The 6 Principles of Effective Recruitment

How do you look at recruiting, can you have a high quantity of quality men? Do you use the search for quality as an excuse for a lack of quantity? Those tried and true recruitment strategies becoming a little more tired than tried and a little less true ever year you use it? Albert Einstein once defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, factor in the ever changing demographics on your campus and you begin to see the problem. Furthermore, somewhere along the lines of becoming a brother we forget that those new to  college and Greek life don’t have the understanding of the Greek system or benefits or brotherhood that we do.

Dale Carnegie is the founder of the self help movement, any personal or professional development book stems off of the ideas that Carnegie founded in his book, “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” Through a little bit of know how and adjustments to fit you the modern collegiate Greek you can become better prepared and armed to work with potential interest and with clients in your future professional career.

Principle 1: Become Genuinely Interested in Other People

“Most commonly used word in conversations is the personal pronoun ‘I’.” (Carnegie, 1937) We think that a flashy poster board or step show will get someone interested in Sigma Lambda Beta, yet we fail to realize that spectacle is cheap in everything but cost. They will never know how we live out the principles, if we never first become interested in them – it’s the basic law of reciprocity.

Principle 2: Smile

Fraternal brotherhood is built first and foremost out of friendship, it is the foundation on which all other bonds are created. That random freshman, scared out of their mind walking around the recruitment fair is not going to walk up to you and start actively engaging themselves in a conversation if you are staring them down with your cholo shades on. If you want to be approached, be approachable – or better yet take five steps away from your table and introduce yourself to them.

Principle 3: Remember That a Person’s Name is, to that person, the most important sound in any language

As a collegiate Latino based fraternity we will come across many individuals from various backgrounds, most of which will never attempt to learn a bit of Spanish. Point being, is his name Hector or Héctór because there is a difference and hearing the sweet sound of your name being pronounced correctly will leave a lasting impression. Accent aside, simply remembering their name will make someone feel like they are important to you and the organization. Repeat their name before you let go of their hand, repeat it in the conversation and write it down after they have left.

Principle 4: Be a Good Listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves

The best way to remain confident is to control the conversation, the best way to control the conversation is to monopolize the listening and the best way to monopolize the listening is to ask open ended questions. If you bombard some guy with SLB facts and send him on his way, he won’t even remember who you are. If you get him talking about himself, showing interest in him as an individual he will more likely remember you and have a positive experience interacting with SLB. The key is to learn the individual first, the organization will naturally come into the conversation at a later point.

Principle 5: Talk in Terms of the Other Person’s Interest.

Find your commonality, an interest you both share and can discuss. If they share an interest that a fellow brother has, introduce them, but never give a naked introduction. Naked introductiona are when you would just pass on the conversation to someone else without giving a topic for them to transition into. Start off by introducing them and then referring to the commonality they share, it could by a hobby, major, hometown or anything else that will allow the individual to talk within terms of their own interests.

Principle 6: Make the Other Person Feel Important – And Do it Sincerely.

Carnegie shares that, “We all want approval of those with whom you come in contact. We all want recognition of our true worth. And we all want a feeling that you are important in the world.” Why is this important to the individual? It is because they don’t know or understand the brotherhood yet, as it is not a tangible thing that can be described accurately it is something one experiences after time and commitment to the fraternity. Through a sincere interest in an individual you can empower them to become a leader and thus inspire them to want to become a Sigma Lambda Beta man. Don’t try to sell them on features because they are yours not theirs. Instead have them look at benefits, what can SLB do to aid their reason for going to college – which traditionally are to graduate, become successful, make friends and to get a job?

Works Cited

Carnaige, Dale. (1936) ‘How To Win Friends And Influence People’ Simon & Schuster Inc. Publishing

Photo found via Flickr.

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