers want to see you are involved in your community and including the monthly amount of which you are volunteering will make them even more impressed with your capabilities. When I applied for my latest job, I highlighted what organizations I volunteered with and how it related to the job I was pursuing. For example, if you are applying in a customer service job; tell your future employer that volunteering made you more aware and mindful of others. Highlight how it enables you to cater to their needs and provided opportunities for you to communicate and work well in a team setting. Philanthropy has benefits, not only to your sorority, but also to your resume, don’t forget to mention the amount of volunteering and positives it has brought to your experience for landing a job.
The last important thing when selling your Greek experience is to include your organization’s skills and accomplishments. Emphasize how important being organized is in a sorority, such as balancing volunteering and holding the position of President with maintaining exceptional grades. Include your strong time-management skills and ability to work in a team setting with your overall focus of positive relations on campus. How does this relate to the job you are wanting? Display your focus and relating it back in your resume and always keep your employer focused on what you learned and your accomplishments in the sorority. Mention how you managed to raise $260 during a philanthropic event while utilizing your connections. Even winning an award which may not seem extremely beneficial to your employer, mention the time you won True Sister Award, how highly your fellow sisters think of you and how you are the one people can trust and turn to when needed, this will allow your employer to understand you are reliable, trustworthy and would make for a positive asset to the company.
It is always important to relate the skills you have from anything you have done on your resume to the job you are wanting. The employer wants to know how your experience makes you the best candidate for the job and how they really shouldn’t be thinking about anyone else. So fix your resume, highlight your strengths and lessons learned, sell yourself, prove society a sorority girl can do anything, put your best lipstick on, have confidence in yourself, and land your dream job.
Featured image via Ryan Hoffman on Unsplash
