This article is Day 26 of the series: 31 Days to Better Fraternity Recruitment.
Tis the season for Fall rush again. TFA has brought us so many great recruiting articles this month from so many respected advisors around the country. It’s a tough act to follow.
What I remember about fratenrity recruitment is you both love it and hate it at the same time.
It’s great to be back from summer and see all your friends again. You get back in the groove. You meet a whole new crop of… talent. It’s good times. Then there’s rush. I don’t have to tell you how physically and mentally exhausting that whirlwind is. You already know that. You also know is has to be done and you have to do a good job. There’s plenty advice on here to make you an expert.
Only thing I’d add is if you wait around to see what shows up and take the best you can in competition with other chapters then rush sucks. You’re not taking as high a quality guys as your chapter is capable of and you’re putting all the pressure on this short period to secure your chapter’s future. That doesn’t make it fun. You already know that when you procrastinate on your school work it’s that much harder when you actually do it.
What I really want to do with this space though is encourage you in a different way than others have. I want to tell you something simple that I never truly realized as an active. Rush skills make you better at life.
If you think about it, you’re going to spend hours on end for weeks in this awkward situation with no women or booze throwing your best game at 18-19 year old guys. You’re going to be evaluating them while sharing some insight about the fraternity. You’re going to try to make them think you’re a rock star, Greek life is awesome, your chapter is amazing, and time the relationship to peak when bids are going out. But, good luck remembering which one of the hundreds of guys you were just talking to. That’s mentally and physically exhausting. You feel encouraged now don’t ya?
How does rush develop skills that will make you successful?
Well, what I didn’t realize at the time is how directly and effectively that skill set would translate to the networking and interview skills that have brought me so many opportunities in life, and opportunities for others through me.
In the real world, you’re going to land in a lot of awkward situations where you can be invisible or you can be an energy in the room. You’re going to meet a lot of people and never keep their names straight but be able to play it off so they think you’re their best friend. You’re going to personable in a way that makes people want to be like you or at least be your friend. You’re going to be able to sell yourself, sell your company, sell your product, and time it right to close the deal.
Those same skills have been the key just about every negotiation I’ve been a part of. I don’t care if you’re going to be a used car salesman or killing it on Wall Street. What you’re doing right now during rush is developing the skills that will make you successful in life. We hear every year about this time about what percentage of CEOs are Greek and all that. You should know by now no one handed them those jobs because they had a fraternity on their resume. We’re more successful in the world because we learn how to be by running fraternities. Recruiting is one of the two areas I think makes the biggest difference in that personal development.
So, about in the middle of your rush process when you just want it to end, try to understand that these few days out of your whole college career are key to your success after graduation. Use these opportunities to practice your skills. Read these other articles up here and expand your technique. When you graduate you’re going to need these skills to get hired, and later to hire other people. You’re going to need them to close deals and dominate the competition. Don’t put it on cruise control, that’d be a disservice to yourself and your fraternity.
– This answer was written by Dennis Nall, an alumni brother from Alpha Tau Omega and frequent contributor for the thefraternityadvisor.com. If you are interested in writing for thefraternityadvisor.com – let us know (CLICK HERE)!
To learn more, check out our most in-depth article on fraternity recruitment: The Complete Guide to Fraternity Recruitment.