How to Market Greek life on Your College Resume

How to Market Greek life on Your College Resume

You can include the skills and experience you gained from in a sorority or fraternity in your resume. Employers view your involvement as similar to their own organization, and they will likely draw parallels between your experiences and the type of employee you may become at their company. Your time in sorority or fraternity can demonstrate your interest outside academic, ability in leadership, advanced communication skills, teamwork ability, community involvement, and more positive attributes. 
Struggling about how to put your greek life on resume? Merch Pier is here to help! In this article, we are going to talk about we can give you some tip on the best way to describe your greek life in your resume. 
     

Be confident in your experience      

Each Greek experience is unique, and it's important to embrace your own and acknowledge the valuable skills gained from it. Regardless of whether you held a leadership position, it's recommended to feature your sorority or fraternity involvement on your resume. To make the most out of the experience, you can showcase your participation in philanthropic events, event planning or decorating skills, and ability to effectively communicate your ideas in meetings.
Utilizing your Greek life experience can help you stand out by highlighting the values-based nature of being a part of a sorority or fraternity, your teamwork abilities, and the personal growth opportunities provided. Furthermore, including your Greek experience on your resume can also open doors for unique networking opportunities that may not be available through other organizations or clubs.
          

Writing Tips

          
To highlight the skills gained from your sorority or fraternity involvement, consider using the following phrases on your resume, such as :
  1. Enhanced public speaking skills through involvement in a sorority / fraternity.
  2. Improved time management abilities by attending weekly meetings.
  3. Demonstrated leadership by holding an office or serving as a Chair, with duties including participation in local Chapter or national leadership training opportunities.
  4. Developed strong organizational skills to balance multiple activities within the sorority / fraternity, as well as academic and other obligations.
  5. Showcased teamwork skills through completion of complex projects, coordination of numerous members, and effective communication.              
             
Customize your Greek experiences to match the requirements of the internship you're applying for. For example, if you're applying for financial summer interns, emphasize your proficiency in budget management. If you're interested in marketing or communications summer interns, highlight your recruitment experience. By tailoring your experiences to the job, you can present yourself as a strong candidate who possesses relevant skills and experience.
           

Quantify Your Experiences (the "Inputs")

        
To effectively communicate your sorority/fraternity life experience on resume, it's important to provide specific details about the tasks you completed. If you don't provide this information, employers may make assumptions about your experiences that could be either positive or negative. By sharing tangible insights into your skills and experiences, you can demonstrate your value to the company. Additionally, it's recommended to use the term "member" rather than "sister / brother / rushee" to avoid any potential biases or assumptions.
Here are some suggested details to provide include:
    

Marketing & Events

  1. Describe the purpose of the event, the target audience (community, Greek life, alumni, etc.), and your role (coordinator, planner, attendee, facilitator).
  2. Detail any successful social media campaigns and their outcomes.
  3. Discuss branding and marketing campaigns you were involved in, including the methods used and their results.
  4. Highlight your role in educating new members, and specify how many new members you trained. Use "training" as a verb instead of "education."         

 

Finances

  1. If you served as treasurer, include the amount of money you managed.
  2. Describe the tools or systems you used to monitor and manage the budget.
       

Housing

  1. Specify how many members you manage in the facility (e.g., "Managed a 12-person facility").
  2. Describe the budget you were responsible for managing.
  3. Detail any modifications or remodeling projects you led.
  4. Explain the chore schedule you maintained for the facility.
  5. Discuss any boards (such as alumni or housing boards) that you collaborated with.
        

Judicial

  1. Describe your role in overseeing and monitoring the organization's rules and policies.
  2. Explain how you oversaw judicial cases and ensured that fair and correct processes were followed.

        

Recruitment

  1. Specify the number of members you recruited, and how many men / women were in the new member class as a result.
  2. Describe how you directed and delegated recruitment events to promote membership and values, and to introduce new members to the organization.
        

President

  1. Led a chapter of [number] members and established goals to promote / enhance / develop specific areas (e.g., community service, academic success, leadership development).
  2. Managed an executive board of [number] members to oversee important initiatives and facilitate member involvement.
  3. Participated in a specific number of events to raise funds for a designated charity or cause, such as XXX Hospital.
  4. Represented the organization on campus and in the local community, serving as a visible and active ambassador for the group.
         

Quantify your accomplishments (the "outputs")

              
When you quantify your accomplishments on your college resume, you provide potential employers with concrete evidence of your skills and successes. This can give them a better understanding of the scope and impact of your work, and help you stand out as a strong candidate.
  1. Using numbers and metrics: This can help you convey the scale and impact of your work more effectively than vague or general statements.
  2. Including specific figures and percentages: This can demonstrate your ability to set and achieve ambitious goals, manage resources effectively, and make a meaningful impact on your organization.
  3. Tangible and measurable outcomes: This can demonstrate the value of your work clearly . For example, specify the number of members you recruited, and how many men / women were in the new member class as a result, the amount of money you helped raise for a charity, or the percentage increase in membership that your efforts generated.
         
Remember that quantifying your accomplishments is not just about bragging or showing off. It's about providing potential employers with a clear and compelling picture of your skills, experience, and impact, so that they can make an informed decision about whether you are the right fit for their organization.
          

Highlight leadership experience

             
Greek life experience can provide valuable opportunities for developing leadership skills that are highly relevant in many professional settings. Whether you served as a chapter president, committee chair, or other leadership role within your organization, it's important to highlight these positions on your college resume and describe how you demonstrated key leadership skills.
         
If you have a leadership section on your internship resume and have held a position, you can use a college resume template like the following to provide a clear and concise description of your role and responsibilities.
      

College Resume Template

       

Apparel Chair

      
      

Social Chair

              
     

Activities Section for Your General Membership

           
If you did not hold a leadership position in your Greek organization, you can still highlight your involvement in Greek Life by including it in the Activities section. Even without a leadership role, your participation in a Greek organization can demonstrate valuable skills and experiences that are relevant to potential employers. 
        
Here is an internship resume example for you.
        
Delta Zeta Sorority, Active member
           
After submitting your resume, you can prepare interview questions by checking out our article: How to Answer Tricky Interview Questions