Spring 2009 Recruitment Questions

[beachsnake]

Spring 'o9 Recruitment is coming up and this is my first semester as Recruitment Officer so I'm trying to make sure everything goes as smoothly as possible. With that said, I know Spring Recruitment is seen as less important but I want to tackle it from a different angle.

I've been hearing this term called "dynamic recruitment" being thrown around and was wondering if anyone else had tried something similar? I've also been thinking about starting a recruitment workshop that will hopefully better prepare the brothers for recruitment as far as how to handle themselves when interacting with potentials and just overall giving them a better sense of preparedness. I'm going to be using Spring Recruitment as my "trial and error" run for Fall Recruitment to see what works for us and what doesn't.

While we're on the subject, has anyone heard of any new creative/innovative recruitment events/techniques that are different than the usual BBQ/Cookout/Casino Night/Themed Night/Pickup Sports Game/Service Event/Pool Party/Smoker that we can possibly implement?

Note that, we don't have a house and the campus we are on is relatively anti-Greek. About 3-5% is Greek population out of about 20,000+ students.

Open to suggestions/comments/concerns.

Cheers

[Kevin]

The key to success is, IMHO, a combination of early identification of prospects, i.e, you identify and contact prospects as soon as humanly possible -- at the end of their senior year if they're someone you know, or during the Summer if you can put together some sort of a list of known incoming freshmen who would fit.

If your school has a leadership scholarship, or something to that effect, I'd recommend getting a list of every man who received that scholarship and contacting them.

From what I see above, it looks like y'all rely a lot on the potentials coming to you. Go to them. Our chapter had a lot of success when we went to a 'big board' system. We'd get a few sheets of posterboard and draw big 'ol grids on 'em. In the first column, we'd write every identified prospect's name. Everyone had to come up with at least a couple names. The second thing we'd write would be the contact information.

We'd then assign guys to recruit those kids, 2 to each kid. Those two would hang out with the prospects, get to know them, let them get to know the recruiters in a non-threatening, informal environment. This is also a great way to weed out.

We'd have the recruiters document their contacts and make notes on the chart just so we could be sure we weren't missing anyone.

Add that to your more formal themed night setup and you should do well. The biggest houses are the ones who work the hardest at this. I know our Oklahoma State chapter actually rents out apartments in both OKC and Tulsa which, for the summer act as bases of operations for two rush teams who essentially live and breathe Rush all Summer.

We don't all have the budget for that, but it's no mistake that Ep Ep is almost always a Rock Chapter.

[ASTalumna06]

If you're looking for info on dynamic recruitment, go to Phiredup.com. Read the blog and resources. If possible, see if you can get these "recruitment experts" to give a presentation at your school. It will cost you (team up with IFC and Panhellenic and get it funded), but I just went to a presentation few weeks ago, and it was amazing.

[Kedzman]

Theta Eta (Northern Illinois) is also on a faily anti-Greek campus (5% Greek out of 18,000 undergrads). In just 5 semesters, we went from zero to 65 members.

The model that is primarily used is a one-on-one informal approach.

It begins with the chapter making recommendations and passing those into the recruitment chairman. The RC then calls each prospect like this... "Hello, this is Bill from Sigma Nu Fraternity. We have a common friend in Joe, who is also in my fraternity. Joe certainly wasn't suggesting that you were interested in Sigma Nu - or in Greek life, for that matter. But Joe told me you were one of the most dynamic people (or other specific, positive attribute) he knows here on campus. I would really like the chance to meet you sometime when we are both on campus, perhaps between classes. We could hook up for a cup of coffee for 15-20 minutes. I'd really like to know more about you personally - what you are up to today and where you are going in the future. On the flip side, I'd love to share some exciting things with you about Sigma Nu, where we are today as an organization, and where we are going in the future. What does your schedule look like next Tuesday?"

There are a lot of reasons this works.

#1 - it is a one-on-one, which takes the pressure off a kid from meeting 50 people he doesn't know all at once.

#2 - it is easier to secure the interview if we go to them vs. them coming to us. Asking someone to find the fraternity house and walk through the front doors can be overwhelming and intimidating.

#3 - having the recruitment chairman or someone from his committee make the interviews takes the burden off the brother who made the recommendation. A brother may have a good prospect to refer, but it doesn't mean that brother has the skills to take the conversation to the next level. Assign your most talented recruiters to make the initial contact and establish the best possible impression.

#4 - using very specific and personal compliments about a persons attributes is effective. "Joe told me you were: a great athlete, a very good student, the most creative person he's ever met, the funniest guy on his dorm floor, has a tremendous amount of integrity, an impressive leader within the XYZ club, a very talented musicial etc." When you are specific and authentic in your compliments, people pay attention. It leaves a strong impression.

#5 - talking about the prospects future and the future of the fraternity is always good. Successful people are excited about their future and cant wait to get there. You should be excited about the future of Sigma Nu and looking for quality people to fill in the pieces of that puzzle.

#6 - sell a cup of coffee, not the fraternity. The whole idea is to get the appointment. All your asking for is 15 minutes over a coffee. That is easy to say "yes" to. Don't get into any talk of the fraternity. Just sell the appointment. You'll have plenty of time to talk about Sigma Nu after you have met in person, asked good questions and listened for 15 minutes to understand your prospect. Then, and only then, will you begin positioning the fraternity to line up with the prospect's interests.

That's all for right now. But this is a proven, winning recruitment approach. Good luck!