resume

[erin34]

Hi, I am new to this whole messaging thing. Anyway, I am planning on rushing in August and am getting my recs together. I was reading some info about stuff i have to send in and it mentions a resume. I have a resume that i used throughout high school, but i was wondering if this was appropriate. Are there any certain topics or anything I should be sure to put on there? Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated! thanks so much!!

[Moxie]

at least from my experiences of drawing up a resume, include anything and everything that might make you stand out as a good sister! the more, the better. try to include all of your high school activities, any awards you may have gotten, leadership roles, GPA, extracurricular activities, volunteer experience, work experience, comittees you may have served on(like for prom planning, or something), planned college major, etc.! some people have also asked me to include my parents' names and their jobs, and also about church affiliation.

good luck!

[KappaKittyCat]

I'd say ix-nay on the parents' names & jobs thing-- it's considered a very tacky question to ask.

I'd also say that church affiliation is okay to mention if it's related to volunteerism-- "Sunday School teacher, Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Sun Prairie, WI, 1995-1999"-- but don't just randomly say, "Oh, yeah, and I'm a Lutheran." That's irrelevant.

[BlondeGurl]

To make a good resume knowing what it will be used for is will help. When the girls look at your resume they are looking for someone who will be an active participant in their sorority not just someone will be in their sorority. They are looking for leadership roles such as head of the homecoming committee senior year and not just in student council for 4 years. If you won any scholarships to go to school with that is something else to mention. Like the other girls said awards and every activity you were involved in. These girls aer looking for people to take over their chapter when they have graduated so when you put your stuf down make it look good because they want to know that their chapter is in good hands.

[justamom]

KappaKittyCat, it is unusual for me to disagree with you, but in this instance I would say it depends. I know that MANY chapters (maybe it's a Southern thing) want to have that very information. It is not considered tacky and in some cases it could be influential in the initial rounds. Some DO want to know what position or community activities your parents were involved with. I can only GUESS at the reasoning behind it. Perhaps they want to know if you are from a family committed to community service. Maybe they want to know if your involvement and dedication to your GLO will likely extend beyond your 3 or 4 years of active status. Maybe it's a reassurance that you can afford sorority life, because in the end, reality hits when the projected cost falls short. There are probably a myriad of reasons. If someone asks for this information, it's probably a good indication it is necessary or could be beneficial. A big blank on a rec would draw more attention than having a completed form.

edited-Erin, are you rushing at KU or K State? I know we have some Kansans on GC.

[erin34]

I will be going to K-State next fall, any K-staters on here??

[WhiteDaisy128]

I CAN NOT IMAGINE, in most cases, being asked what my parents did for a living during Rush. If a sorority asked me that I would cut them on the spot...regardless of the reason. Your family has nothing to do with who you are as a person during Rush....they might be amazing human beings and the "best family on Earth," but a PNM could feel REALLY out of place if that was not the answer to the question. What if she had to say, well, both of my parents were killed in a car accident last year. Or my dad works at McDonalds and my mom is unemployed...OR if she says my dad is a millionaire....that should be irrelevant. The only reason I can see someone asking this question to find out if the PNM has money or not and that is stupid. If she says that she can meet the money obligations, then take her word on that. You don't check bank accounts, do you?

Sheesh, sorry for that lil' rant - but I just think that question is VERY tacky. It reinforces the shallow stereotypesthat we try so hard to break.

[justamom]

Erin's question referred to the resume, not rush party talk. I agree wholeheartedly with it being inappropriate for discussion. The reasons you sited are excellent examples. I too would drop any group that hinted at "interest" in my family background, unless there was a valid connection.

Here's a shocker for the extreme-
When my niece rushed at A & M, she was told that some of the sororities checked out PNMs neighborhoods. Now THAT really stinks. Of course, she rushed 10 years ago and maybe it was one of those campus rumors that wouldn't die.

Where are the Aggies when ya need them?
For the life of me-I'm blank on the Kansans. I'll ask Tom.

[AAgammagirl]

I agree, the amount of money your parents have is irrelevant.
a sorority on my campus asked PNM's this question and the majority of the PNM's were disgusted and dropped that house during formal rush.

[Moxie]

like it's been said, what i mentioned was for a RESUME, not for rush conversations. i didn't mean to imply that what your parents do for a living is vital information for getting into a chapter, but i have been asked for this exact info by several alums who have written recs for me. it just happens to be something that appears on many rec forms - no big deal.

[Betarulz!]

Erin...

As one Overland Park native to another... here's what I can tell you about K-state...

First of all, make sure you put stuff down youre proud of! That will make it easier to talk about if someone brings it up. However since your going to K-state it won't matter that much as there will be so many girls going through.

Don't put down information about your parents except for any sorority legacies you may have. People at K-state will have a good enough idea of what your parents do/financial background just by knowing what HS you went to in Johnson County (you've got that whole stereotype going for you anyway). Plus it's very likely that some girls will know you or of you from HS anyways. (BTW what HS did you go to?)

Other things to include are leadership roles you've had, HS GPA if it's pretty good - also your class rank if it was top 10% otherwise just put that you were in the top X%. ACT Score probably should be on there as well.

Obviously, all your extracurriculars should be there. Work experience is up to you, if you worked someplace cool or girly (Bath and Bodyworks comes to mind) then it'd be appropriate, but if it was just McDonald's or the like then I see no reason.

Finally, don't use abbreivations unless they are really well known and recognized. Going through the Fraternity Rush Apps at Nebraska showed me the importance of that, as not everyone will know what ABC or XYZ means...

[KappaKittyCat]

Originally posted by justamom
KappaKittyCat, it is unusual for me to disagree with you, but in this instance I would say it depends. I know that MANY chapters (maybe it's a Southern thing) want to have that very information. It is not considered tacky and in some cases it could be influential in the initial rounds. Some DO want to know what position or community activities your parents were involved with. I can only GUESS at the reasoning behind it. Perhaps they want to know if you are from a family committed to community service. Maybe they want to know if your involvement and dedication to your GLO will likely extend beyond your 3 or 4 years of active status. Maybe it's a reassurance that you can afford sorority life, because in the end, reality hits when the projected cost falls short. There are probably a myriad of reasons. If someone asks for this information, it's probably a good indication it is necessary or could be beneficial. A big blank on a rec would draw more attention than having a completed form.

Okay, JAM, if there's a blank for it on a rec form, then I can see how you'd need to fill it in, but it still seems strange to me. Kappa's Membership Data Forms ask for no such information. I guess I can see how parents' occupation and volunteer history could be useful in a letter:

"KappaKittyCat's mother is a special education teacher, and she was raised to value education. Mrs. Cat has volunteered as a Sunday School teacher for twenty years, and KappaKitty joined her when she was fourteen. She also tutors at-risk children in a local elementary school. Mr. Cat started his own commodities brokerage house when KappaKitty was nine, and KappaKitty says that watching her father's business grow has taught her the value of hard work and dedication."

But I still think it's incredibly tacky to specifically request parents' occupational information. Maybe it's just because I'm from Wisconsin and we don't do that sort of thing up here. Maybe I'm still burning after being treated like white trash by some rich Texan sorority dames. I'm inclined to agree with WhiteDaisy when she says, "The only reason I can see someone asking this question to find out if the PNM has money or not and that is stupid. If she says that she can meet the money obligations, then take her word on that. You don't check bank accounts, do you?"

As for wanting to guarantee the PNM's continued volunteerism, I think it's more the chapter's responsibility to instill dedication to the GLO. I can see wanting to pledge women who are already dedicated to volunteerism, but can't you figure that sort of thing out in Rush conversation?

Again, maybe I'm just totally missing the point here, or maybe it's a Southern thing that I shouldn't even try to comprehend, but I truly don't understand why they have to come right out and ask what your mommy and daddy do. It seems really hypocritical, given that that is one of the five Bs that we are told and tell PNMs to avoid in conversation (Boys, Booze, Bank, Bible, Bashes). Can you clarify?

[erin34]

I went to Blue Valley North High School. I'm sure you know of it...?

[bruinaphi]

I think this totally depends on the school and the chapters. As a collegiate there were several chapters on my campus that checked out people's homes after receiving their reg forms and had advisors find out who their parents were and how involved they were in the community and whether they would be an active part of the chapter and supportive of their daughter's experience.

While it would be nice to believe everyone who walks through the door on money issues, many chapter have learned over the years that rushees think they can afford membership and then de-pledge half-way through or resign a year into their membership. This background checking has resulted in large part from the unfortunate circumstances on big campuses where you often cannot replace those members easily b/c you can't replace a NM after bid day and you are always over total.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

We don't do resumes here in the Midwest, but what about references? Should you mention affiliated women you know? What about people who are not connected to Greek life, but can say good things about you, like a guidance counselor?