Can contributing to a website that has objectionable content hurt job applications?

Question

I'm looking for a new job. Hopefully one that is full time and permanent in the tech industry. I normally include links to websites I have contributed to/made. A group of my friends are making a website. The website is very informal and doesn't really have main theme. A friend wrote a fictional story and people want to add it to the website. The fictional story is very conservative and could be interpreted as sexist given the gender stereotypes. For example the story has a society where women are expected to have children at a young age. Typically I am the one who uploads the content and adds it to the website. I would like to put a link to it on my resume/job applications.

Could this hurt my chances of getting hired? The story is about 250 pages long, should I carefully read through the whole thing myself and make a decision if I find it offensive?

Answer 1

Could this hurt my chances of getting hired?

Of course it could, though there is no way for us to tell if it will.

For right or for wrong, there's a saying that goes "You are known by the company you keep."

You need to decide ahead of time if the kinds of employers you are seeking would find this content objectionable or not. If so, you might decide to omit the link to this site from your resume. Or, you might decide not to be party to this sort of material.

And of course some employers would not care about the slant of the creative writing on the website.

You'll need to use your insight into your potential employers to decide what to do.

Answer 2

Could this hurt my chances of getting hired?

It could. Will it? That's anyone's guess.

The fact that you've asked the question tells me that you think it will hurt your chances, so don't include it. Find some other way of demonstrating your work.

Answer 3

Ideologies in economics usually don't scale. That is why there are a ton of efforts to flatten/neutralize ideologies, such as "Diversity and Inclusion" and so on.

Personally, I would refrain from referencing to publications that have an ideological weight (and are not scientifically proven).

Answer 4

I'll echo the other answers in saying "Could it? Yes. Will it? Who knows?".

The new information I'll provide is to say that, unless you are doing significant, important, related work to the job you are seeking, I would omit it from the resume. You are seeking a software development job; you explained your relationship to this website as mainly a content manager. Those are not related responsibilities, so I would omit it. Aside from the issue you raised, it also takes up space on your resume that could better be used for detailing other things related to the position you're seeking, to become more attractive to the employer.

That said, top tech companies have a way of finding these sorts of things out anyway (even if they're not told directly by the person) and firing people once they do. I feel like your problem may go deeper than simply this, and you may have to make a decision in the not-too-distant future between your friends and your job*. An alternate plan of action that you might want to consider in light of this would be to ignore the fact that some companies may find the content offensive, and to say "ok, I don't want to work for those types of companies anyway" and use this link on your resume as a screening tool: "I only want to be employed by companies which will look at this site and its content and decide that the content is not objectionable".

Another way to look at it is that, the story is 250 pages, and nobody who isn't actually looking is going to read a 250 page story to screen a job applicant, that sounds ridiculous to say out loud. So maybe don't even worry about it?

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<*> If this choice is given to you, always choose your friends. Your friends are the people who will be by your side, through thick and thin, when you need them to help you out with whatever your life throws at you. Your company is a faceless, emotionless entity who will just as soon throw you out the door on your butt with nothing at the drop of a hat. I've seen too many times when people throw away their friends on a promise and a prayer and get burned by it, and the fallout is not pretty. Always choose your friends.