Advice for a first timer on the Sorority Side
 

Hi there!

I am about to start recruitment for the first time on the sorority side. I was just wondering if anyone had some good tips for connecting with PNMs! I feel so much pressure since last year it was about selling myself and now I'm trying to sell my 100 sisters and my beloved DG! I'd love some tips!

Thanks!

Hi!

I'm coming up on my second recruitment so I know exactly what you're feeling! It's nerve-wracking because you want the PNMs to see what you love about your chapter, which can be difficult during recruitment. My entire PC was freaking out, especially because our chapter was relying on us to relate how the experience had changed our lives the most, since we had just gone through it. The easiest thing for me was to keep in mind what made me feel comfortable during each round, which was sisters who were 100% honest with me, and forget any of the outside pressures (we had a severe need to meet quota this past Fall). It helped a lot, actually. Instead of asking the same boring questions over and over, I tried to get the information out of PNMs by taking a less expected route, like starting with asking them what their favorite thing to do is. I think it helped to show the girls that you were trying to get to know how they fit with your chapter on a more personal level and not that recruitment is all about getting numbers.

I'm really excited for recruitment this semester...hopefully it goes well and good luck to you!

Exactly, don't be too gung ho sorority. A lot of times rushees really love the place where they had the random conversation about Justin Bieber's hair, not the place that rattled off 10 zillion stats about their philanthropy, colors, motto, awards etc etc. There's time for them to learn all that when pledging starts...rush is for connecting with other people.

Particularly if you're at a school with a big Greek system. If you read back through the recruitment threads, you'll find a lot of, at this house we just talked about the most random things and it was awesome to just relax for a few minutes. Remember, they're picking FRIENDS, not letters, colors, philanthropies, or who's going to be giving them a 50 year pin. You will be remembered more for being fun and friendly than for anything else. Except being bitchy which is always more memorable.

As soon as you hit on something random, ridiculous, or weird and can go with it, you've kind of hit a gold mine (at least in my experience). My two favorite sorority recruitment conversations were about shark attacks (no lie) and the second was a conversation conversation was with PNM 1 that was completely with our eyes because PNM 2 in her rush group was nuts and kept saying things like "I don't really like... people". Okay then what the heck are you doing joining a SOCIAL organization? I think I wrote about her in the crazy PNM stories.

In any event in the case of the second conversation the woman I had the eye convo with ended up joining, becoming my co-chair for this past year, and is now our president. She's also freaking hilarious (which I could tell from the first eye roll, haha).

The shark attack girls didn't join a chapter I believe, but I hold out hope that they will find us again through COB. Basically random (not forced) conversations almost always win a woman over, IMO. It's those chapters that you realize the women aren't just question asking robots but are genuine women that you could see yourself living, eating, and talking with. Sometimes though the connection just won't be there, and that's okay because that is why there are other rounds. Some women that I talked to during recruitment I didn't really click with but in later rounds another sister sold them. Which is probably the greatest benefit of a diverse sisterhood.

Non-snarky question: Do NPC-NIC sororities and fraternities do recruitment training?

NPHC sororities and fraternities do some form of membership intake and "how to interact with aspirants and applicants" training. If an NPHCer came here asking such a question I would raise my eyebrow and ask why that person (or that chapter) was coming to Greekchat.

I've never heard of a chapter not having some kind of workshop. In their defense, it can be difficult going from a good recruiter to a great recruiter. I hope that's what these ladies are after, unfortunately I don't think it's anything that can be taught.

We did, but what it all boils down to is how good are you at talking to people that you don't know. Some people are just never going to be super comfortable with that no matter how much training they have.

Yes, so what would Greekchat have to offer that other resources and figuring it out as you go along would not? You get some training, you win some, you lose some, you have awkward and stupid moments and learn from them...such is life.

That probably best describes recruitment. No matter how prepared you are or how natural you are at talking to strangers, you will have a few PNMs that are awkward or simply do not click with. Know that if you struggle with one PNM, recruitment isn't over and you can learn from that experience and use it with the next one.
Some of the best conversations I've had were talking about classes. Ask what their favorite class is/was if you have deferred recruitment, which it sounds like you do. This way you have a direct way to ask if it is a major class or potentially see how important academics are to them. Also you may get a great story out of it.

What GC has to offer is an additional outlet for "OMG I am sooooo nervous about recruitment."

That's an important thing to remember too! I've had some girls that I just didn't click with at all, and no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't make interesting conversation with them. Don't blame yourself for it! Maybe you guys just didn't hit the right topic, maybe she's tired, cold, bored, etc. There are definitely bad conversations during anyone's recruitment; the important thing is to be able to move on and not let it get you down.

Also recruitment in and of itself is a pressure cooker type of situation that no one can really prepare themselves to go through (on either side really) except by doing it. Threads like these help women realize that we've all done it, we've had some home runs and some strike outs, and we've all lived to tell the tale. Also I loved hearing about just the variety of stories that women tell about recruitment (because every sister I know has at least one crazy story) because it is such a strange situation. Hearing from women from every chapter ("top" or "bottom" tier, small or big, laid back or ultra competitive) gave me a good overview of what all I could expect.

A program is nice, sure, and workshops can help, but I know that I enjoyed reading over the recruitment "from the other side" threads before it was my first rush. I felt that they were helpful too, and helped me see all the positives of it (because I'd heard some negatives as well and was nervous because of it).