Jobs and Sorority Life - Is it possible?

[Aerylle]

Once again, I am posting a thread in this part of the website, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't belong here. If anything, it would probably belong in the Greek Life section, but.. I'm not greek yet so I would feel awkward posting it there.

Anyway, I am in the process of locating a better job (the one I have isn't giving enough hours. ]: ) and it got me thinking, how does work and sorority life cohabitate?

I've heard from many people (including people at my school) that the first semester of sorority life is the most time consuming. It's hectic and stressful and there are new member meetings and serenades and outings and all that jazz. But what if you have a part time job?

Will that harm your chances of
a. getting a bid?
b. making it to initiation?

I'm just curious. If I stick around on Greek Chat long enough, you all will realize that I'm pretty much a kitten: too curious for my own good.

[kddani]

I would estimate that 80% of my house had a job.

[RaggedyAnn]

I had two jobs through most of my sorority career, held offices, got good grades, went to almost every event and had a social life. If you work at it, you will learn great time management skills. My biggest pieces of advice is to limit your time on social networking sites, limit TV watching and get a great planner.

[MUSK81]

Heck yeah, it's possible! Just about every girl in my house who had transportation had a job. When I first pledged, I was working at Wendy's, then got a job at Kroger about three weeks later. It was perfect - 15 -16 hours per week, never past midnight and the head cashier liked me, so he scheduled me around my sorority activities . I left there to do my required internship summer between junior and senior year, then worked at JCPenney until I graduated. I was also a journalism major, which is very time-consuming. But my sisters were very understanding; work was considered a legitimate excuse to miss an activity, although you were expected to be at chapter meetings if at all possible.

ETA: Hang in there, Aeryelle! I wish we'd had GC (heck, the Internet!) when I was in college. Life is so much easier now in some ways ...

[FleurGirl]

I have a job and pay my own dues, as do many of my sisters. TOTALLY POSSIBLE!

[MaggieXi]

Most of my friends in college had jobs and were greek. These jobs ranged from being tour guides on campus and working in the bookstore to being part time office help at doctors' office and waiting tables. Many girls in my chapter tutored at the local elementary school too. It's totally doable, but learning to manage your time will be important to balance everything.

[GatorGirl27]

Like others have said, it's totally possible. You do have to be realistic and realize that your job will probably cause you to miss a few events here and there. As long as you have decent time management skills, it really shouldn't be problem

[pretty-in-pink]

Aerylle, seriously? I was about to make this exact same thread! haha twin but thank you so much for the advice GC! At my school's Greek Q&A, they said that they "highly discourage pursuing employment during the new member period." It's so good to hear that women have held jobs and stayed involved in their chapter

[perfectinpurple]

Originally Posted by RaggedyAnn

I had two jobs through most of my sorority career, held offices, got good grades, went to almost every event and had a social life. If you work at it, you will learn great time management skills. My biggest pieces of advice is to limit your time on social networking sites, limit TV watching and get a great planner.

Totally agreed! I had a job last year and time management is so crucial. Between chapter meetings, socials, classes, homework, extra curriculars, and work there is little time for messing around.

Also:
a) no it shouldn't harm your chances of getting a bid (it might even give you conversation topics during rush!)
b) you should know when initiation is far enough in advance to make any changes you need to a work schedule

[nittanygirl]

a lot girls in sororities have jobs. most of my friends.
check out working on campus. i know for me that is easier than working off (like I did freshman year) because you might be able to get set hours every week & if not I feel like they are more flexible.

You should have plenty of time to request off of work for initiation

[Alumiyum]

Most of my chapter had jobs. Some girls had a harder time than others, depending on how many hours they were working and how good they were at scheduling. Get yourself a heavy duty planner, and check it daily. The sorority should give you at least two weeks notice for events so that if you have to take off work you'll have time to ask off. Girls in my chapter that were working a lot of hours every week tended to try to show up at all required events, and made extra events secondary to their job. I recommend you do this. You will probably feel slightly left out during your new member period because you won't be around your pledge class all the time, but I'm sure there will be other girls in your new member class that are working, too. Make friends with them so that you don't feel alone in scheduling your job and sorority into your school schedule. You'll be fine, a LOT of Greeks work to pay their dues and other expenses.

[KSUViolet06]

The majority of girls in my chapter had jobs.

It's definitely possible.

As others have said, get a planner.

Should you get a bid, it's important to know your chapter's policy on missing events for work.

For certain events, work was not a valid excuse. For example: you couldn't miss refinement week or recruitment days for work.

So make sure you can request off in advance for things that might be "no excuse" events.

[Pirouette]

Aerylle-lots of sorority girls have jobs during college (including myself). It wouldn't be the first thing to advertise during rush (don't say "Hi, I'm Aerylle and I have a time consuming job!") but if they ask about your involvement, mention it (something like "I was involved in this club and that club in high school. I want to continue my involvement with that club in college but I also have a part time job. Being involved in high school has helped me learn to manage my time so neither activity should affect the amount of energy I put into being a sister.")
Just let your sisters know ahead of time if you're going to be missing an event.

Good luck!
PS, ditto the planner. I've been out of college for years now and I still refer to mine like a bible.

[myopicsunflower]

Pretty much every collegian I've known has had significant extracurricular involvement outside of the sorority (sports, clubs, resident life assistants, etc), and the majority I've known also have had a job, research assistantship, or internship. Some girls even had more than one part-time job, because they were paying their own dues.

There is lots of good advice in this thread (co-sign on the planner -- I use Google's calendar, because I can sync it with my iPhone and always have it within reach), but I especially like what Pirouette said about how to frame your time commitments in a positive way if the issue comes up during recruitment.

[PhoenixAzul]

I worked, held offices in my sorority, was in campus governance, double major and honors in college. It is all about making priorities and managing your time. I actually ended up working the EARLY morning shift (5am-8.30 or 9.30am most days) because it paid an additional hour just for dragging your butt out of bed. Then I put myself as "flexible" so I could come in if someone needed coverage. If I could cover, awesome, if I couldn't, I'd pass. While I had to miss some sorority things because of commitments (was on the staff of the paper so I occasionally had to cover events during sorority things), I never, ever missed a ritual, and I'd opt out of whatever it was and find coverage for it if it fell on a ritual (or recruitment!) activity.