Various organizations, from Psi Chi to The National Society of Leadership and Success, boast a long line of reasons to join their organizations. Community service, national or campus recognition and being a part of a hard-working community are just some of the reasons they name. The most common reason, however, is that being a part of these organizations looks really good on a resume. Writing that you were a part of a national honors society can really catch the eye of potential employers. Each of these organizations also comes with a hefty fee, most commonly around $75-$100. For many, it leaves the feeling that we are paying for lines on our resume, around $100 per line.
Each time I get a letter in the mail or an email regarding a national or campus society, I almost immediately want to ignore it. When I was a freshman, I would open each one and read about each of the benefits involved. The letters begin with a congratulations and then begin boasting about how incredibly hard working the receiver must be in order to be invited to be a part of the organization. At the end of the letter, however, they hit you with a fee. $75, $100, $200, sometimes it feels like the prices keep rising. I immediately put down the letter. I am a full-time college student. I do not have hundreds of dollars to blow so that I can add three lines to my resume about organizations that I will barely have time to be a part of.
Don’t get me wrong, these organizations can be great. Organizations like Psi Chi require community service and can help students get involved with connections outside of campus. The NSLS hosts workshops for resume building, networking, and various other tools for academic and professional success. Plenty of these organizations offer academic and professional tools to help students succeed on and off campus. However, where do we learn to draw the line? How many honors, sports or cultural organizations should we pay hundreds of dollars to be a part of before we are all doing too much? Where do we find time to be involved in these organizations that require more time from our already heavily booked schedules? Being deeply involved in a few organizations is far better than being in name only for many, but how will that be reflected in our resumes?
I am always left wondering whether or not I am doing too little. For some, these organizations can be helpful. For those who have the time and the money, being deeply involved in a nationally recognized community can be very rewarding. But for those of us who work, go to school, have internships or demanding majors or are already involved in multiple organizations on campus, we always have to ask ourselves: is this worth it?
