Recruitment Tips from an Alumna
Recruitment season is upon us and I've been reflecting back to my time on our recruitment team. What could we have done better? What do I wish collegians knew about the process? Below are a few tips and tricks from me to you that I hope help to make this recruitment the best it can be.
Ask your chapter, “What is one thing that you think we could be doing better?” Sometimes we forget that people outside of the recruitment team have great ideas to implement! Ask them to assess your current recruitment practices and strategies and see if they have any innovative ideas of their own. You may be surprised to learn that quiet sophomore has great ideas for marketing or that the new members know how to best reach out to potential new members.
Start and end recruitment workshops on time.
Yes, recruitment is important. If we don’t bring new women into our organizations, then we will cease to exist. However, we have to respect the
time and effort of our current members. If we say that the workshop is going to be an hour, start on time and end an hour later. If we show our members that we respect them, they will show the recruitment team respect in return. They are also more likely to retain the information when they leave happy than if they are grumpy because they’re going to be 30 minutes late to whatever they have scheduled afterwards.
Thank your members! Being a sorority woman is sometimes
a thankless job. We put in a ton of work to keep our chapters operating at a level of excellence, but aren’t ever praised for it. Be sure to thank your members for participating in workshops and recruitment. I think we can all agree that just showing up is sometimes hard, especially when recruitment season rolls around. Hearing your chapter recruitment chair say something like, “Ladies, thanks for being here today! I really appreciate your time and attention and I’m sure we’ll see it pay off during recruitment rounds,” can make all the different. And don’t neglect those members that go the extra mile. Did someone stay late to help clean up? Did someone keep the morale of the chapter high? Reach out to them specifically and thank them for their contributions.
Use your resources.
There are so many people who want to help make recruitment season a success. Reach out to your alumnae, advisors, and local alumnae chapters to see if they are interested in volunteering. Even if it’s something as small as bringing lunch to the chapter, it takes some stress off of your recruitment team and gives us a meaningful supporting role. We’ve also done this a time or two and many continue to serve as recruitment advisors to chapters across the country. Let us help with a recruitment workshop, help to organize supplies after rounds, or plug us in wherever you need help. We want to be a resource!
Most importantly, READ THE MANUALS! From Vice President of Membership, to Bid Committee, to the Online Voting system, there is a manual for each area of recruitment. I promise, your life will be WAY easier if you do what I didn’t and read the manuals when you come into your position. From sample workshops, to preference ceremonies, to policies, and beyond, there is helpful information that you need to have before recruitment rounds begin. Use these to your advantage and I promise the whole idea of recruitment will become more fun and less stressful.
