Sorority Shopping?

[Scandia]

Should/would you list your Greek affiliation (assuming it is a social GLO like NPC sororities) if you were just another member? I can see how it would be helpful if you were an officer. But if you were simply a civilian member who did not hold any offices, would it be beneficial?

[AlphaFrog]

Originally Posted by Scandia

Should/would you list your Greek affiliation (assuming it is a social GLO like NPC sororities) if you were just another member? I can see how it would be helpful if you were an officer. But if you were simply a civilian member who did not hold any offices, would it be beneficial?

It's highly unlikely that if you joined as an undergrad that you never held SOME sort of office/chair.
(Although I guess if you're in the SEC in a 200 member chapter, it could happen.)

[irishpipes]

Originally Posted by Scandia

Should/would you list your Greek affiliation (assuming it is a social GLO like NPC sororities) if you were just another member? I can see how it would be helpful if you were an officer. But if you were simply a civilian member who did not hold any offices, would it be beneficial?

I don't think there is a "should" here. You just assess your own situation and determine what you want to do. I was an officer in my professional fraternity and I always put that on my resume. I chose not to put AOII on my resume. I didn't want to take the chance that the person reading the resume may treat me unfairly for being in an NPC sorority. That can happen. Other people may look at your NPC status and give you an unexpected benefit. You never know.

As it turns out, my first real boss was like a computer - ridiculously smart, no use for personality of any kind, and was from Hong Kong and barely spoke English. She did, however, graduate from UT (Texas) and knew what sororities were. She certainly thought all sorority girls were blonde bimbos with idiot-level IQs. After she was fired (ha ha) my next boss LOVED the fact that I was in an NPC and he would shoot the breeze about it frequently. It just depends. I also think you need to know your field. There are scads of business people who are GLO members or who harbor no grudge because they have had good GLO employees. However, my specialized field after grad school was taxation - very nerdy and not very Greek. I made a judgment call, that was encouraged by professors, and it worked out for me. Maybe it would have worked out just the same if AOII had been on my resume.

*I am not suggesting UT NPC women are blonde, stupid, bimbos. Just that by going to UT, that boss knew what sororities were since they are prominent on that campus.*

I never tried to hide my NPC membership, I just waited until we could discuss it rather than take a chance that the person on the other end wouldn't understand it.

[SmartBlondeGPhB]

Originally Posted by Scandia

Should/would you list your Greek affiliation (assuming it is a social GLO like NPC sororities) if you were just another member? I can see how it would be helpful if you were an officer. But if you were simply a civilian member who did not hold any offices, would it be beneficial?

No. I include mine because it has given me relevant job skills.

[James]

The thread has gone off topic a bit into resume building.

Getting back to the central point: Thank you to those that took a stab at the topic matter.

Ok. I understand the argument that you should feel people should have a connection to the organization they wish to pursue.

However, wasn't that meant to be a tangible connection?

Deciding that you wish you had joined a sorority in college, reading some web sites, and then feeling a connection because of the web site's information . . . well it doesn't seem like quite the same thing as having some direct affiliation.

Looking at it through the perspective that causes all the commotion about AI, the less I see the purpose of this whole forum.

This forum basically only exists to provide people with no tangible connection to any organization a way of learning how to cold contact one
and apply for membership. Because if you have a tangible connection you don't need this site.

It exists to help people shop for a sorority.

So if you don't agree with sorority shopping you probably don't se the purpose of this forum right?

Interestingly enough, the move to the recruitment topic reinforces the idea that sorority shopping is the way to go.

[valkyrie]

Originally Posted by James

This forum basically only exists to provide people with no tangible connection to any organization a way of learning how to cold contact one
and apply for membership. Because if you have a tangible connection you don't need this site.

It exists to help people shop for a sorority.

So if you don't agree with sorority shopping you probably don't se the purpose of this forum right?

Even people with no tangible connection to any organization can pursue alumnae initiation WITHOUT any "help" from this site.

I agree that this forum provides help for those wishing to "shop" for a sorority -- although I'd be more specific and say that this forum might provide help for people who are shopping for a sorority and are too lazy or clueless to go about it in what my opinion is the "right" way to do so -- by contacting and getting to know people in real life. (Sidenote: I'm not talking directly about anyone here -- this is just my opinion in general.) If you lack the skills and qualities needed to make contact with an organization without the "assistance" of a message board or people you "meet" on a message board, I would question whether you have the skills and qualities that would make you an effective addition to an organization's membership.

The good thing about this forum is that it lets us "get to know" people some of us might not consider appropriate candidates.

Originally Posted by valkyrie

The good thing about this forum is that it lets us "get to know" people some of us might not consider appropriate candidates.

I agree with this.

I think I could have gone the rest of my life without having to see some of the stuff I've seen recently.