It’s an Interview, Not A Debate!

Top aides to former Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez systematically selected, and even manipulated information about applicants when hiring for non-political positions, according to a Justice Department report released on Monday. Monica Goodling, Gonzalez's former White House liaison, violated federal law and department policy by discriminating against applicants who weren't Republican loyalists.
While you may not be seeking employment with the government, your political positions can affect your chance at landing a job.

Employers have adopted a more fastidious approach to conducting background checks and hiring employees over the past few years, says Lewis Maltby, president of the national Workrights Institute, based in Princeton, NJ. "Many will check driving and credit records, but what's becoming more common is the inspection of blogs and Facebook or MySpace pages."

Even if you're a political junkie, the key is to avoid controversy on the web. Most employers will not reject a person for posting a picture of McCain or Obama on their Facebook page, though according to Maltby even that could tip the scales away from you. The same rule applies for applicants going on interviews.

"It's very uncommon for an employer to bring up politics during an interview, but if they do ask you something, you should probably answer it honestly. You don't want to lie during an interview," Maltby says. "But you really shouldn't volunteer any information. You have, at most, 30 minutes to knock someone's socks off, why would you talk about politics?"

When Joe (who requested his last name be omitted), a 24-year-old investment banking analyst from Manhattan who majored in political science at New York University, interviewed at a hedge fund two years ago, he expected to be asked about stocks and investments. The company's CEO, however, was more interested in his opinion on illegal immigration.