Researchers Warn That Your Political Ideology May Affect Job Offers (techtarget.com) 261
dcblogs writes: Employees are discussing national politics in the workplace now more than ever, according to two new surveys. Politics has been on the rise since the 2016 election. But political leanings may be more than an office irritation. Managers tend to hire people of similar ideology, and doing so could create a hiring bias, according to researchers at Texas A&M. "It is becoming more common to learn and make inferences about an applicant's political ideology, particularly given information sources such as social media," said Andrew Johnson, assistant professor of management in the College of Business at Texas A&M University in Corpus Christi. It's easy to separate those perceived as "different," he said. Hiring managers may not feel hiring this is wrong. There are employment discrimination protections for gender, race, religion and other characteristics. But political affiliations are not a protected class under the law.
I know what they mean (Score:5, Funny)
I wore a red MAGA hat to all my job interviews and I didn't get a single offer except from the NRA and Russian Embassy.
Re:I know what they mean (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I know what they mean (Score:4, Insightful)
Zing! But who thought the day would come when you could wear a Red Hat hat to IBM and get offers? I didn't.
Re: (Score:3)
I always assumed I'd have to wear my Big Blue one.
I wish I had worn MAGA instead of Red Hat (Score:3)
I walked in wearing my Linux creds and got hired.
After I started working there, three things surprised me:
They immediately sent me to a local Microsoft office for several days of training.
Microsoft offered us Apples at snack time.
The office decor of the large company that hired me resembled a San Francisco pride parade.
Had I excused myself to go to the bathroom during the interview, I would have noticed that posters lining the walls between the conference room and the bathroom promoted not excellence and te
HR hates any sort of extremist (Score:4, Interesting)
I wore a red MAGA hat to all my job interviews and I didn't get a single offer except from the NRA and Russian Embassy.
Quoting you [110010001000] for extra visibility because of your troll mods. I'd give you an extra Funny if I ever got one to give, but if Slashdot wanted to improve the quality of the moderation they could start by yanking the mods of obvious trolls.
Then I wrote a long comment about the hiring process in a large 3-letter company where I worked in the HR department. Then Slashdot lost the entire thing. It would be nice if that ancient bug were fixed. ROFLMAO.
Just to summarize, the people who made those decisions would instantly and gladly veto the hiring of any candidate who seemed likely to cause workplace conflict. Would not matter which way they leaned. Detecting any tilt would be the end of it.
The funniest part was my own work history and how I got past the guardians, but my time's up and I need to run.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
For sure. I line the inside of my hat with it.
Re: (Score:3)
Sure, our government's constant negging on Ukraine has nothing to do with Russian influence. Remind me again why Ukraine is even on our radar?
Re:Wrong Hat (Score:5, Insightful)
Such as giving Derapaska a free ride?
Such as ending the arms embargo?
Such as holding up Ukraine selfdefense money while Putin attacked?
You're a SPECIAL kind of stupid, yes?
Pulling out of Iran nuke deal
Pulling out of Syria
Alienating Nato allies
Trying to send a Fox news anchor as UN delegate
Alienating North American neighbors.
Asking that Russia be admitted back into the "G7"
Wishing Shinzo Abe happy birthday (on Putins actual birthday)
Believing Putin over our own collective intelligence agencies, and proclaiming as much on world television.
Pushing a trade war with China that hurts our domestic producers.
Sending letters to foreign leaders that look like they were written by a 4th grader :
https://boingboing.net/2019/10... [boingboing.net]
Politics an interview topic now? (Score:2)
Re:Politics an interview topic now? (Score:5, Insightful)
Social media stalking. How many normal users set their privacy correctly?
Re:Politics an interview topic now? (Score:5, Insightful)
Hell, do one even better, AVOID social media entirely, especially Facebook.
They can't find it...if you don't do it.
Re:Politics an interview topic now? (Score:5, Interesting)
Hell, do one even better, AVOID social media entirely, especially Facebook.
They can't find it...if you don't do it.
that only works only if what you are going saying on social media would make your chances at being employed lower than not having any, which is likely to raise suspicions these days.
someone should really make a startup running and selling multiple social media accounts with fake relatives and babies and cat pics and margarita at the beach photos and memes and blurred lights in the dark while driving photos and everything so it looks genuine. then you would be able to buy one and pose as a normie to your prospective employers. :)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
...that only works only if what you are going saying on social media would make your chances at being employed lower than not having any, which is likely to raise suspicions these days.
Raise suspicions of what exactly?
Re: (Score:3)
that only works only if what you are going saying on social media would make your chances at being employed lower than not having any, which is likely to raise suspicions these days.
I've had more job interviews over my long career than most, and never had anyone even mention my complete lack of social media presence (other than Linkedin, which is strictly my resume). I think you're being a bit paranoid.
It has been sound hiring advice for over a century to hide any clues as to politics or religion or social clubs, and not actively bring up which school you went to. All of those things can get you not-hired simply because the hiring manager hates X or Y, but none of those things will g
Re: (Score:3)
If you mean: shut up altogether over the internet, you have just re-invented censorship. Only this one is not state-originated, but corporation-originated.
If you mean: don't talk politics on social media, then this is not what happens. The "social" media are everywhere on the web, spying along on every page that has ads, or uses a javascript library, and stalk you everywhere.
You want to search for a job using a search engine? Either use one that is privacy-friendly, or don't get the offers you should get. A
Re: (Score:3)
Hence the old advice to post anonymously on the web. Or not post at all. There is a social life outside computers. The argument against posting stuff with your real name or being doxed predates largely those idiotic social media. Especially if you have to post stupid stuff like politics, religion or your drunken parties.
Re: (Score:2)
There was a time, back before Facebook took over the world, when people only ever used pseudonyms on the internet. Often many different names, so one circle of contacts may not find out about another.
Suricou Raven isn't just a name: It's a species surname. I do not want co-workers finding out I am a furry. I especially don't want them finding the, er, 'art' I commissioned of my characters.
Re: Politics an interview topic now? (Score:3, Funny)
sick, sad world (alt- "OW, MY BALLS!") (Score:2)
What a world, what a world...
Re: (Score:2)
What's better, from a security stand point? An encrypted stream of SOMETHING, the absence of anything, or "something" innocuous?
By all means use social media, but really understand HOW to use it; like an informal resume free of anything controversial. No politics. Light kid stuff, interesting work stuff ( ran into this problem today...this is how I solved it... ). Leave a trail of bread crumbs for future employers to find that describe you as you wish them to think you should be described ( competent, f
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Politics an interview topic now? (Score:5, Informative)
I don't know how or why an interview would evolve to the level of politics, unless of the office variety.
What TFA says is that employers MAY look at social media to determine political views. It doesn't have to come up in the interview to have an effect.
But TFA is conjecture based on a few surveys. People "feel" that politics is discussed in the workplace more than in the past. TFA has no evidence that politics is actually influencing hiring decisions.
Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
If I was interviewing and they brought up politics chances are I wouldn't want to work there no matter who they where supporting.
You should never defecate where you eat.
That means leave your politics at home and don't date co-workers.
This has been true for awhile (Score:5, Insightful)
A good reason to be politically neutral in your professional life. And not have your boss as a Facebook friend. (Well, there's lots of reasons why that's a bad idea, of which this is one.)
Re: (Score:2)
Or not have Facebook at all.
Re: (Score:2)
What is Facebook?
Re:This has been true for awhile (Score:5, Funny)
It is a website to rank women on their hotness level by over-privileged geeks at Harvard.
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
Neutrality isn't sufficient; it is equivalent to taking the 5th. You need a public profile that firmly establishes you as a gender confused, pansexual anti-capitalist nazi punching group-thinker.
And be sure to contribute to (D)s frequently. You're contributions are public record so if you ever gave to an (R) you're fucked.
Re: (Score:2)
But that excludes you from any (R) manged enterprises. There are still a few.
Re: (Score:3)
But that excludes you from any (R) manged enterprises.
No, it doesn't. This isn't a two way street. If a (R) manged enterprise fails to hire you they face liability through some form of discrimination, so their hiring practices are inherently very neutral.
Re:This has been true for awhile (Score:5, Insightful)
But that excludes you from any (R) manged enterprises.
No, it doesn't. This isn't a two way street. If a (R) manged enterprise fails to hire you they face liability through some form of discrimination, so their hiring practices are inherently very neutral.
That's ... ok, that's a good point. So you're arguing that the safest thing is to be a flaming liberal, because even conservative establishments would hire you out of fear of retaliation.
My problem is that I have strong, classic libertarian opinions. I remain "in the closet" because typically both parties hate us. I'd been getting along in the past by confining my conversations with liberals to social freedoms, and my conversations with conservatives to fiscal responsibility, areas where I can agree with the standard planks of either party.
But things have changed. What is called "liberal" these days may be desirous of some forms of social freedom but appear to be violently (literally, violently) opposed to others. It's become a minefield. Similarly, what's called "conservative" in this day and age could be called classically conservative in some respects and progressive in others. Another minefield.
And so, I've adopted a policy of political neutrality. Oh, occasionally I'll insert an actual provable fact into a heated political conversation going on around me, but even that's been risky.
I can't truthfully say that this is the best strategy. But I don't think I could pretend to be a Pelosi liberal for any length of time even to keep my job. I think my eyes bleeding would probably give me away. Similarly I couldn't pretend to be a McConnell conservative for long without my head exploding.
And by the way, this DOESN'T make me a "centrist". True libertarians have strong opinions. But in this age of antifa and "radical right", it's not always safe to express them.
Re: (Score:3)
I have strong, classic libertarian opinions
You mean like Dejacque and other 19th century libertarians?
Or did you mean "classical liberal" which Rothbard et al misappropriated the name "libertarian" for in the mid-20th century?
Re: (Score:3)
Nobody sane hires those people, either. You need to just shut your yap about politics online when using your name.
You can go on twitter and see the typical Blue Hairs and how they get fired from job after job, burning bridge after bridge and continue to think _everyone else_ is the asshole. Eventually even the people most sympathetic to their ideals will stop hiring them.
Re: (Score:3)
And not have your boss as a Facebook friend. (Well, there's lots of reasons why that's a bad idea, of which this is one.)
I have a strict policy of not having ANY of my current coworkers as friends on Facebook. It's not personal. I do have several former coworkers & 2 of my bosses as friends on Facebook though.
Excellent! (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
I should be allowed
You should be but you won't. The malcontent you fail to hire will claim some form of race, gender or sexual identity discrimination and wreck you in court.
Re: (Score:2)
Unfortunately we can no longer afford to keep you because we lost that contract... you know the one you protested.
Hiring is expensive (Score:4, Insightful)
Linus' Great Pumpkin rules... (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm just old enough to remember before this insipid social media craze that people kept their personal thoughts to themselves in professional or even mixed social environments.
It's not a NEW problem, it's an ancient one that's been a societal problem since man built societies.
To wit you follow Linus' (of Peanuts fame) words of wisdom -
"There are 3 things you never discuss in mixed company, Politics, Religion and the Great Pumpkin"
But no - now we all have to "woke" and plop our feelings and beliefs on the table for validation - except, of course, when that offends other "woke" people and demands those statements be taken off the table. Then that leads to people being removed from social groups and then battle lines are drawn... and then fear and fear leads to suffering... It always happens, it's ALWAYS happened. God, didn't you guys go to high school?! That's all most civilized society is these days and it sucks.
Re: (Score:3)
Is that what you believe? Tell us your personal feelings on the subject.
Re: (Score:3)
Eliza?!
Re: (Score:3)
No. I am a deep-learning Neural Net AI now.
Re: (Score:3)
*ahem* _not_ all that deep
Re: (Score:2)
True. I really am only a few lines of Perl code in reality.
Re: (Score:3)
But no - now we all have to "woke" and plop our feelings and beliefs on the table for validation - except, of course, when that offends other "woke" people and demands those statements be taken off the table. Then that leads to people being removed from social groups and then battle lines are drawn... and then fear and fear leads to suffering... It always happens, it's ALWAYS happened. God, didn't you guys go to high school?! That's all most civilized society is these days and it sucks.
Life is just fine without social media. Hell, I'm certain companies would prefer their employees to not partake in it so they don't have to worry about you using it at work.
Re: (Score:3)
How DARE you mention the Great Pumpkin! I am gourd-kin, and highly offended by your misappropriation of my culture.
Re: (Score:2)
Man, where do you come from? It sounds like a ring in hell.
Re: (Score:3)
You got that right. You see, according to Cocteau's plan... I'm the enemy. Because I like to think, I like to read. I'm into freedom of speech, the freedom of choice. I'm the kind of guy who likes to sit in a greasy spoon and wonder - "Gee, should I have the T-bone steak or the jumbo rack of BBQ ribs with the side order of gravy fries?" I want high cholesterol. I wanna eat bacon and butter and BUCKETS of cheese, okay? I wanna smoke a Cuban cigar the size of Cincinnati in the non-smoking section. I wanna run through the streets naked with green Jell-O all over my body reading Playboy magazine. Why? Because I suddenly might feel the need to, okay, pal? I've SEEN the future. Do you know what it is? It's a 47-year-old virgin sitting around in his beige pajamas, drinking a banana-broccoli shake, singing "I'm an Oscar Mayer Wiener." You live up top, you live Cocteau's way: what he wants, when he wants, how he wants. Your other choice: come down here... and maybe starve to death.
Re:Linus' Great Pumpkin rules... (Score:5, Insightful)
Sadly, it's getting even worse.
Now, simply refusing to play the "pick the right side" game is seen as a betrayal of the "correct" side (I can't really call it the "right" side now, honestly...).
Blizz this year tried to maintain their vaguely worded "don't get political in our esport events" and kick a guy who'd shouted Free Hong Kong! or somesuch. The backlash is FIERCE and ongoing.
A larger example would be Taylor Swift last year...since the 2016 election she refused to participate in the "Daily 2 minutes Hate The President" thing in every tweet and instagram, and she got roasted for it, called a crypto-Trumper, etc. She's nothing if not market-aware, so she quickly flipped and her 'market message' now is resolutely with the 'resistance' to that Devil Trump. I expect it's entirely marketing driven, and the reality is that she'd tried to stay out for the same reasons (or hell, maybe she is a crypto-Trumper? I don't give a shit..used to be we didn't care about their politics if they sang pretty...).
Remember how we laughed about how stupid and simplistic Bush II's comment "you're either with us or against us" was? Now that's the mantra du jour, and it's apparently ok if you're talking about the right set of beliefs.
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:3)
Your co-workers are simply irrational, i.e. they refuse to apply their intelligence (such as it may be) to analyze what is going on. The hallmark of all fanatics, great and small.
Re:Linus' Great Pumpkin rules... (Score:4, Interesting)
Indeed. It is like virtually-signalling has gone from a very bad and stupid thing to a thing that is now required to be done by anybody decent and proper. The mind boggles.
Re: (Score:2)
But no - now we all have to "woke" and plop our feelings and beliefs on the table for validation
You're co-opting a modern slang term (woke) without understanding. The word itself is about awareness (as opposed to ignorance). Anyone who thinks it's about their own feelings is doing it wrong.
Re: (Score:2)
He was using it in a disparaging manner that has recently become popular with certain Fox News commentators - especially when talking about anything President Obama did.
Re: (Score:3)
You don't need to measure things to define them. "Cold" is a readily convenient word for a temperature range that is absolutely subjective and completely depends on context. Usage defines the word, but making fun of a word is not usage. Talking about a word does not define it - that can only happen among the people who actually use the word.
Re: Linus' Great Pumpkin rules... (Score:3)
Except for when there were massive worker revolts for the minimum wage, eliminating child labor, workplace safety, women's access to many jobs...
I mean the formation of unions in and of themselves were nothing but injecting politics into the workplace.
Bus boycotts in the South during the Civil Rights era. The lunch counter sit ins.
Or is politics only okay for business OWNERS like Chick-Fil-A who donated to anti-LGBTQ causes up until very recently? Or the owner of Papa John's who regularly makes public polit
Re: (Score:3)
Those are good rules and this is not a disagreement, but a discussion. Short answer, don't discuss things with the "woke." I have had very serious political discussions at work with co-workers who disagree. They key was choosing conversation partners who respected me as a person, who knew I valued them as a person more than my own opinions, and being appropriately respectful of all viewpoints during the conversations. I wouldn't say hearts and minds were won, but it gave us both a deeper appreciation fo
...but sports teams are ok? (Score:3)
Seriously, what's the difference in the mindset that makes people smash something when their team loses, and the one that smashes something because of politics?
I really enjoy the lack of give-a-shit that I have for politics and sports. It makes it easier to get along with everyone.
Re: (Score:2)
Politics affects your daily life in a positive/negative way. Sports do not (unless you are in the industry itself).
Re: (Score:2)
> Politics affects your daily life in a positive/negative way.
Hardly federal. State and Local have greater impact on your daily life.
I doubt that people have noticed much change in their daily life since 2016.
Re: (Score:2)
Re:...but sports teams are ok? (Score:4, Insightful)
Get back to me when quarterbacks can tell me what I can or can not build on my own land, or decide what marginal tax bracket I fall in.
LinkedIn /= Facebook (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:LinkedIn /= Facebook (Score:5, Interesting)
No kidding - I'm amazed at how much pontificating goes on in LinkedIn when it should be a strictly professional resource - people link their instagram accounts to it and everything.
I've got a friend that runs his own company by day and by night is a hog rider in a motorcycle group and got a tattoo on his arm (that you can't see when he's clothed) that his sister took a pic of and put on her facebook group and tagged his name on it, which tagged his professional facebook page and he had to scramble to call her up to take it down!
Re: (Score:2)
To be fair to the people who do this - LinkedIn has been (mostly ineffectively) trying to turn itself into Facebook for the past 5-10 years.
The only people that cause problems in work place (Score:3, Insightful)
I am conservative, but my two major concerns are pollution and homelessness. Always said, you fix pollution. You will go a long way to fixing climate change. Homeless? Quit spending money on fucking pie in the sky dream solutions, and spend the money helping those that need it most.
And, work is just not a good place to talk politics. Did you see on t.v., yea. Np. Details and differences of opinions should be left at the gate.
Andrew Johnson - he was destined for this research (Score:2)
"It is becoming more common to learn and make inferences about an applicant's political ideology, particularly given information sources such as social media," said Andrew Johnson, assistant professor of management in the College of Business at Texas A&M University in Corpus Christi.
If you're named after the Impeachment OG, I suppose it makes sense to think hard about such things!
What's old is new again... (Score:5, Insightful)
No hippies need apply.
Help wanted. No long hairs.
Jacket and tie required.
There have been ways to "imply" political bias since Ung chose not to hire Arrr, because he used a stick instead of a rock.
Re:What's old is new again... (Score:5, Insightful)
And the sign said "Long-haired freaky people need not apply"
So I tucked my hair up under my hat and I went in to ask him why
He said "You look like a fine upstanding young man, I think you'll do"
So I took off my hat, I said "Imagine that. Huh! Me workin' for you!"
Whoa-oh-oh
Sign, sign, everywhere a sign
Blockin' out the scenery, breakin' my mind
Do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign?
--Five Man Electrical Band
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, Tesla was a great group.
still discriminatory (Score:2)
I suspect you would have a hard time not running afoul of discrimination based on 'religion' and 'ethnicity' if you decimate based on political bias for the same reason do if you discriminate against say 'income level of parents'. Because often 1 can have high co-oration to another.
for example if you refuse to hire those who 'lean democrat' you are also refusing to hire more then 90% of people who identify as 'black'.
https://www.pewsocialtrends.or... [pewsocialtrends.org]
So doing so will still get you sued out of business becau
Re: (Score:3)
Political disagreements kill projects (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
But don't you run into the place becoming an echo chamber then?
Is it not better to have a diversity of opinions and such?
Especially if the company makes real public facing products and services.
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Always been true. (Score:4, Insightful)
Okay as long as ... (Score:3)
Employees are discussing national politics in the workplace now more than ever, according to two new surveys.
As long as they don't discuss religion or Amway ...
Political stance already affects the news feed (Score:3)
No shit (Score:3)
No shit
Another danger of oversharing (Score:5, Insightful)
I know it's the Second Dotcom Bubble and anyone who can fog a mirror has a job now, but just wait until the next recession hits. It'll be an employer's market again and all that trash you talked on LinkedIn is going to end up on every HR drone's search results. We didn't have this back in 2000, so this will be a BIG wake up call for the tech sector employees.
I freely admit I'm old (44) but I truly don't understand what drives people to share everything about themselves for all the world to see. It can't be ignorance about privacy settings on Facebook (which has even made the meme rounds with grandparents passing the "secret advice" around.) People are even getting into comment wars on LinkedIn of all places...which is basically supposed to be stapled to your job application along with your resume these days.
To get hired, unless you really want to work for some activist organization of any stripe that would consider your beliefs a plus, you need a boring social media profile. You can't have nothing, but your LinkedIn should be a copy of your resume and Facebook, etc. shouldn't even have anything public that could even be considered offensive.
Employers do not want troublemakers. They want interchangeable parts that aren't going to cause issues. Look at Google and how they're explicitly saying their employees shouldn't discuss politics...it's 100% because they have staff cohesion issues. They expect their staff to live at work and the more you see co-workers, the more your personal beliefs have the potential to anger your colleagues.
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
No - it's that everyone to the right of Stalin is a Nazi in your eyes.
Re:It makes sense (Score:5, Insightful)
Do they hire supporters of presidents that start wars that kill tens of thousands of people? Just curious. Name calling is pretty bad though. Someone's feelings might get hurt.
Re: (Score:2)
Re:It makes sense (Score:4, Informative)
Yes. Bush I, II, Clinton, Obama, etc. Those guys were great because they didn't call people names. Just blowed them up real good.
Re: (Score:2)
Oh right. It is not any of their faults we invaded Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, et al. It was their "predecessors". My point is that if your biggest complaint is that Trump calls people names then you have a pretty bizarre view of what is bad behavior. And yeah, fuck Trump, not a fan. But at least he got (tried to get) us out of Syria. I'll take that over name calling any day of the week.
Re: (Score:3)
Still....could have been worse.
We could have gotten stuck with all that with Hillary, and more.
Re: (Score:2)
If a president is only a liar, cheat and name-caller I am calling that an improvement.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Fanboys in general are a bad idea to keep company around. Just because someone votes for Trump doesn't mean him/her are a "Trumper". When working professionally, keep that shit off your sleeve. Getting paid to do a job shouldn't' have to be awkward. Don't ask, don't tell.
THIS!
I'd likely be classified as a "Trumper" by many because I believe he's done great things for the USA.. However, I don't wear that on my sleeve or insist that you listen to me opine about how great a president he is, at least not at work. Work time is for work and I don't care if you think Trump is the devil in bodily form, I'll work with you to get the job done, because getting the job done so I can get paid is more important to my daily life than who's sitting in the Oval Office. I'm not going to wa
Re:It makes sense (Score:5, Insightful)
So you're cool with everyone using that sort of yardstick?
For example, NFL teams not hiring Kaepernick because he's locker-room cancer?
Or people not hiring trans workers because they're giant drama queen narcissists?
Or blacks because, well, we all know they're basically criminals?
Oh wait, are you saying my vague and sweeping generalizations are an unfair characterization of an entire group? Huh.
Re:It makes sense (Score:4, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
LOL when face tattoos started to become popular among the 'Dirt Tribe' (a bunch of modern day hobos riding freight trains up and down west coast), my first thought was, 'definitely NOT looking for a day job'
And... they weren't
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:3)
Thus proving that liberals are bigoted.
Re: I got fired because my entire group went that (Score:3)