Discrepancies in the way we view rush

[aephi alum]

There is definitely a certain amount of shallowness in formal recruitment, at least in the early rounds. Chapters have to make first-round cuts based on very little information: GPA, the impressions of a few sisters garnered during a short round 1 party, maybe a rec, and maybe the impressions of a sister or two who knew the PNM before college. As rush continues and the sororities and PNMs are narrowing their options and spending more and more time together, the process becomes less shallow.

It's like the hiring process. Say a company advertises a job opening. Maybe they get 100 resumes. Someone reads through the resumes and keeps maybe 15 of them. The 85 resumes that get discarded are not only the ones that clearly indicate the candidate is unqualified, but also the ones full of misspellings, illegible, on pink scented paper, etc. This is a first-round cut, and some of it is based on presentation. Now, 15 job candidates get first round interviews. During the interviews, some of them show that while they look good on paper, they're not a good fit. Others show up late, or are dressed in a slovenly manner, etc. Others show up on time, are dressed professionally, have done their research on the company, etc. It's this latter group who will be asked back for second-round interviews... the others will be "cut". The company may invest a lot in the second-round interviews, having several employees interview each candidate, taking the candidates to lunch, etc. It's often a full-day process. Only then, after really getting to know each candidate, is a job offer (bid) extended. But that new hire might never have even gotten a callback if his/her resume had had even one typo.