Recruitment – a Chapter’s Life Blood

Recruitment – a Chapter’s Life Blood

by OJ Lopez, Pi Chapter GC 2006-2007

I joined APO in February 2005 at the Royal and Pontifical University of Santo Tomas - Pi Chapter, when March came there were many brods and sis who graduated. I was dismayed that there are few chapter residents left, so we brain stormed on recruitment strategies. And the best time to implement our plans is on the university's org fair, Recruitment 101. Blessed with the University's Recognition status we were able to setup a booth. We made very simple brochures, photocopied it and hand it out to students. With the support of the Pi Alumni from a handful of residents we made 5 times our number in less than one year without compromising the quality of members. This was evident, when we bagged the “Best Chapter Award” on 2007 convention. Now, Recruitment 101 is an annual tradition of Pi Chapter.

5 Helpful Tips on Effective Recruitment:

1. Quality and quantity. The first batch of Recruitment 101 we had an astounding 24 new members! But there are over 300 students we persuade to sign up in the recruitment booth before coming up with the 24. Recruit as many as you can. Talk to as many students as possible and choose the best men and women.

2. If you want something done, do it yourself. Don't be intimidated by your alumni and fellow residents. They are there to help you. Have the initiative to recruit. Involve brods or sis that are goal oriented and wants improvement in membership. After all who wants a dead chapter? Be the hero! Act Now!

3. You can't recruit who you do not know. During events and service projects we can invite non-APO students to join. Organize events that may entice students to take part of the activity. Usually, we have exclusive events, concerts / billiard tournaments / poker nights / sport fests / DOTA tournaments etc. We can capitalize on some of these events and make it open to the student populace. These way potential recruits can feel what it is like to be an APO. Sometimes, you don't even need to recruit them, they'll just knock on our doors. The important things are that we are able to get NAMES, and CONTACT DETAILS of potential applicants. After each event we can contact all students who attended the event and invite them for an orientation.

4. Be humble. It has been APO's tradition that applicants must humble themselves. We should realize that the potential applicants don't know a thing about APO. Before demanding for them to bow down and call us Lords / Ladies we should inform them the principles, purpose and activities of APO. Proper orientation can decrease chances of applicants quitting so they would have an idea of what to expect.

5. 10th Jewel, be brave! Inform your classmates, and friends in school about APO. You can also meet students outside your circle of friends, outside your college and tell them about APO. During the 2005 recruitment 101, we went from classroom to classroom just to check out pretty college girls and have recruitment as an excuse. Saying to them, "We are Alpha Phi Omega and we are accepting new applicants, so if you’re interested just contact us". Then we leave them brochures. A couple of hours later, students are actually contacting us. We did not only have recruits, some brods got new girlfriends too.

Bonus # 6. Invest in recruitment materials. As I have said all we have before is a mere photocopied brochure that is worth less than a peso each given to students. It worked! Now we have all kinds of stuff from bookmarks, paper fans, calendars, etc. Be creative and experiment on other promotional media. Also remember to put your contact numbers in your chosen media, so it would be easier for students to contact you. But the best recruitment and promotional material is you. What you are and what you do is a mirror of what an APO is. So put yourself in your recruits’ shoes and ask, “Would you want yourself to be your brod / sis?” If yes, be proud you're an APO. And share APO to everyone!

Recruit! Recruit! Recruit!

Mahalin APOng Pinaghirapan!