Suggestions for a new Recruitment Counselor?
 

Hello Fellow GCer's,

I am super excited about being selected to be a Fall '10 Pi Chi and was wondering if the genius that is GC had any tips, memories, or wishes for a new Pi Chi? I would love to know ...

... what made your Pi Chi good/bad?
... what was a tip/trick that really helped all of your PNM's?
... what had you wished your Pi Chi done for you?
... cute games, songs, or crafts they did?
... how they revealed their sororites ties to you?
... what you feel is important for us to tell PNM's?
... whatever you want me to know

Thank you so much in advance. I have learned so much from this site and from all the lovely sisters on it.

Thank you,
A new Pi Chi

I guess my advice would be to remember why you are there...to serve the PNM, not GPhiB. It gets really hard to remember that when a PNM you love is telling you she is torn between XYZ and GPhiB, and you have to stay neutral. It is even harder when a PNM you can't stand tells you that GPhiB is the chapter of her dreams, and you are ITCHING to pick up the phone to call your chapter and spill your guts about what you know! You, however, are there to help each of these women figure out the best place for each of them...not the best place for them in your opinion.

One of the hardest things I had to do was advise a PNM to put KD first because she liked them most rather than AOII even though she thought AOII was the "safe" choice. I would have loved to have her as a sister, but her heart was in another place. If I'd have pushed her towards AOII, it would have been so selfish of me.

be sure that if a pnm is determined to sip(single intentional preference, aka suicide) that she is not told that the computer will throw her card out. it won't.

i was a rush counselor and my group went around with another group and their r.c. we were told that under no circumstances were we to act like we were home when we were at our own house. when we were at the other r.c.'s house, the chapter president answered the door when we were dropping off the cards before the pnms went in, and she and the r.c. hugged each other and the president showed her her engagement ring and they hugged again and chattered away. not good!!! looking back, i wish i had turned them in for a recruitment violation. no matter how much you miss you sisters, don't do something like that.

When I went through, I didnt really utilize my IIXs very much so I can really answer the first question!

WHen I was a IIX, I was all about two things: Being open and being honest. Dont b.s these women, be as honest as possible and answer their phone calls even if its at 4:30 am..

Tip/Trick-Something that really helped my girls was a note I wrote for them the first night. It had stuff like: where to meet, what was going on for the week, what to wear,what to bring/leave at home, my phone number etc. They also had sorority notebooks to jot down how they felt but Im pretty sure a ton of schools do that..

Gifts-My IIX twin and I bought some cheap neon plastic containers, puffy painted their names and "IIX group 08" (or something..lol) and filled them with tropical Starburst. We gave them these "gifts" on Pref morning. We mostly played name games, two truths and a lie, and this game where you cant talk but you have to line up in birthday order.

Our reveal: We formed 2 lines and did a stroll (quite humorous lol) then were announced by IIX group name. One IIX and her twin did the handshake boogie thing from The Parent Trap (Lohan version), very cute. My twin and I bumped hips a few times then took off our recruitment shirts to reveal our letters. We did all this along to music (The fall 09 IIXs did it to "Im Too Sexy for My Shirt" LOL)

The best parts!-DO NOT talk to your sisters, resist the urge! Trust me, Bid day wont be the same if you have been "cheating" and talking to them. It was the best feeling running into my sisters arms after not talking to them for MONTHS! Take pride in the fact if you helped a PNM truly find her home. One of my girls was hesitant about going to pref at a house, but I talked her into it..she is now a proud sister of that chapter and personally thanked me after she signed her bid card :))))

Have fun and congrats!!!!I looooooved being a IIX :)

What I liked: I lived around the corner from my RC, and she really had an open door policy during recruitment. I always felt welcome to go in and talk through my pros & cons about the chapters. I didn't feel judged, and I had no idea that she was a member of the sorority I didn't click with and dropped after the first round (dropping chapters was fairly unusual at my school, but hey, I was an ignorant freshman!).

What I didn't like: One of the chapters at the time was really low in numbers and if that chapter lost its charter, so would the others. Thus they were all VERY passionate about getting people to join the smaller chapter. That really turned me off and made me like the chapter less because they seemed so desperate to push several of us in that direction. So... if there is an agenda for the year of boosting a chapter or something, or even encouraging women to maximize options or other more common issues- state your case and talk to the PNMs about it, but don't overdo it or they'll play their ignorant freshman cards and rebel :D

We didn't really do much in the way of pre-recruitment activities, although each freshman dorm was supposed to have at least 2 activities during fall term. They happened, they just weren't well attended. The RCs also did a night during recruitment for only RCs and PNMs of just having fun, getting to know you, playing games, icebreakers, etc. But... I also don't really remember that. We also weren't super involved during recruitment in terms of fun little prep bags or anything- after all, there were only 20-25 PNMs and three chapters. It was pretty low-key. I was actually an RC for fall term my senior year but had to switch off with someone for actual recruitment, so I didn't get to experience the recruitment part of being an RC. So really all I did was plan some events with my fellow RCs, attempt to get people excited/interested in recruitment, and be unaffiliated (publicly anyway) for a few months. I'm glad things wound up the way they did (I became the chapter President somewhat unexpectedly), but I wish I could've had the other part of being an RC during recruitment and helping the PNMs find their places. So... enjoy it!

Thanks!
 

Thank you to everybody who has replied.

Twinkle555-the book with everything listed in them are a great idea! I remember trying to write down everything my Pi Chi said about what to wear, where to be, etc and having to have her repeat her number 5 times trying to get it in phone. Needless to say I had no idea what my writing said later that night.

Thetygerlily-I am a bit worried about the "maximize your options" speech. That is something our school really tries to push hard. I do not want to force a PNM into going back if they know it is not their home.

FSUZeta-I am right there with you about not acting like "your home" when you go to your chapter. Someone did tell on a Pi Chi last year and she was removed for doing basically the same thing. I really want to use this time to meet and get to know the women from the other chapters.

P.S. My boyfriend almost went to FSU, but decided not to when the choice came down to out of state tuition or a new car. Guess what the boy choose?

I am going to try very hard to work for the PNM's. I really think that I can be neutral (or else I would not have gone out for the position). Please keep the answers comin' they have been every helpful!

Congrats to all the new Recruitment Counselors!!!

I think if you are honest about options and what they mean, you're good. Even if you say "this is what is recommended, but it is your decision and these are the ramifications if you don't", you're representing what the school pushes without forcing it on someone. Maybe that's something you could even include in your booklet, and then touch on when the time arises?

I love the booklet idea, btw. Recruitment is SUCH a confusing and energetic and frantic and fun and crazy and [fillintheblankhere] time, having something to refer to and write on is great. And you can put your own personal flair on it, too.

Congratulations on being chosen as a Pi Chi!

Here are the links to my recruitment story as a PNM (since I talked about my Rho Gamma in it) and when I was a Rho Gamma.

One thing that I've noticed when I was a Rho Gamma (and it's a common theme around the country apparently), is that few Rho Gammas have full understanding of recruitment rules/bidmatching procedures/etc. and many give out misinformation as a result. My training way over-emphasized counseling at the expense of understanding bid matching. I took the initiative to ask the Panhellenic Advisor all of my questions so I knew I was equipped with the most accurate information I could have.

This usually manifests itself when a Rho Gamma will try to convince a PNM to rank all of her remaining options when the PNM doesn't want to. If a PNM would not show up on bid day, she shouldn't put it on her MRAA. It only boosts the school's placement stats. It hurts the chapter by having someone not show, it takes the place of another PNM that wanted to be there, and it binds the PNM to a chapter for a whole year.

Give PNMs accurate information so they understand the implications of their choices. Make sure you know how bid matching works inside and out. We've had so many sob stories on GC to the tune of "I put XYZ on my bid card even though I didn't want them because I was told I had to...can I still depledge and go through recruitment next semester?" Of course the answer is no. The rules don't bend for someone who was given misinformation.

Ha, that brings up two more pieces of advice.
1. Remember your PNMs' names.
2. Write a GC account from the RC side of things :D

From violetpretty's retro:

That was my *technical* Rho Gamma; in her "defense", she did miss a lot of recruitment for an orientation advisor retreat(why was she a RG in the first place?) so she didn't get to know us. Fortunately, her RG buddy was great and helped me a lot!

The best thing my Rho Gammas did for us was give everyone their party lists in private. They called us into a bathroom so we could have a moment if we were upset.

I think this is the best suggestion yet. It seems like so much of rush nowadays takes place out in the open - I mean, we got invites in our private mailboxes at our dorms. We had sorority members come to our individual rooms to offer us bids, rather than having to "run" to them in public or open your bid cards in a huge room with all the other rushees (both of which sound absolutely barbaric to me). It's not just seeing what you didn't get, it's seeing the girls who DID get what they wanted being crazy happy and excited.

Re the "maximize your options" - be blunt. Let her know that she is binding herself for a year if she writes them down (even as her third choice) and ends up matching to them, but ALSO let her know (if this applies to your school) that not putting all her groups down may mean she might not be Greek at all. After that, it's her decision.

What they said, and please please please, always double check information for PNMs on policies. It may be embarrassing to say you don't know, but call the Panhellenic officers or admit you're wrong if it comes up.

I'd also say, if something seems really odd in a schedule, double check if you can, especially if women have similar names. Probably do this on the sly without telling the woman first, but it can happen with 8 spelling variations of the name Hailey or Brittany.