ArizonaAero

Hi,

I just elected as a club officer not too long ago and it is coming with a lot of work. I was wondering if people in the professional world realize how much work I will actually be putting into the club? Will they think of my position as something petty or irrelevant, or will it actually give me some leeway when I apply for internships with it on my resume? I am thinking this will be the first and last year as officer in this club, because I feel one year is good enough as it is so much work and now that I am already elected, I don't want to back out and screw over the club. I will grind it out and not run for reelection one year from now.

doctarini

I hold a position in every club I'm in and even a state level officer position and to me I'm not doing enough for college (I'm a senior). You should keep that, shows leadership especially of you validate it with things you actually did.


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soccerguy315

depends on your responsibilities...

club leadership can give you the opportunity for real experience... running meetings, running events, coordinating things, managing things, etc

chrisw

To add on to soccerguy, whether something is "worthwhile" depends on what you do. If you just need to do busywork all day, the job just kind of sucks. But many officer positions in clubs give you real world experience. For example, as publicity manager of a campus group, I was responsible for a 20% increase in ticket sales to our spring musical, and I helped to get us national press coverage; as secretary/librarian, I came up with a method of attendance gathering that decreased lateness among the 35 member group by nearly 75% over the course of 3 months; as vice president, I managed a new member class of 20 people (the largest we had had in the past fifteen years) with minimal attrition (the marker of success in that role). All of those jobs went on my resume and helped to prove that I would be able to succeed in the business world; the fact that they weren't paid positions was irrelevant.

notaznguy

They don't hurt. But don't expect them to be tremendously as useful as a summer internship with a major company.

At best, they show you have a personality and are capable of some leadership/management.

Whatdidyou

How many hours are you actually spending?

In actuality: It is probably considered less useful than a regular job in a supervisory role. At the same time, if you don't have ANY past leadership positions, a club officer position can help. But it also depends on what you actually do - if you're actually spending all that "time" leading, good, you're gaining skills. If you are just organizing, your title of club officer is just that, a title, and you may be better off just getting a paid clerical position elsewhere.

aigiqinf

Not all positions are created equal and time committed isn't the best metric. Also, context matters. If you want to be in business, join business-relevant clubs and/or gain business-relevant positions. It isn't just about putting something on your resume, but learning skills.

Serving in an LGBT position is expected for a lot of nonprofit and advocacy work for LGBT, but is irrelevant for 99% of businesses. Becoming an Editor of an Undergraduate Research Journal is certainly helpful for graduate school (as distinct from professional schools) and research position, but may not be relevant for other fields.

doctarini

If you like business join Business Professionals of America!!! I hold a state level office position in BPA its awesome!!!


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