Current Events > Do people really put their Fraternity or Sorority on their resume?

(+) Yeah! (+)

a lot of people join the Greek Life for the networking, both in and out of college.

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Organizing various events that could be documented is more than what most college students do when it comes to extracurricular activities. Think of Greek societies as any other student organization or club. The main difference is that fraternities/sororities hold bigger events and have larger alumni networks. Organizing dinners and galas for alumni, and throwing parties and events, including insurance/liability, food, music, logistics, to entertain 100-200 people actually takes a lot of work, and definitely is worth mentioning on a resume.

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The difference is in scale. I was once IFC President at NYU. I was given $5000 budgets to throw events, held weekly Greek meetings between fraternities, and had to apply and secure licenses and permits for street events near Soho, Union Square, West Village neighborhoods. That shit is lot more involved than ordering a dozen pizzas for the weekly Anime Film Club viewing. When I was Activities Chair for my own fraternity, I had to negotiate and plan logistics at neighborhood bars over how much to charge admission at the door, how to divvy up cash made at the bar, and how to do deal with underage students attending the parties.

Are sororities/fraternities really a big thing or are they just overrepresented in media? Never went to college/university here and the only fraternity I know of is only known for killing one of their pledges.

evilpresident posted...

Are sororities/fraternities really a big thing or are they just overrepresented in media?

They were pretty big back in the 80s/90s/00s in the big state schools in college towns -- like Michigan, Minnesota, etc. If you wanted to have a social life and party, then Greek organizations were often the main gatekeepers. Colleges in big cities like NYC, LA, Chicago, Miami, those with a lot of international students, don't have that problem. Nowadays, I assume social media makes it easier to find your own social niche.

lydiaquayle posted...

There were pretty big back in the 80s/90s/00s in the big state schools in college towns -- like Michigan, Minnesota, etc. If you wanted to have a social life and party, then Greek organizations were often the main gatekeepers. Colleges in big cities like NYC, LA, Chicago, Miami, those with a lot of international students, don't have that problem. Nowadays, I assume social media makes it easier to find your own social niche.

Fraternities were a thing at my schools (Wisconsin) but definitely not the gatekeepersthere were so many other places to party

TheGoldenEel posted...

Fraternities were a thing at my schools (Wisconsin) but definitely not the gatekeepersthere were so many other places to party

Mostly bars and clubs, I assume? Or residential hall clubs like in Harvard, Yale, etc.?

lydiaquayle posted...

Organizing various events that could be documented is more than what most college students do when it comes to extracurricular activities. Think of Greek societies as any other student organization or club. The main difference is that fraternities/sororities hold bigger events and have larger alumni networks. Organizing dinners and galas for alumni, and throwing parties and events, including insurance/liability, food, music, logistics, to entertain 100-200 people actually takes a lot of work, and definitely is worth mentioning on a resume.

Found one

I am very proud of my fraternity. I was a founding member of the chapter on my campus, and it is now the biggest greek organization in school history. I know it sounds corny, but we really wanted to be positive contributors to campus life, and I think we did. I did a lot of community service in school, especially with Habitat for Humanity, and most of it was through the fraternity. We had quite a bit of fun too.

That said: I never considered putting it on my resume.

Westernwolf4 posted...

That said: I never considered putting it on my resume.

If it took a lot of work, and required organizational, project management, and other transferrable skills, why not put it on a resume? The type of skills that can be documented and demonstrated into something tangible and visible, is certainly something that certain employers would be looking at.
No different than if someone volunteered at a nonprofit or social organization and described what they did on their resume.

Interesting. I'm learning things here. I always just assumed it was a movie thing.

evilpresident posted...

Interesting. I'm learning things here. I always just assumed it was a movie thing.

Statistically, people who go to fraternities and sororities are more likely to have high paying jobs. So yes, it is very much a thing, and for good reason.

Connections and networking matter.

Yeah. There are plenty of weirdos who still associate long after they've aged out and will hire based on the frat you were in

lydiaquayle posted...

Mostly bars and clubs, I assume? Or residential hall clubs like in Harvard, Yale, etc.?

Bars and just house parties in general

i guess I should say I didnt party when I was in the dorms so maybe fraternities were more important then

TheGoldenEel posted...

i guess I should say I didnt party when I was in the dorms so maybe fraternities were more important then

Exactly. So if it wasn't Greek organizations that were gatekeeping, it was just random house parties that are unreliable, OR you had to go spend your cash at the popular bars.

lydiaquayle posted...

If it took a lot of work, and required organizational, project management, and other transferrable skills, why not put it on a resume? The type of skills that can be documented and demonstrated into something tangible and visible, is certainly something that certain employers would be looking at.
No different than if someone volunteered at a nonprofit or social organization and described what they did on their resume.

That makes sense. I dont think there is anything wrong with it. I think the places I was applying to were more interested in work experience, and I was fortunate to have quite a bit even as a college kid.

Typically no, unless its an honor society. But I assume some people do.

I was in a large national IFC fraternity. I never put it on my resume but I bring it up when getting to know folks in professional and social situations.

Not immediately nor showhorned but if we start swapping college stories.

I served as the chapter VP and IFC rep. At least those were my highest positions.