Keeping Up Appearances

As I might have mentioned before, I am a Recruitment Specialist for Alpha Gamma Delta. My Provinces are 21 and 22, which means I oversee recruitment for the 7 chapters in Michigan's lower peninsula. This weekend, I had the opportunity to visit the Zeta Sigma chapter at Northwood University. What an outstanding group of women! I had such fun and I think we all learned a lot.

One of the universal topics that comes up during recruitment is "image." The chapter's image, each sisters personal image and the type of reputation the group has. Of course, being visible on campus, participating in campus events and other student organizations and always being well groomed and presentable come up as ways to achieve and maintain a positive "image."

As a visiting Recruitment Specialist, I like to do a combination of observing the chapter while they have their own discussions while jumping in and facilitating where necessary. As I was listening, I was also applying this concept of "image" to my own newly-begun professional life. This is just one more place where being Greek gives us an edge up over non-Greeks - everybody hears how important it is to clean up your online presence and dress appropriately, but few can actually see in action just how important those "silly" things really are!

I am currently working for a domestic violence and sexual assault agency. I did an internship there last academic year and now am working there part time as a paid employee. I love the agency, I love my co-workers and I am passionate about our mission and philosophy. I hope to be employed there for a long time! I am grateful that I made such an impression on my supervisor who helped me get this job; without her, I would probably still be unemployed and wondering how I was going to pay for my gas and books this semester!

So how does a chapter's image during recruitment relate to my personal work life? Well, even though I would like to be employed there for a long time, it might not work out that way. A full time position that I'm qualified for may not be available when I graduate. It might not pay what I need in order to make my loan payments as well as every day expenses. In this case, I would need to find another position.

Like in Greek life, being in the field of social work, human services and mental health means being in a professional community where everybody talks and has to work together. Your reputation (or that of your agency) often precedes you. The more things you are positively involved in and the more constructive interactions you have with a variety of people, the better. This is why maintaining a professional yet friendly demeanor, appropriate dress and behavior is so important - particularly for those of us just entering the workforce. The Millennials have challenges previous generations never dreamed of: we are often over-educated, underpaid, inexperienced and vying for positions people with 20-30 years of experience are also trying to secure - all while shouldering crushing student loan debt, trying to keep our chins up and our of our parents' way (many of us are living at home well into our 30's...).

But we have one thing on these experienced (often) Baby Boomers: We have not had 30 years to get into trouble. If we can keep our image sparkling clean and our reputation spotless, it can really give us an edge. We already have a bit of a reputation (true or not) of wanting everything to be handed to us. If we can show employers that we are hard workers, professional, responsible and trustworthy, we can show them that as inexperienced but motivated employees, they can mold us to the workers they want in order to achieve the results they desire within their organizations.

So what it comes down to is this: Whether you are a Greek organization trying to attract new members, new members trying to get into a fraternity or sorority, or a new professional it is important to remember this: your reputation precedes you. If what people see and know of on the outside isn't shining, they won't take the time to get to know what great things you have to offer on the inside.

Do you have any examples of where a reputation (good or bad) really had an impact on a group or individual?* 

*If it is negative, please change the person/groups name out of courtesy!

Book Review: "Summer Rental" by Mary Kay Andrews

Synopsis (from GoodReads.com):

Sometimes, when you need a change in your life, the tide just happens to pull you in the right direction….

Ellis, Julia, and Dorie. Best friends since Catholic grade school, they now find themselves, in their mid-thirties, at the crossroads of life and love. Ellis, recently fired from a job she gave everything to, is rudderless and now beginning to question the choices she's made over the past decade of her life. Julia—whose caustic wit covers up her wounds--has a man who loves her and is offering her the world, but she can't hide from how deeply insecure she feels about her looks, her brains, her life.  And Dorie has just been shockingly betrayed by the man she loved and trusted the most in the world…though this is just the tip of the iceberg of her problems and secrets. A month in North Carolina's Outer Banks is just what they each of them needs.

Ty Bazemore is their landlord, though he's hanging on to the rambling old beach house by a thin thread. After an inauspicious first meeting with Ellis, the two find themselves disturbingly attracted to one another, even as Ty is about to lose everything he's ever cared about.

Maryn Shackleford is a stranger, and a woman on the run. Maryn needs just a few things in life: no questions, a good hiding place, and a new identity.  Ellis, Julia, and Dorie can provide what Maryn wants; can they also provide what she needs? 

Five people questioning everything they ever thought they knew about life. Five people on a journey that will uncover their secrets and point them on the path to forgiveness.   Five people who each need a sea change, and one month in a summer rental that might just give it to them.

One of Library Journal's Best Women’s Fiction Books of 2011

My Thoughts **spoiler alert**:

I really enjoyed this book. It is absolutely a summer read (and is advertised as such!), but the author has such a talent for description that she made me feel like I was AT Ebbtide and in Nags Head with the characters.

Ellis seemed to fall a little flat to me: I understood her angst, her torment over joblessness and manlessness. At times, it almost seemed like she was the main character, even though the story was supposed to be about the three friends- Ellis, Dorie and Julia. 

Dorie also didn't do much for me. I could appreciate her unique life situation with her husband leaving her for another man just as she learned of her pregnancy, but as a person, I didn't really feel much for her. Julia, on the other hand, procrastinator, model and pot-stirrer was a bit better. She certainly threw a few wrenches into the plot. 

The person I was most interested in, however, was Madison/Maryn, the woman on the run from her abusive and embezzling husband. Funny thing is, she was supposed to be a "sub-plot" but she was the most real of all of the characters. 

Of course, this isn't supposed to be a work of literary genius: it's pure entertainment. And entertain, it does! Recommended for a quick, easy, amusing beach-read.

Final Word: B+