Questions to Ask PNMs During Recruitment
Questions for chapter members during the early rounds of recruitment, when conversations are short and there are a lot of them. These are ordinary questions that work on a tired potential new member: her roommate, her summer, what she wants to keep doing here, and what she still wants to ask you.
The questions
Open any question for the note
Where are you coming from, and how far is that from here?
Why ask it
A real opener rather than a script, and it gives you somewhere to go next: whether her family drove her, whether she knew anyone here already. It also lets a nervous PNM start with plain facts.
How many of these have you done today?
Why ask it
Acknowledges the format instead of pretending it is not happening. Knowing whether this is her second or her twelfth conversation tells you how much energy to expect, so you adjust instead of judging.
What are you thinking of studying, and has that changed since you applied?
Why ask it
The second half is what makes this work. Most people's plan shifted somewhere between the application and orientation, and the reason it shifted usually gets you a real answer.
Who is your roommate, and how did you two end up matched?
Why ask it
Every first-year has feelings about this, whether it was random assignment or a friend from home. How she talks about someone she has to live with tells you more than any question about teamwork.
What is the last thing you watched or listened to on repeat?
Why ask it
Easy to answer at hour six, and specific enough that you will remember her later. Chapters forget faces but remember the girl who has watched the same show four times through.
What did you do all summer?
Why ask it
A summer holds a job, a camp, a family trip, or not much at all. Whichever part she picks to tell you about is a fair sample of what she thinks counts.
Do you have siblings, and where do you fall?
Why ask it
Comes up naturally and lets her talk about home without you asking about family circumstances. Only child, oldest of five and youngest of two all produce different stories about how she operates in a group.
What did you bring to your dorm that you are glad you brought?
Why ask it
Small and concrete, and it says more about her actual life than a values question does. Answers run from a fan to a photo wall to her grandmother's blanket.
What did you do in high school that you want to keep doing here?
Why ask it
Better than asking about achievements, because it points forward. Notice whether she names something she loved or something she feels she ought to continue.
Have you managed to eat today?
Why ask it
Recruitment days are long and PNMs often run on nothing. It is a kindness, it breaks the interview register, and sometimes it results in someone getting a snack, which is a better outcome than a good answer.
Have you found anywhere on campus you already like?
Why ask it
A first-year who has found a bench, a coffee shop or a particular library floor is exploring rather than waiting to be shown around. It also gives you something local and specific to talk about.
What are you nervous about for this semester?
Why ask it
Recruitment is full of people performing confidence, so a plain question about nerves comes as a relief. Say something brief about your own first semester and the conversation changes register.
What do your friends come to you for?
Why ask it
Gets at how people actually use her: advice, rides, plans, or staying calm when something goes wrong. It draws out her real role in a group far better than asking what role she takes.
What is the best thing anyone has told you about college?
Why ask it
Points her at advice she has already received, which is easier than inventing an opinion on the spot. What she chooses to quote usually shows what she is hoping for or dreading.
Are you the person who plans things, or the person who shows up?
Why ask it
Both are honest answers and neither is wrong, which is why people answer truthfully. Chapters need both, and it is genuinely useful to know before committee assignments.
What is a class you are surprisingly excited about?
Why ask it
Surprisingly is doing the work, because it gives her permission to be enthusiastic about something unglamorous. Answers about a required geology course reveal more than answers about her major.
What is your family like when everyone is home?
Why ask it
Opens the door to home without asking anything intrusive. Loud, quiet, everyone cooking, everyone arguing about the same three things: a warm question with plenty of room to opt out.
What do you do on a day with nothing scheduled?
Why ask it
Shows how she rests, which matters in an organization that fills calendars. Someone who needs real quiet time is worth knowing about now rather than after she has overcommitted.
What have you not had a chance to ask anyone yet this week?
Why ask it
Most PNMs are holding a question about time, cost, or how bid day actually works. Answering it plainly is worth more to her than anything you could say about your chapter.
If we talk again later this week, what should I ask you about?
Why ask it
Makes the next conversation easier for whoever gets her, and signals that you expect to see her again. It also hands you a note in her own words instead of your impression.
How to use these questions
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Early rounds are short, so plan for that
In the first rounds you may have five to eight minutes, repeated dozens of times in an afternoon. Aim to leave with two specific things about her rather than a complete picture, and write them down between conversations instead of at the end of the day. Ask one question, listen, ask a follow-up about the answer she actually gave, and let the rest of your list go. When she asks you something, answer it properly. PNMs compare chapters partly on who gave them a straight answer.
Rules and boundaries
- Follow the Panhellenic rules on your campus. Alcohol, dating, money and politics are off limits in most systems, as is discussing other chapters.
- Do not ask about test scores, class rank, or what her parents do for a living.
- Avoid putting her on the spot about legacy status or who she knows. It changes the conversation for everyone within earshot.
- If she raises something hard, follow her lead and do not press. Recruitment is not the place to collect a story about someone.
When a conversation stalls
- Answer your own question first, in two sentences. It shows the length of answer you want and gives a nervous PNM something to react to.
- Move to concrete ground: her roommate, her dorm, the walk across campus, whether she has eaten. Abstract questions are hardest to answer when exhausted.
- With someone shy, sit beside her rather than opposite and ease off the eye contact. Plenty of people talk far more easily side by side.
- Remember when it is not her fault. A loud room, a long day and eleven conversations in a row would flatten anyone.
Notes that hold up at voting
- Record one quote or one fact rather than an adjective. Plays cello and wants to keep it up beats fun and outgoing.
- Write it within a minute or two. After eight conversations everyone becomes sweet and nice.
- Keep what she said separate from how the conversation felt, and label the second as your impression.
- Be careful with words like polished, or phrases like not our vibe. They carry a great deal of bias and almost no information.