Career Development within the Sigma Challenge at LA Beta
This year, LA Beta’s Sigma Challenge coordinators have a lot in store for guiding our incoming brothers to become more adapted to college life and develop as professionals. One of our main goals is to give the Sigmas a solid foundation for success before applying to internships and jobs. A few of our main areas of focus will be on building an effective résumé and learning how to handle themselves within a professional setting. We plan to dedicate a meeting to visit LSU’s Olinde Career Center, allowing our new members to sit down with a résumé coach to give an in-depth dive into what a résumé is, how it should be formatted, and what employers look for when reading a résumé. This meeting is very crucial because most of the brothers coming straight out of high school either do not have a resume or do not have a well-rounded one. One of the best exercises that we do within these meetings is giving the Sigmas a few résumés to read as if they were an employer and talk about what stood out to them. Very quickly, they begin to change their mindset and start thinking through an employer’s perspective. Furthermore, we have a few segments of various meetings dedicated for upperclassmen members of LA Beta to give input on the Sigmas’ revised résumés based on experience within their major.
In order to simply get invited to a job interview you must have a solid résumé. After that, you must sit down in front of your potential employers and sell your skills and assets to him or her. That is where we focus our attention next: we give the Sigmas an idea of professional attire and how to properly handle themselves in various situations. A challenging thing for some people to learn how to tie a necktie. To prepare them for any professional setting they may be in, we sit down and teach our new members how to tie a necktie properly. Another aspect that we feel is important for them to know is how to speak publicly and work as a team. This is something that we feel is crucial at which to excel in order to be hired or succeed in a professional career. We do this by letting the Sigmas take charge and plan a chapter-wide event. This is no easy task and it allows everyone to have a hand in the planning process. Through this, the Sigmas are forced to work and communicate effectively between themselves and within meetings where they will give periodic updates as to the progress they have made.
Overall, the process we try to implement for our Sigma Challenge is geared to set the incoming brothers up for success down the road, as well as give them opportunities to bond over common struggles and triumphs. It is extremely rewarding to see the immense growth they have in just a few short weeks. This year will be different in a lot of ways, but we are all very excited for what this coming year will hold!
Have any questions about new member education and career development?
Contact our VP of Member Development at labetadevelopment@gmail.com