Greek Affiliations and Your Resume

245 Comments

1. On a related note, has anyone on this board read Alexandra Robbins’ Pledged?

   http://www.amazon.com/Pledged-Secret-Sororities-Alexandra-Robbins/dp/B000FDFWP0/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1312494705&sr=1-6

   I was fascinated by it. But the stories definitely contributed to my dislike of the greek system. Although, as someone above posted, black sororities seem to be really impressive and nurturing.

   1. Haven’t read it. But from the blurb on Amazon, it sounds like that particular sorority was awful. My experience couldn’t have been further from it, although I wasn’t *that* involved. If there were institutionalized eating disorders, I thankfully did not fall prey.

      The Panhellenic Council at my school was actually pretty organized and powerful, and devoted itself to lobbying the administration for such things as better women’s healthcare, more women in tenure-track positions, and better free mental health resources for everyone.

      1. Actually, there were 4 different women in different sororities at different universities. And if you look at the comments, many of the commenters said they were in sororities and felt the book was very true-to-life.

         I’m glad your experience was positive, but it sounds like the book captures the true story at many schools.

         1. Ah, sorry. Reading skills. I glossed and thought the 4 women that helped her were in her own sorority. Makes much more sense the actual way.

         2. I read the book and found it to be interesting. It did highlight some key differences between sororities and I found out my school required the women to live in the sorority house for three years. There was a really large division between the Greeks and the GDIs on my campus and I think that really played a big role. Living in a sorority house can be cost prohibitive and I really saw a pretty big difference between the Greeks on my campus and those women I met who went to schools that couldn’t have sorority houses at all or made them voluntary.

   2. As a black woman who did not belong to a sorority (my school did not have them), black sororities and fraternities seem the most idiotic of all.

      Lack of power, money, influence AND snobbery. Great combination!

      1. Um, how on earth would you know? You’ve indicated that you weren’t a member, didn’t have them on your campus to make any real determination with regard to their money, power, affluence or snobbery? As a member of one of the large Black sororities, I can assure your there is plenty of all four of the above! Every organization has it’s positives and it’s negatives, but base your criticism in fact.
         I get that people are entitled to their own opinions about organizations, but I’d put my chapter Sorors and both their achievements and community service up against any notion of what it means to be in a sorority. 90% of them fall soundly in the definition of a “Corporette” regardless of their chosen fields of medicine, law, business, education or the arts. And we are in amazing company, – Dr Dorothy Height, Mary McCleod Bethune, Nikki Giovani, Sadie Alexander, Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, etc..

         1. I’ve met some of your less illustrious members. And yes, as you noted, I am entitled to my opinion. I’m posting a comment, not writing an article.

2. For people just out of college, who did hold leadership positions in the sorority (if all you did was go to parties and wear the t-shirts, no one cares), I think it’s fine. I absolutely do not give those women more consideration or think they are better than other applicants for being the Vice President of Kappa Kappa Gamma or whatever, but it’s totally OK with me that they have it on their resume. It is something that they did in college, and with a new grad, I am interested in what they did in college. Do not think for one second, however, that lots of extracurriculars or sorority leadership will distract me from a distinctive lack of academic rigor in your courses or poor grade performance, because it won’t. If it’s obvious from your resume and transcripts that you skated through college because you were more interested in partying than learning something, no “leadership positions” you put on your resume – whether it’s for a sorority or the astronomy club – will matter.
   BUT. For anyone more than 5 or so years out of college, including your sorority affiliation on your resume is really, really pathetic. Five years out of college, no one cares. You should not still care. College is over. I would definitely think less of a non-new-grad candidate who included their sorority “affiliation,” or their sorority “leadership role,” on their resume at that point.

   For the record: I pledged (Chi Omega), got a bid, turned it down. Best decision I ever made, next to who I picked to marry.

   1. I agree that if you’re 5 of so years out of college and your only involvement with your sorority was in college than including your sorority affiliation on your resume is pathetic. But a lot of international sororities have strong alumnae members who volunteer their time organizing leadership conferences, fundraising events, and providing mentorship for collegiate members just like members of a Lion’s club or a Rotary club. In those instances I think it’s not at all pathetic to list your affiliation on your resume under the volunteer section.

      I’m an alumnae member of Alpha Phi and I thoroughly enjoy volunteering my time both as an advisor to a collegiate chapter and as an executive member of my alum chapter. I don’t have my sorority affiliation listed on my resume because Greek Life is quite under the radar here in Canada and all most people know is negative portrayals from the media. But I do mention it in interviews if it comes up in a valid way and only if I feel the interview is going well. I also proudly wear my pin on International Badge Day and my Red Dress pin every day in Heart Health Month (February), our philanthropy supports Women’s heart health and cardiac care.

      1. Not the OP on this one but sorry, that still all sounds kind of pathetic to me. If you brought up how involved you still are in your college sorority and your alumni chapter in an interview, I would seriously think you did not have any kind of a real life, or alternatively, that you were choosing not to grow up and move past college. And I especially don’t get the “I still wear my pin on Badge Day” thing. You do understand that like Ann said, no one cares? Right?

3. Assume two candidates with identical academic credentials. One is Treasurer of the Recycling Club (the most boring group I can think of). The other is Treasurer of Alpha Beta Gamma Delta.

   I’d be more interested in interviewing Recycling Club Person.

   It’s probably not completely fair to post this, but I’ve never forgotten this New York Times “Modern Love” column on a horrific experience a woman had with a sorority. It’s not all unfair stereotypes. Some of it is reality.

   “My Sorority Pledge? I Swore Off Sisterhood”

   http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/fashion/02love.html

   1. That is a horrible story. My little college was non-Greek (one of the things I was looking for in a school and very hard to find in the South), but we did have a “women’s service organization” that had a pledge-week, held fundraisers, cost a whole lot of money to get into, and supplied alcohol to underage students on our dry campus.

      Meanwhile, the rest of us made friends on our own, volunteered on our own, had fun on our own- and all for free!

      My cousin was involved in her sorority during college, and they all loved her- until they started getting mad at her for missing meetings (scheduled while she was in class) and not pulling her weight in planning things (while she was suffering repeated debilitating days-long migraines). Her “sisters” all knew what she was going through, and instead of supporting her in trying to figure out what was going on with her health and get better, they asked her to leave.

      In comparison, my roommate broke her leg, and six of our friends with cars got together with me and we put together a schedule of who was going to drive her to classes, doctor, grocery store, and anywhere else she might have desired to go.

      My cousin spent three and a half years in that sorority, and she doesn’t talk to any of the women she knew from it. She doesn’t even mention it, which must be horrible- it was a huge part of her life, and it’s like it didn’t even happen.

      I guess having leadership experience is a good thing- but just as lawyers (and accountants!) can have bad reps because of something very few have done, the same can go for Greeks.

      1. Yes, lawyers get a bad rep, which sometimes is deserved. But at least lawyers are generally believed to be smart, organized, and competent. Sororities, by contrast, are generally known for being snobbish and excluding and nasty, and that is not infrequently the reality, as you have pointed out.

         Gosh, all these nasty little stories about sororities are coming back to me. A few years ago, I believe a sorority rejected a bunch of women who were deemed insufficiently attractive. (That’s really woman-empowering.) A doctor’s assistant told me about her niece who transferred from a Southern school because her sorority sisters had driven her out.

         ***
         Everyone to some extent has to deal with the generalizations made by strangers about their background. For example, if you went to a top Ivy, some people assume you’re a clueless egghead, or a rich legacy, or an entitled jerk, or a person who thinks s/he’s smarter than s/he really is ….

         I think there’s value to C in reading how some people might respond to her having been part of a sorority. Now that I’ve thought about it, I’m not sure any law school would care. Law firms might be different. Time enough to worry about that.

4. I was in a sorority. And I’m really ambivalent about the experience.

   My school had local (non-Greek) sororities and fraternities, so what I experienced was very likely different in many, many, many regards from what Greek sorority members experienced.

   Without a doubt, belonging to a sorority has had a hugely positive impact on my life. I really met the friends of my life through my sorority; I gained tons of leadership experience; I got to work with charities throughout undergrad; I met and developed relationships with professional women well before I embarked on my job search; I continue to network with this small group of alumnae. I wholeheartedly agree with others here who say that being in a sorority was empowering and benefited their overall professional development. That was certainly my *individual* experience.

   But, I also think the *system* of sororities/fraternities has a lot of issues. While I found my sisters to be almost uniformly impressive — and mostly feminist — young women, I found the traditions of our sororities and fraternities often rooted in sexism, misogyny and super weird about special rights and privileges. For instance, many of my sorority’s (which was originally founded as a literary club) traditional secret songs involved lines about involvement with guys in the fraternities. Yeah, it was silly fun, but it’s also just plain weird for a bunch of awesome women to be memorizing songs detailing men’s attributes based upon their fraternity affiliations. I know men had similar (and frankly debasing) songs about sororities. Add to this the traditions of stags with fraternities only (though we did have a stag with one other sorority once), private parties where only members are invited (only contributing to divisions among classmates — I had many friends outside of my sorority and always felt weird that I couldn’t integrate them into this part of my life), and some other very strange pledging traditions (we did not haze, though I know other organizations at my school did): and overall I have to conclude that as a whole, this system of exclusive organizations — as presently constructed — are not good for undergraduate culture as a whole. Despite my mostly wonderful individual experience.

   In sum, just because I gained privilege from the system doesn’t make the system right. or just.

   FWIW, I put my leadership experience in my sorority on my resume right out of undergrad, but I put it under other activities, next to my academic honor society memberships — as opposed to being the editor-in-chief of the college paper, which I placed under job experience. I’m five years out of school now, and don’t list the sorority at all.

5. i’d leave it off a resume (if you have other things to put on there), but if you have connections from your affiliation, work em. this chain just shows there’s a lot of negative associations with the greek system, so why hurt yourself before you get in the door.

6. Remember this is just grad school the OP is applying to. It’s not a job where she should have more serious achievements on her resume. Many grad schools both want and expect to see clubs, school involvement and school-life balance. I’ve served on admissions committees (admittedly not at the Ivy League) and an applicant without clubs (or a story) reads like that really unfortunate kid with no social skills who you don’t want claiming your school as her alma mater.

   1. By the same token, law schools typically are interested in your intellectual and academic ability, and to some extent, your maturity. Now of course, an applicant with a great LSAT score and GPA from a good school is going to do fine, even when disclosing fraternity or sorority membership. It’s the borderline case in which this might matter.

      For very good reason, fraternities and sororities are not associated in the popular mind with the brightest, most diligent and meritocratic of students, the kinds of students that law schools supposedly like. How many movies have I seen in which the fraternity bros get together to cheat on an exam after finishing a three-day bender? How many real accounts have I read about women being attacked or sexually used by fraternity guys, or about sorority women exhibiting vicious “mean girl” snobbery?

      It was a frat at Yale, DKE, that marched its pledges past the women’s center at night, screaming “No means Yes. Yes means anal.” Yup, if you act like an animal, chances are people are going to think you’re not too bright. Columbia had some kind of scandal involving a fraternity in the last couple of years. Those are just the ones I’ve heard of.

      I’m confused. Since when do law schools require resumes?

      1. Not to defend the fraternities, but to clarify the situation… only 10% of students at Columbia are in fraternities. And the scandal was over drug-dealing.

         1. Thanks for the info. I didn’t suggest that most students at Columbia were in fraternities. I’m sure very few Yalies are in frats as well. A scandal is a scandal. I think drug dealing serious. These student-run housing situations are far more often the seat of problems than the regular student residences.

      2. I don’t understand why, according to many opinions stated on thread, all sorority members are guilty by association simply because other members of Greek houses, at other schools and in other parts of the country, have committed criminal behavior or displayed extremely poor judgment.

         I was a division 1 athlete. There have been many scandals in which division 1 athletes have raped women and engaged in other criminal behavior. One or two of these scandals even took place at my own school. Does that mean I’m a rapist and a criminal?

         Replace “division 1 athlete” with “Greek house member” and there you go. It makes no sense and reflects poorly on the commenters, not the sorority members.

         1. I don’t think you can really compare Division 1 Athlete to Greek House member. Division 1 Athletes qualify for that status based on merit and ability. Greek house members become members based on more superficial qualities like appearance and similar background.

            1. Thank you.

            2. I think you completely missed the point of her comment. The point was that prejudice and stereotyping is unacceptable.

7. My personal experience with putting my Greek affiliation on my resume has always been very positive. I was the president of my sorority at Harvard, which might help balance out the “ditz” impression that seems to be a common fear. In any event, I’ve discussed the experience (which was extremely valuable and formative for me) in almost all of my interviews, including the interviews for the law firm at which I’m now an associate. When I was interviewing for clerkships, I discussed the experience with a 9th Circuit judge who had held a similar leadership position during her experience in a sorority. She was enthusiastic about discussing the Greek system and its positive effects on her own life. Now that I am in the position of interviewing candidates at my firm, I enjoy talking about the Greek system as a point of commonality with candidates who list their own affiliation.

   I wouldn’t necessarily just list membership in a Greek organization on your resume, but I think that the leadership experience is valuable and the affiliation generally can at times be a good talking point. Just my own two cents.

8. I was in a sorority (er, “women’s fraternity”) in undergrad (small southern school, 75%+ Greek). The time commitment is pretty large, even for regular members. Triple the amount of meetings for women in the top leadership positions. I would never, ever have thought to put involvement in a Greek organization on my resume. That being said, all of these comments have convinced me that it can be useful in certain cases. It certainly demonstrates reliability and leadership skills – especially if she make a good case for how those skills will serve her in the workplace. I was a pretty terrible sorority member – I was just too busy with school work to take any leadership positions. Mostly I learned to try to stay engaged in seemingly interminable meetings, while unsuccessfully keeping my mind off of the 1 million other things that I had to get done. Hey, great practice for the working world!

   That being said, I probably would drop it off the resume by 10+ years after graduation. By then, you have relevant professional experience. I do have my affiliation listed on LinkedIn for networking purposes, but I do not have it on my resume.

9. Didn’t OP say she was applying to law SCHOOL? Not a job. I remember putting like every significant extracurricular etc. down in my law school applications. I don’t think admissions people at law school are going to hold any particular affiliation against anyone, even if it’s not one they would choose themselves.

   When it comes to a resume for a job, I just don’t think it’s that big a deal. Sure some people hate sororities. I’m one. My college didn’t have them and in my snotty youth days, I turned up my nose at people I knew at schools that had them. (I’m not from the south.) Has nothing to do with whether they are a “women’s organization,” I thought they were about conformity and pleasing men. But good grief, I would never be so small minded as to reject a job applicant out of hand because I saw a sorority mentioned in context of leadership skills on her resume. Everyone is a complete package, and no job applicant is exactly like me in all respects.

10. Don’t put it on. I was in one for a bit. Am 34 now. Would think it weird to put it on grad school app. NEver occurred to me to list it for a professional setting situation. It’s social. Consider taking on a non-greek leadership role or activity soon.

11. I was amused by a comment below that sorority girls are just soooo superficial, focusing on hair, makeup and clothing for rush or other events. Yes, I can see why such interests are problematic. Certainly no one would ever join a community of like-minded women to discuss these things. @@

    I’m also amazed how provincial some northeasterners are. Thinking that sororities are only ditzy MRS seekers reflects poorly on you and says that you have very little awareness, knowledge or openness to anything outside NYC. It’s not flattering.

    1. You’re not doing yourself any favors with this post either, sweetie. :)

    2. There’s more to the Northeast than NYC

       1. Yes, I’m aware. I’m originally from the Northeast myself. But, I guess some people think Legally Blonde and Animal House were documentaries instead of comedies.

    3. I went to school in the Midwest, my cousin went in the Southeast and both of us found sororities at our schools that had those traits. There were only one or two sororities that really seemed to attract the more intellectual women at my school, and that was well known.

12. My mom was in a sorority and she still is delighted when she meets other ladies from the same group. It’s like a much smaller version of an alumni connection — if I interviewed two people and one went to my alma mater, I might be more likely to connect with that person. Doesn’t mean I’d automatically choose or disqualify on that though.

    On another note, interviewers who refuse to interview you based on a group you were in in college (as long as it wasn’t, like, the KKK) seem like they do a diservice to their organizations. I like diversity in my workplace, and sorority ladies can fit in as well as skiiers, bakers, bird-watchers, socialists, a cappella singers, or whatever other club you were in in college! (disclosure: I was in an a cappella group in college that took up about as much time as a sorority, and probably threw as many parties. I still have it on my resume because it’s a good conversation starter.)

13. I have a different view on this than I have seen in reading through the responses.

    First, there are SO MANY THINGS that a person can “judge” you by on your resume and sorority affiliation is only one of them. Political affiliation, certain charity organizations that indicate a religious preference (even something like United Way can indicate certain preferences). The truth of the matter is, even in this economy, there comes a point when you have to let those things go. Of course that is not to say that you shouldn’t try to present yourself in the best light possible, but at a certain point, some things are going to be obvious.

    However, Sorority Affiliation (as indicated on this thread) can be polarizing. Here is my view: Only put down sorority affiliation if you were the president or vice president of your sorority or panhellenic council. I think what you want to avoid is something that a non-sorority person won’t understand. Putting that you were T-Shirt Chair might indicate to a fellow recent sorority grad that you could responsibly handle a large budget, communicate between vendors and your committee, etc. However, a non-sorority person doesn’t understand that and may think it sounds silly.

    As for sports teams — I say go for it. However, unless you are on the actual school team put it under hobbies. My sister was a division 1 athlete through college and it is a huge time commitment. It shows excellent time management skills.

14. As a lawyer and a member of a sorority, I disagree. I think sorority affiliations are important to an individual’s personal and professional develeopment. I also held just about every leadership position in my sorority and I included on my resume when starting out. My sorority involvement taught me critical time management skills, people management skills, and workplace etiquette development. In fact, I’ve recently noted SIGNIFICANT disparaties between unprepared non-Greek applicants and Greek applicants and will almost always favor the Greek candidate (if it was not just a party group), because I know how sororities develop character.

    As with anything on a resume, I would only include those activities in which a person is involved and active, not just “present.”

    If you include on your resume, be prepared to tell the interviewer how Greek life prepared you for the working world-see above re: time management, deication to a project, learning to work well with others, developing leadership skills, etc.

    1. Any number of non-Greek extracurricular activities will teach the skills you’ve mentioned, for example, working for the school newspaper, managing a school musical group, running the school radio or TV station, running a student business, performing work/study jobs. Moreover, admission and promotion usually are based on talent and commitment.

15. I think there is a big difference between (1) using Greek affiliation to network and (2) putting Greek affiliation on your resume and thinking it will help you get into grad school or land a job. Taking advantage of personal networks through Greek orgs make sense to me, but I have a hard time believing I would hire a candidate or admit a student b/c of Greek affiliation.

    1. Definitely. A lot of people here seem to be mixing them up. The question is not whether one should join sorority and if that could be a good career move down the road (I think it can be) – the question is whether one should put that experience on her resume. Different question.

16. I think Reader C should absolutely put it on her resume. I was involved for 4 years in college in Greek Life and as a result was able to use it on my resume for leadership experience, community involvement, volunteer work, honor societies, and general campus participation. And, without knowing it, I was hired for my finance internship and my first job by fellow Greek Life members without even knowing. Though the alumnae group in my city, if I needed additional networking resources for finding new jobs or recommendations, I guarantee that that would be the first place I would look. Yes, there are always people that are going to sneer at someone’s list of involvements, whether you’re in a religious organization, the Sierra Club, or whatnot, but no one has the perfect resume coming out of college and entering the workforce/graduate community.

17. don’t go to law school

18. I just read this entire comment thread, and frankly I am shocked at the judgment and lack of support being offered to other women who may have happened to be in a sorority at one time. This is certainly the most vitriol that I have ever seen on this site. On at least a weekly basis, there is clothing linked to by posters that I wouldn’t be caught dead in, but I’d never post a comment to that effect or use the fact that you want to purchase a god-awful purse to form a judgment on who you are (and more importantly, what kind of employee you are). Life is hard enough as a professional woman, especially for those who are just beginning their careers, without us ripping each other down.

    OP, just put it on your resume. If you are competent in other areas that are important for your field, you’ll be fine. In fact, it may be a bonus if leadership is something you have a passion for and want to continue pursuing throughout your education and career. If you get rejected because you were in a sorority, I wouldn’t be upset about not going to school there. And even though the economy in the toilet, I still think there is something to be said for being true to yourself.

    1. This!

19. As someone from outside of the US, everything I know about sororities I learned from Legally Blonde & the Sweet Valley twins. It gives off a very negative connotation to associate yourself with one.

    ‘Greek’ means something other than someone from Greece? You learn something every day.

20. I learned many amazing lessons being president of my sorority. It can be a leadership experience – no reason not to list it as such.

21. I was president of my sorority chapter. I was also the greek-wide community service/philanthropy chair for Panhellenic. Both of these positions required a huge amount of work, and both were on my resume when I applied for law school and for summer associate positions. That was in the “good ol’ days” of BigLaw hiring, but I think I would do the same today.

    I interview now and leadership is important to me. In fact, by the time I’m interviewing during callbacks, the minimum academic requirement hurdles have already been met, so it’s actually all about “fit” — and leadership is a big piece of whether you’re going to “fit.”

    I went straight from undergrad to law school, so my undergrad “activities” were needed on my resume. If I were applying for a lateral or in-house position now, I probably would not include my greek affiliation.

22. I think the type of experience as an officer in a greek organization can be relevant; such as Treasurer or VP Finance or some similar title, and responsible for a budget, A/P and A/R, contracts, insurance, payroll, etc. A large chapter (400 women) of a sorority with a physical house to live in can have a budget of over a million dollars.

    Additionally, during an interview process, a Greek affiliation can be the common point of interest that sparks conversation and creates a memory that helps you stand out from the other top tier, high GPA candidates.

23. Completely disagree. If you held a position in your sorority and it is something you are proud of, put it on your resume.

    I am a current masters student and was president of my sorority. I have had plenty of internship interviews and they are always happy to see that I had a leadership role within my sorority. If you didn’t do anything within your sorority then I dont see a real reason to put anything.

24. I got around this question by detailing what I did while holding an office in my sorority (coordinating major events, overseeing committees, writing newsletters, establishing a database of alumnae). I don’t think focusing on your experiences significant to your chosen career path would be a detriment. Also. . . I know several lovely and talented sorority girls who are now lovely, talented, and successful lawyers and businesswomen. Ultimately, include it or don’t. . . just don’t loose sleep over it.

25. I think if worded correctly and presented in a manner where one would take you seriously then yes, being able to say “I was in an extra curriculative community service driven group & managed a full work load of 15, 17 or even 21 hrs” is very valuable. What alot of you non Panhellanic people do not understand is that the traditional judgmental outlook on greeks back in the day and what you see from Hollywood, is all wrong. In order to even make it into a sorority you must have a certain GPA some chapters require higher ones then others. You must be able to maintain your GPA in order to be able to stay in Greek life. Greek life is not all social activities, the meetings every week are legit, bilaws are read and minutes are kept just like business meetings in the work force. I’ve been in a few corporate meetings to tell you that is true. Being able to show that you can get along with people and that you work well as a team is a huge bonus when looking for a well rounded employee. No one wants to hire someone who puts out bad PR. To me, the leadership shown in Greek life such as, being over the financials for that schools chapter or being the president of that chapter is the same if not better then managing 5 – 10 people at a fast-food restaurant. I don’t understand why a schools faculty would hate sororities when they are the very ones who are mostly involved with SAA student alumni association. They are the ones who put the spirit into school spirit. They support their college by volunteering when the school needs help taking money at the table at a basketball game, or needs extra help in the concession stand at football games. A lot of the work they do is behind the scenes but they really try hard to keep what they fell in love with at the school, alive.

26. OMG OMG OMG!!!You are also a wildcat!?!?! I’m gonna be a sophomore in a week :p
    I was searching for pumps for upcoming school events and probably future interviews, so I found your website…
    Then I couldn’t stop reading your articles. They are really helpful and insightful in many ways.
    Anyways, thanks for sharing! :D :D :D

    1. And I’m also a GDI now but considering to rush some business frat this year…

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