Pi Sigma Epsilon's graduates continue to have 100-percent job placement record
Pi Sigma Epsilon, despite being a smaller fraternity with only 37 active members, boasts of a statistic no other fraternity on campus can claim: 100-percent internship or career placement within three months of graduation.
The average placement is an entry-level job with a pay of $40,000 a year at several major companies such as ADP, AT&T and Columbus Global.Pi Sigma Epsilon is the only national coeducational fraternity that specializes in the development of professional sales and sales management students.
Ken Cherry, the faculty adviser for Pi Sigma Epsilon, said attracting companies to Central Michigan University was not easy in the beginning.
"Most companies, when they're recruiting colleges, just stop at Michigan State because you can find about anything at Michigan State," Cherry said. "But once they started to hire students from Central Michigan, they've always come back."
Cherry said PSE has made its mark by dominating sales competitions throughout the nation since its formation in 2009, in turn attracting a flock of businesses to CMU's PSE.
In the competitions, students are assigned a situation and are commonly required to sell a product to a "buyer" who scores them on their performance. A separate panel of judges also scores the performance.
PSE's first competition took place when the group had only nine active members. They were the smallest fraternity in the competition, competing against an Ohio State fraternity with 40 members, a 55-member fraternity from Miami University of Ohio and several larger fraternities.
They came away from the competition with a win. Pi Sigma Epsilon President Mark Gustin, a Greenville senior, said that victory put PSE on the map.
"That was the only time we were underdogs," Gustin said. "Now, everybody knows who we are. We have a reputation."
Vice President of Human Resources Adam London, a member of Pi Sigma Epsilon, said the CMU fraternity is starting to be recognized as one of the top branches of PSE in the nation.
"Ann Devine, who is the national executive director of the fraternity, literally told us last competition that our chapter was the benchmark," London said. "Other chapters were being compared to us."
Cherry said such results are because of the fraternity members' heavy preparation before the competition, averaging 20 hours of practice for one 12-minute presentation.
Cherry said it isn't always easy keeping all 37 members motivated. Motivation almost comes naturally now because of the prestige Pi Sigma Epsilon has earned, but it's also because of the high expectations they are expected to fulfill.
"You have to run it like a business," Cherry said. "You have to. You have to demand excellence from people. Feel free to show them the trophy case; tell them that this is what is expected."
Cherry said he doesn't expect the 100-percent job placement to end any time soon.
"It's going to last until I die," Cherry said. "We are now the team to beat"
