If you have done volunteer work for a political candidate's organization and wish to put it on your resume, what's the best way to do so without potentially offending someone of the opposing parties? In years past, I would say that it wouldn't be too detrimental to place the organization you volunteered for but with how divided the US has been lately, I'd be worried that it could impact the reviewer's decision. What do you do in the event that the reviewer brings it up during an interview?
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2I think it really depends on the job and how much else you have going on on your CV.– HelenaCommented Dec 17, 2019 at 19:02
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2If you've spent a chunk of time doing work-like activities as a volunteer instead of paying work, you may feel it necessary to include it. If you do, try to play up the actual activities of professional relevance. Many organizations that generate controversy also have either paid staff or aligned equivalents which have paid staff, so there are also literal jobs which will trigger negative reactions in some, "whatever" from others, and positive reactions from some. You have to consider details like the importance to your work history and likely reception in a given location/industry.– Chris StrattonCommented Dec 17, 2019 at 19:50
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Are you a college student? How much actual professional work experience do you have otherwise?– Stephan BranczykCommented Dec 17, 2019 at 20:22
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1If this volunteer work isn't directly related to the job you're applying for then leave it off. It's irrelevant.– joeqwertyCommented Dec 18, 2019 at 1:13
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1 Answer
If you have done volunteer work for a political candidate's organization and wish to put it on your resume, what's the best way to do so without potentially offending someone of the opposing parties?
Don't mention the political party. If you need to list this experience, you can write something like:
Volunteer for John Doe's 2019 campaign
In the US, unless the candidate is very popular or controversial, most people would not know the candidate's party affiliation just by reading or hearing their name. If an interviewer asks for the candidate's political party, that would be a red flag for me, and likely not a company I would want to work for ( even if the candidate belonged to the 'correct' party ).
Of course, any issues could be avoided by simply leaving this volunteer work off of your resume. Unless the work you did is directly applicable to the position that you are applying to, there is no benefit in adding this information.
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4even for local candidates; the sort of person who would penalize you for supporting a certain political party can just google the name offline and find out what they ran as. Commented Dec 17, 2019 at 23:22