By Jenny Boylan

Soon-to-be college graduates will be searching for jobs all over the country and joining a fraternity might just be the trick to land a job.

About 20 honor, leadership or service societies have on-campus chapters at UK. Brooke Brown, the assistant director of the Stuckert Career Center, said membership in an honor fraternity is a great way to intrigue future employers.

Brown said if students get involved in an honor society, they should take on leadership roles and volunteer opportunities. Employers do consider GPAs, but it is not the number one thing they look at, Brown said.

According to the Association of College Honor Societies Web site, societies of the ACHS are diverse, “From business to physics, mathematics to music, these organizations exist for one primary purpose: to encourage and honor superior scholarship and leadership achievement.”

Rebecca Street, president of the UK chapter of the Phi Sigma Pi national honor fraternity, said there is more to being a part of this type of organization than just to benefit a resume.

“Phi Sigma Pi meets weekly and we have events all of the time, focusing on scholarship, leadership, which we do through service, and fellowship, which we do through social events,” she said.  “For Phi Sigma Pi, it’s not only a chance to distinguish one’s self, but also to meet other like-minded people.

When it comes down to it though, Street does believe being a part of her fraternity serves job seekers a great bonus.

“As a national organization Phi Sigma Pi bolsters any kind of resume,” Street said.

Phillip Kraemer, chair of the Chellgren Center for Undergraduate Excellence, said the purpose of an honorary society is to help create a culture of student excellence.

“Such a culture is consistent with UK’s aspiration to become one of the best public research universities in the country,” Kraemer said.

Being in an honor society will also help separate students from other job seekers.

“In a world in which college degrees are commonplace, where competition for employment among college graduates is intensifying, any attribute that distinguishes one student from another confers a meaningful competitive advantage upon the honoree,” Kraemer said.