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I got this question last week when I was hanging with the fraternity men at Millersville University. Does fraternity or sorority membership help you or hurt you with a potential employer? I thought it was a really great question.
Clearly, I'm biased. I've been intimately involved with my fraternity for two decades, and I work with Greeks on a daily basis. I'm about as rah-rah Greek as you could ever hope for on the other side of the interview table. That said, however, when I'm hiring, I don't take a romantic view of fraternity membership. Your affiliation does not score you immediate points. I want to know what you did with it, why it mattered to you, and how it made you smarter.
For some people who have only a negative (read: "party") image of fraternity life, that line on your resume is probably going to be a negative, at least initially. Let's be honest. They see your affiliation and immediately associate you with whatever stereotype they have.
Don't be afraid to challenge the stereotype your interviewer might have. Tell him or her what that membership did to make you a stronger leader, a more capable manager, or a better team player.
I definitely don't think that you should lean entirely on fraternity membership as your sole campus involvement. As pro-Greek as I am, I find it somewhat boring when an applicant lists 10 officer positions in her sorority, but no other memberships on campus. That doesn't demonstrate a well-rounded approach to college life, in my book. Show me that you did something other than hang out at the chapter house or the Greek Life office for four years. Someone who was treasurer of their chapter and a member of the track team and a member of the student ambassadors? That's cool.
Just list your highest office held in your fraternity. You don't need to list every damn committee you worked on. Bor-ing.
When I ask you about your term as president of your chapter, have an interesting story to share. Tell me about your biggest challenge, the member who was difficult to work with, how you changed a mindset among your members. Don't make it sound like it was all fun and good times. Tell me about what you would have done differently if you had to do it again. Show me that you got your ass kicked and came out the other side better. That's interesting.
Don't list a bunch of terms that are meaningless to someone who wasn't Greek. Don't say you were a "Rho Chi" for example. What the hell is a Rho Chi? If you're a Lambda Chi Alpha chapter president, don't say you were the "High Alpha." No one outside of LXA knows what that is (or cares). Just say you were president. Make it more basic and understandable.
If all of your references are fraternity alumni, that's not going to help you either. One is fine. Three is not. Again, show a wider range.
Your affiliation will be a strength if you play it that way. Sitting there on your resume, it doesn't do much. Know how to work it, and don't rely entirely on it.
