Congratulations on your new role as a recruitment and PR officer!

Being responsible for managing the recruitment, retention and marketing efforts of your chapter is a big task, but there are many resources to help you along the way. I want to make sure you are set up for success in your first week as an officer so here are 7 things you should be doing in your first 7 days of office. Remember to take these tasks step by step and ask for help along the way if you need it.

1.Review officer training on MyAΣA
Log onto MyAΣA and navigate to the My Learning & Training section. This is where you will find officer training specific to our role. Review these training videos within the first week of being elected and officially placed!

There are MyAΣA training videos for every officer role! Pass this information along to the rest of your chapter.

2.Connect with your recruitment advisor – or recruit a recruitment advisor if you need to!
Recruitment advisors should be your first stop when you have questions or need assistance. They support your chapter specifically in all recruitment, retention and marketing needs.

If your chapter doesn’t have a recruitment advisor, it’s important to make it a priority! Reference the advisor search and approval policy in the national policies and procedures for more information on how to do so.

Contact your region Advisory Board Liaison for assistance with advisor recruitment. Their information can be found on the Officer’s page of Officer Portal.

3.Connect with your region recruitment leader
These volunteers provide recruitment, retention and marketing support to all chapters within the region they serve. You can find your chapter’s region recruitment leader’s contact information on the Officers page of Officer Portal. Region recruitment leaders can help answer questions, plan recruitment workshops and more.

4.Log onto officer portal and review the document library
The document library houses all written recruitment resources. While all recruitment resources will be found in the Recruitment Resources folder, be sure to check out the other folders for even more chapter support resources.

Some of my favorite resources are:

  • Guide to Continuous Open Bidding – the basic concepts needed to be successful with COB
  • Creating a Marketing Narrative (Inspired by Phired Up) – what to say to PNMs about you chapter
  • Recruiting for Recruitment – getting names and sparking interest in joining a sorority
  • Resolved to Educate: Positive Panhellenic Contact & Promoting the Sorority Experience (from NPC) – understand the policies and see examples of uses

All of these resources can be found in the Recruitment Resource Manual in the Recruitment Resources folder of Officer Portal’s document library.

5.Make a plan to review Growth Coaching communication each month
Growth coaching is recruitment education provided by the national organization to all Alpha Sigma Alpha chapters. This will hit your inbox at the beginning of each month. Schedule out some time during the first few weeks of each month to review the communication and resources.

6.Familiarize yourself with Alpha Sigma Alpha’s recruitment philosophy
Alpha Sigma Alpha believes that recruitment starts long before offering a bid of membership. Chapters strive to create meaningful relationships with potential new members year-round. By building these relationships, the chapter strategically prepares itself to offer bids of membership to women who exemplify the values of Alpha Sigma Alpha.

Breaking it down:

  • The what… Recruitment should be taking place year-round regardless of a chapter’s ability to extend bids of membership.
  • The how… Recruitment doesn’t always mean extending bids of membership, it means building relationships with potential new members.
  • The why… Building relationships is important even when we aren’t eligible to extend bids of membership because it helps us prepare for the future. By taking our time, potential new members have more time to get to know us and we have more time to get to know them.

Want to talk about it more? Contact your region recruitment leader.

7.Follow some favorites on social media!
Recruitment support comes from many different places. Here are my favorite go-to’s for outside recruitment, retention and marketing resources:

If at any point you get stuck, get in contact with your region recruitment leader. Their information can be found on the Officers page of Officer Portal.

You got this!

Jen Akright, HH