Fraternal Influences on Job market chances

PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS As the old saying goes: “it is not what you know, but who you know”! Of course, this is only partially true. If it would be true that you get a job for who you know, then why go to university, or school? Of course, “Who you know” is not the main reason people get chosen. Usually, someone has a certain area of (relative) expertise and because he/she is known, the strengths and weaknesses of the person are known. “What” you know is more or less a threshold criterion, whereas after passing the threshold the “who you know” becomes important. Fraternities, in modern society, consist of a relatively strong group feeling, which often extends to the time after graduation. This research sets out to see if former fraternity members do indeed profit from the network they build during their study time. There are some people we would like to thank, because without them this research would not have been possible. First of all we would like to thank Professor Veenman. His swift replies (usually within 10 minutes) and constructive feedback to our questions made quick progress possible. Also, Drs. Martijn Burger has been a great help with his tips on literature. We would also like to thank de Rotterdamse Kamer Van Verenigingen, RSC, Laurentius, RSG, SSR-R, Gaudium, Carien van der Wal and Alexandra Staab for helping us collect the date. And we are grateful to everyone else who have directly or indirectly contributed to the success of this research. Last but not least, we would like to thank our main sponsors; our parents, for supporting us in accumulating both human and social capital. Jelle Dingemans en Robin Tan, April 2008