Recruitment Advice - Page 3

Griffins&Quills · #31 08-07-2013, 11:09 AM

First, make sure your social media is private and cleaned up, i.e. no bad pictures, no cursing, nothing offensive, etc. You would never believe how easy it is for chapters to get information from and make decisions based on something they saw on facebook. For example, a girl at my school in the new class fb group which is public posted that she was "420 friendly" and drinks and I'm sure that every chapter knows about it. NOT advisable to post things like that.

Also, be careful of what you're saying. I'm not sure it's a good idea to tweet every day about recruitment. In my opinion that comes off as a little desperate/crazy (sorry). Also I don't think it's a good idea to live-post during recruitment, just check your social media, but try not to post anything. That's what I think is best. And please please please don't post your opinions on twitter or facebook or anywhere, i.e. I loved ABC but thought DEF was the worst thing in the world, I ONLY want to be an ABC, etc. And please don't use social media to whine, i.e. "I can't believe LMN cut me, they must be crazy and have no idea what they're missing". There are plenty of times that a girl's recruitment is tanked by what she says online, and there has been a trend of girls posting what sororities they are willing to accept bids from. NO NO NO. It's not sorority shopping. If you really feel that you must post, I would say keep it general like "loving recruitment, can't wait to see how this week ends up"

Griffins&Quills · #32 08-07-2013, 11:11 AM

Oh and even if your social media is private, well, you've got friends and followers and some of them could really know people in chapters. Word gets around.

TiareNoire · #33 08-07-2013, 11:20 AM

Ah, okay. Recruitment has started around where I'm from and I've just noticed a few girls were doing that so I wasn't sure if that was smart to do in general. I just figured I'd leave my social media alone until after everything ended as to keep away from any public missteps or heartbreak! Thanks!

Griffins&Quills · #34 08-07-2013, 11:22 AM

No problem! And someone else may have a better take and give you better advice, but that's just my opinion. I think it's better to be safe than sorry.

DubaiSis · #35 08-07-2013, 12:22 PM

There's always "had an awesome first day of rush! All the chapters are so great" or "wow do my feet hurt!" I still wouldn't do it, but at least those are completely benign. Anything that hints, no matter how vague you think you're being, about any particular chapter, sorority member or other rushee is both bad form and can seriously bite you in the arse.
From other threads, common suggestion is leave SOME things available to see on your Facebook and other pages, but only the best of the best representations of you. You do want them to be able to find you so they can be brought up to date on who you are and what you're all about. But I'd double check that you are 100% cleaned up. If in doubt, have your mother or someone who you trust with a good marketing/PR eye look at it (someone who is not your friend so they can see what a stranger sees) and have them make suggestions for additions/subtractions. Think advertising, not chitchat.

33girl · #36 08-07-2013, 01:39 PM

Don't tweet about recruitment AT ALL. You never know what will be misconstrued. If you have to make your presence felt on there, talk about the new season of Real Housewives or recipes or something innocuous.

MTSUGURL · #37 08-07-2013, 11:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TiareNoire

Hello all. I was debating on whether or not to post this question since I've lurked quite a bit on here to gather information from you all so thank you for all of the stickied threads on recruitment and related topics! I've done a lot of personal research (Google and my school's Greek life site) and found as much information as I could. However, I am still a bit divided on what action I should take regarding formal recruitment and wondered what you all would advise/suggest.

My question basically is would it make sense for me to try formal recruitment considering my classification (junior) and GPA (2.66) or would my original plan to build up my GPA over the upcoming semester and possibly participate in informal recruitment seem like a smarter plan? Thank you for reading and your advice!

As someone who went through recruitment in your situation, only go through formal recruitment if you are 100% prepared to be cut and able to be gracious about it. I attended a (largely) commuter campus in the south that many people didn't consider to be extremely competitive, with about the same GPA as you, also as a junior. I've heard of juniors getting bids, but they had a phenomenal GPA and were stellar in a lot of ways. I would also recommend that you try to get recommendations from sorority alums that think you're wonderful.

I LOVED recruitment. I met some wonderful women that I have stayed in touch with and don't ever have to ask myself "what if?" I wouldn't trade my experience for anything in the world, but I do wish I had been better prepared and had done it much earlier. At my school, being an upperclassman was a strike. My GPA was an even bigger strike. I actually met with some girls from one group for dinner when they were trying to fill more spots and they told me that I would be a grade risk, would have to sit on the back row and have no voting privileges nor be able to attend socials. They told me they would love to have me but that my GPA made it extremely difficult.

All this being said, this was my experience at my campus. I know nothing about your school or the environment there. I would encourage you to go through formal recruitment now since you have more time if a group does offer you a bid.

Good luck, and I hope that whatever you decide to do that you find the home you're looking for!

MTSUGURL · #38 08-07-2013, 11:51 PM

Sooo.... just noticed my response was a little late. Guess that'll teach me to read the whole thread first and not just the first couple of posts...

Missouri Ivy · #39 08-08-2013, 11:49 AM

On the issue of social media, I came across a rather colorful PNM twitter handle on the official Panhellenic Twitter account for a school. Am I correct in thinking "F word something b---h" is a really bad way to represent yourself, or am I just an old biddy?

TiareNoire · #40 08-08-2013, 05:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MTSUGURL

Sooo.... just noticed my response was a little late. Guess that'll teach me to read the whole thread first and not just the first couple of posts...

That's fine. I still appreciate the response! I just decided to take a chance and see what would happen and go from there. I contacted the Greek life and got some sort of information regarding myself but I won't know for sure until I go through recruitment. Whatever happens, I'll just be glad I at least put myself out there, I suppose!

Sciencewoman · #41 08-08-2013, 06:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Missouri Ivy

On the issue of social media, I came across a rather colorful PNM twitter handle on the official Panhellenic Twitter account for a school. Am I correct in thinking "F word something b---h" is a really bad way to represent yourself, or am I just an old biddy?

Must be a troll, don't you think? No one could be that dumb.

Lovethesand · #42 08-08-2013, 07:35 PM

Don't "underestimate" some people online. My daughter has a twitter and friends/acquaintances on twitter. I am constantly blown away by the things these young people say online to each other, to acquaintances, to the internet world. Rude, vulgar things that make me grateful the internet didn't exist when I was growing up.

Case in point: my daughter has a friend who comes across as the sweetest, gentlest young lady you'll ever meet. Well mannered, personable, exactly who you want your kids to associate with. She comes from a very good family and is pampered like only an only child of older parents can be. I came across her twitter and I thought I was looking at a spoof account because there had to be a mistake. My daughter confirmed it was her. She came across via twitter as a filthy mouthed little sk*nk combined with her posted pics of drugs, booze, and attire. I was blown away and not in a good way.

The example Missouri Ivy shared with us isn't a rarity unfortunately.

Missouri Ivy · #43 08-08-2013, 09:58 PM

This girl isn't a troll. In between tweets about drinking and cussing out people in 140 characters or less, she tweets about filling up her car, what she's eating and all the other details of her existence. (Honestly, I wasn't trying to be a creeper, but with a name like the one she selected, I had to see if she lived up to her billing. Judging by her twitter, she is a heaping helping of crazy.)

KSUViolet06 · #44 08-08-2013, 11:03 PM

^^^^And herein lies the issue with PNMs and social media. She may very well NOT be a "heaping helping of crazy." But if someone (an employer or something) comes across it, they are going to draw conclusions based on.

TiareNoire · #45 08-10-2013, 10:16 PM

RE social media representation: Quite late on the reply but I've come across a lot of sorority pnms and members' social media pages and quite a few of them were more than I expected to read considering who they were! I don't and can't really judge a person on what she does on her own time but it can be off-putting to see some of the things some people post but I guess to each their own.

I am also curious about something else. I've seen a thread or two that talked about the number of pnms registered for formal recruitment at different schools. Obviously, the schools mentioned are bigger when it comes to recruitment and more discussed on here but I am wondering in general, does the number of pnms going through recruitment really matter or is it better for a pnm not to know? I don't see my school discussed on here much but I just didn't know if I should be concerned with this or not...