As fraternity and sorority members depart from college to search for careers, many of them are using their greek affiliations to find employment.

To help their members find jobs, the Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic Council appear to be focusing on networking between alumni and undergraduates. IFC and PHC are the governing bodies of Penn State fraternity and sorority chapters.

Ali Lipsett, PHC president, plans to run a list of sorority alumnae on PHC's Web site, which will include the women's majors, careers and contact information.

"I think that's going to be one of our biggest resources we're working on," Lipsett said.

IFC is considering the creation of a resume book that will include any submitted credentials of graduating fraternity members, said Max Pipman, IFC president. IFC would submit the resumes to any corporation or business visiting Penn State to recruit future employees. Fraternity members also are able to network with alumni from their chapters to find careers, Pipman said. New fraternity members can create future contacts for job opportunities by getting to know graduating members or alumni.

"If a fraternity has been here for 100 years, it probably has 30 or 40 members who are in the workforce or have been in the workforce, and they are usually willing to give a helping hand," Pipman said. The Penn State Greek Alumni Interest Group, founded in 1997, also serves as a means for fraternity and sorority members to network with alumni, said Andrew Jackson, GAIG president. Fraternity alumni often inform undergraduate members of any open career positions in their areas of study and write reference letters for them. However, membership in a greek organization will not guarantee a career, Jackson said.

"A lot of people think you get hired because you know somebody. You get a lead because you know somebody," he said. "I wouldn't hire somebody just because they were in my fraternity if they weren't the sharpest person."

Jackson said that traditionally black fraternities and sororities under the National Pan-Hellenic Council are known for their career networking skills. Chris Chambers, president of NPHC, was unavailable for comment yesterday.

When alumni hire graduating members of their fraternities and sororities, they have the advantage of knowing their characters and not just things like grade point average, Jackson said. Employers interviewing members benefit from knowing the "extreme of someone" through continued contact with the organization.

"It's hard to dismiss something you heard of someone who did something sadistic or psychotic," he said.

On the other hand, positive attributes can also make it through the grapevine.

"There's constant networking going on all the time," Jackson said. "I think there's an advantage to any kind of networking."