How has being Greek helped your career?
 

I know being Greek serves for a lot of different aspects but I'd like to know if it has helped any of you in your careers? Did it help you get that awesome job after graduation?

My other question is how do you incorporate something like that on your resume?

RE: the text that I put in bold letters - I'm not sure what you mean by this phrase.

Connections may get you in the door but it's still up to you to prove that you're the right person for a job. You also need to realize that not every hiring manager sees Greek membership as a plus.

I would list any Greek affiliation(s) as a line item under Memberships or Activities, and include any positions held.

I know a few recent grads who were offered jobs by Kappa alums through networking, which is awesome in this economy. However, most of them were engineers who weren't having a lot of trouble finding jobs anyway. 85% of the posts I see on our internal Kappa networking resources (we have a Yahoo group/listserv and a Linked In group) are from recent or soon-to-be grads looking for jobs in marketing/PR/event planning in NYC/LA/other major cities, and I'm not sure how successful they are since there are so many of them asking for help.

I did have my Kappa involvement on my resume for my first job out of college and I think it helped because the leadership roles I had were related to the job I was interviewing for. We discussed it briefly in my interview, mostly in relation to the events I had planned and the recruiting/marketing work I had done, since the job involves planning events and doing recruiting work. I also made sure to include tangible results in the description on my resume. My chapter had a great deal of growth during 3.5 years I was in it and I was heavily involved in that, so I included things like "Was instrumental in increasing yearly chapter recruitment from X women in <year 1> to Y women in <year 3>." I don't think it's as compelling to just say you were highly involved and learned people skills or whatever.

That said, I don't think it's appropriate for your resume for any job. My friends in the hard sciences and engineering did not include their Greek membership on their resumes because it wasn't really relevant and could even be detrimental. It's relevant to the field I work in, but I don't think I'll keep it on my resume for my next job (I'm still working in my first job) because it will be several years old. I would probably include alumna involvement, though.

ETA: My chapter also organized presentations by alums with professional positions in finance, law and the corporate world on how to network, how to dress in the workplace, how to write a resume, "Things I Wish I had Known About the Workplace", etc. in our senior programming. All that stuff was actually really helpful.

For me, it has helped in less direct ways. I am comfortable conversing with people that I have not met before because of my sorority experiences so that helps in interviews. I am comfortable with public speaking because of my sorority experiences as well. These things help! I also run meetings more efficiently than many of my co-workers, which is greatly appreciated in a work environment and demonstrates leadership.

It can also be good to have volunteer work on your resume, especially since there is a trend toward companies encouraging community service among their employees. They've actually put minimum service hours on managers in my health system to demonstrate that we are good corporate citizens. There is a difficult line in putting volunteer work on your resume though. Some people have a distinct anti-Greek bias. However, my other volunteer work all revolves around my kids' activities and in an interview, this is a slippery slope. They aren't supposed to ask about children so you're volunteering information that they can't ask.

Why are you even asking this? It's not like you're ever going to be anything but an eternal aspirant.

The only interview where my Greek affiliation was brought up was for my current job. I had interviewed with my now EVP and he asked about it. Turns out he's a Sigma Alpha Epsilon alum!

Funny you say this because he did ask if I had any leadership roles! :)

It has helped me a lot! I was hired at my internship in L.A. for being Greek, and my current and past (part-time) jobs have been jobs that the Greeks hand down to each other.

Maybe it's because I'm in an organization specifically for engineering/hard sciences but it's on my resume and most interviewers ask me about my involvement in A.O.E. One of my interviewers turned out to be a Pike alum from another school.

My sorority affiliation has been on my resume ever since I joined. I got my first "career" position, in large part, because of it. I was going for a particular position and had some competition, so I used whatever I could.

I always find a way to bring up my experiences within the Sorority and, on this occasion, it turned out that the executive was herself in Alpha Epsilon Phi. We went off on a tangent about it and I brought the conversation back around to the benefits of having that experience for the job I was applying for.

I got the job and was later told that it was the connection I made with the executive that pushed me above the rest.

I have several years of National Board experience within my Sorority, which always come up in interviews. I attribute that experience to a number of opportunities I've been given.

ETA: The word "multicultural" in my Sorority's name is a great conversation piece and has almost never been overlooked by interviewers who are looking for someone comfortable in "diverse" environments.

My school's affiliation has helped me more as far as my career goes, but as far as relationships with my coworkers, the fact that I am part of a GLO and others are parts of other GLOs is kind of a little "in". Like, "Oh, you're an XYZ? I'm an ABC." "Really? They were a great group at my school!" And so on and so forth. There is a guy at work who is part of a group that I was pinned in during college, and we have gotten to know each other a lot more than we would have had we not have had a connection.

Thanks for the responses guys. When I made the comment that it serves many aspects I meant Greek isn't only a way to advance your career. It's exciting to be a part of something big. I am in a Greek org. but I've never looked it as "greek" and often forget to mention it.

Our listserv has offers from alums frequently.

I am curious... what kind of Greek organization are you in that you don't "looked it as "greek" and often forget to mention it"?

Less than 2 weeks ago, you were "flirting" with a sorority... certainly not a member.

I'm a DeltaSig and I have to say, my alumni connections are the reason I and many of my bros got the jobs that we do now. A lot of the HR Managers end up being DeltaSigs, so we have that one up, but in the end it's up to each individual to slam dunk the competition.

My fraternity is my career. Being a Leadership Consultant has been an incredible experience. I've got another year left, so I'll have a better answer after that.

As to your other question in terms of resumes - Include anything that involves numbers/statistics as in "Recruitment chair for XYZ - Recruited 15 new members and raised membership 50%"

Back when I was a freshman I was invited to join Phi Theta Kappa which is an honor society for community college students. I never looked at it as Greek nor took it seriously. I was involved in it as much as I could while working a part time job. I'm a lifetime member; got a member number and a pin but I hardly use it. I only mention it as much as I do an extra-curricular activity for applying for scholarships and writing essays about myself.

I would never list my greek affiliation on a resume, but I did occasionally mention when I was interviewing for my first job.

I can't tell you how many times I've been doing something in my professional life and thought my 4 years in collegiate sorority life directly helped me with that task (working a cocktail party is the biggest one). But I don't think it directly helped me GET a job. And within a couple years of graduating all that would have gone off my resume anyway.

A sorority sister is a recruiter for a big company and she mentioned that she has hired a couple sisters, but I think it was just a point of conversation, not an actual decision maker.

I have it on my resume and have definitely been asked about it in interviews for internships.
The other thing I list on my resume is benefit event I was in charge of for a service group I was once in (without directly listing the group since I am no longer active in it) but it's something I'm really proud of. I also increased our donated total by 60%.
Employers are impressed by something concrete you did and many companies love to see philanthropic efforts. I'm convinced that is what got me this internship.

Greek life is all about philanthropy.
I'd say, if you did something worth talking about during your collegiate years (and have recently - last 7 yrs) graduated, then put it on there. How else are you going to almost guarantee that it will be brought up?

Last 7 years? Once you are hiring for a job that isn't entry-level, you should not be putting college activities on your resume.

That was a typo actually. I meant 3. Dunno how I ended up with 7. Bc they're not even close. Typing fail on iPhone.
Also, I think it depends on the situation. (for 3, not 7...lol)

For my career, Greek affiliation definitely helped initially. There is a section on the medical school admission application for extracurricular activities. I was able to fill the section with double filling each space with information about the activities and honors I'd received that were directly a result of my membership in AOII. When I actually went for interviews, I remember seeing my application on my interviewers desk and there was a big exclamation mark next to that section. He specifically asked me how I was able to keep up my GPA while being so active on campus. Medical schools are looking for well rounded students, not just bookworms, so this was a direct benefit.


Now, I'm 18 years out of membership. I do list my affiliation with AOII on my CV. I mention that I am a member of an alumnae chapter, perform community service, mentor collegiate students and work with our international foundation. If is is something you are still doing, it is definitely appropriate to place on your resume/CV after your first job.

A community college honor society is nothing at all the same as the social Greek affiliation that everybody else is referring to... or that it sounded like you were inquiring about. They are two completely different things. This was really a misleading question.

AFAICT the OP is just looking for more fodder for her NPHC application.

Fail.

The last few comments were unnecessary. You asked, I answered. When I asked my question I was referring to the type of greek affiliations you all are a part of. It was never misleading. I would never include PTK on a resume unless I was seeking a government based job which in case would put me in the running for a higher pay grade.

Yes I am an aspirant but this post has nothing to do in my journey there. I wanted replies from people about their experiences.

Again thanks to those who have replied.

Then learn this for the Internet and real life:

Sometimes it is best to be a silent observer. This is GreekChat, not AspirantChat.

You are unnecessary here. What's your point?