Career Services will host a presentation day to help students learn how being a part of the Greek system can help them get a job.

Linda Moore, the director of Career Services, will give the presentation titled “How to Use Greek Life in an Interview.”

The presentation begins at 7 p.m. in the Charleston-Mattoon Room of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

Moore said Career Services offers many presentations like this one, but each one focuses on a different aspect of student life organizations, and they change them to fit the target audience of each presentation.

“We do the presentations so students can learn how student activities can be used in the transition in the work world,” Moore said. “A lot of students don’t realize how student organizations can give them the skills to help them be successful in the future.”

Moore said the tasks posed to members of student organizations often act as practice for similar tasks in the work world, including working with a diverse group of people.

“In student organizations, you often plan events and depend on outcomes,” Moore said. “When they go well, your self-esteem goes up; when they go not as well you learn valuable lessons.”

She said what makes this presentation unique is the focus on Greek life and how many Greek organizations function similarly to large corporations.

“Many are local chapters that report to national or international organizations,” Moore said. “They often have benchmarks they have to meet; it is very much like the work world.”

Moore said understanding how organizations work in this manner often makes it easier for a potential employer to explain how corporate service practice, which she compares to the national and international Greek organizations.

“Sometimes, they already have experience implementing policy that is passed down from the corporation, as it is something student leaders in the Greek organizations have already done before in their organizations in college,” Moore said.

She said she would focus on the basics of how to describe certain aspects and positions of Greek life on a resume and how they relate to the work world and how certain things that may not seem marketable really are.

There will also be a question and answer portion of the presentation. She said the most common question is how to describe specific positions and responsibilities.

“Typically they will hear us and say ‘Really? I do that every week,’” Moore said. “We are really trying to show the relevance of what they do here and what they will do in their career.”

The presentation has been running for 15 years, but Moore said the participation in each one varies from year to year.

“It usually depends what all is going on around campus that night,” Moore said.

Amy Wywialowski can be reached at 581-2812 or alwywialowski@eiu.edu.