Fraternities and Sororities --Know what to look for?
Posted by Maureen Crawford Hentz at 4:22 PM

In a career long ago and far away, I was a live-in fraternity house advisor. I went on to be a Greek Advisor on a large campus in Boston and one in Arizona. Having spent a lot of time among the Greek population (and being Greek myself), of course I came across occasional bad behavior, baffling rituals and strange group think, but more often than not, I found some of the best possible student leaders.

Think about this: when graduating from college with fraternity or sorority leadership experience, students may already have the skills they would have acquired working at your company in the first year. Too often, students who spent 40 hours a week for a year running a chapter or organizing an event list their experience under 'activities', so you may have to dig a little to find the experience. I spent lots of workshop hours talking to greek leaders about the importance of taking their leadership seriously and presenting it on their resume in a way that accurately showcases their skill development. It's actually still one of my favorite topics.

For example, on larger campuses, chapter treasurers may have been handling and managing significant amounts of money in multiple accounts: house accounts, philanthropy accounts, operating accounts. On resumes, look for treasurers of larger philanthropies. For example, Rutgers University's Dance Marathon took in over $300K. Looking for a financial analyst? Look for an accounting or finance major who has been active in a fraternity and sorority.

Need people for your management development program? Look at fraternity and sorority presidents and vice presidents. Hey, if you can run a 100+ person organization, and have responsibility for discipline, morale, scholarship and entertainment, you can do anything. Ever try mediating between two co-workers? Piece of cake if by the age of 21, you've already mediated over multiple in-house disagreements and possibly cross-chapter conflicts as well.

Want someone assertive for your sales team? How about the philanthropy chair who not only had to hustle up cash and in-kind donations, but who also had to convince the chapter members to volunteer and represent the school well. Need chutzpah? No need to prove your ability to fearlessly go where others won't if you have routinely motivated others to rise and shine early every Saturday in the fall for a walk-bike-swim-rock a thon.

On many campuses, students are running the major events, and governing themselves. While fraternity and sorority advisors work hard, their work is not (solely) about preventing Animal House 08. Rather, these are on-campus educational administrators who are teaching OUR next generation of employees how to lead, manage conflict, motivate, follow rules, make rules and manage change.

Remember, too, that recruiting through fraternities and sororities is a great way to actualize your commitment to diversity. Don't know what NPHC or NALFO is? You should. I do and I use it to recruit.

Yes, there are still keg parties and occasional bad behavior, but I'd wager the Chess Club gets in trouble from time to time as well. Don't let your stereotypes---either good or bad--- prevent you from really examining the resume of a fraternity and sorority leader. X-ray a fraternity or sorority resume and differentiate between 'attended charity events' and 'organized 500 person rally'. You'll be happy you did.