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Job Interviews Get Political

11% of Executive Job Seekers Report Being Asked Bush or Kerry? <Back

NEW YORK (October 11, 2004) - While party preference in the voting booth is still sacrosanct, it may not be in the job interview chamber, according to a survey conducted by executive job search engine TheLadders.com. When asked: "Have you ever been asked to state your voting intention for this year's presidential race during an interview?" 11% of the survey's 736 respondents said, "yes."

The majority (89%) of those seeking new employment this election season, have not been asked who they are voting for. However, for the 11% that have found themselves in this situation, the outcome has not generally been good.

"Personal politics should be avoided at all costs in the hiring process," explained TheLadders.com founder and president Marc Cenedella. "Even though the topic can be hard to avoid during this year's contentious election, job seekers should know that such a polarizing topic can be a powder keg in a job interview. Based on personal accounts provided by some of our survey respondents, the end-result of a politically-themed interview is rarely positive."

Intrusive as it may be, it is not illegal for recruiters and hiring managers to ask job candidates about their voting preferences. Cenedella recommends the following advice to job-seekers who find themselves staring down a hiring manager who wants to know where you stand politically:

  • Avoid being controversial at all costs.
  • Try deflecting the question by making reference to how divisive this electoral race has been. Mention your two neighbors who have embarked on a Hatfield and McCoy-like feud with Bush and Kerry signs lining their lawns; then say you'd just as soon avoid getting into that kind of battle in the interviewer's office.
  • Do your homework. It's possible that your prospective employer is a very public supporter of one candidate. Knowing that going in could help the process, but you still want to avoid engaging in such a potentially heated line of conversation. And, beware that not everyone in the company (e.g. the HR manager who's interviewing you) may share the company's public stance regarding politics.

The survey of registered $100k+ executives was conducted by TheLadders.com from September 16, 2004 through September 20, 2004. The margin of error is +/- 3.6%.

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About TheLadders.com
Headquartered in New York, TheLadders.com, Inc. is a privately held company offering online job search services to recruiters and job seekers in the $100k+ employment market. Ex-HotJobs.com executive Marc Cenedella founded TheLadders.com in 2003 to address the unique job seeking and recruiting requirements in this market sector. Investors include leading venture capital firm Matrix Partners and prominent private investors such as Kevin Ryan, CEO, DoubleClick, Tom Matlack, Megunticook Management, and Robert Chefitz, NJTC Venture Fund.

In addition to its primary member-based site, the Company operates vertical job search Web sites for sales, marketing, finance, human resources, law, technology, and operations. All sites feature daily job updates as well as industry-specific weekly e-newsletters. For corporate and executive recruiters, TheLadders.com delivers the same highly personalized experience. TheLadders for Recruiters (www.recruitladder.com) enables them to easily post $100k+ job openings at no charge. The Company further differentiates itself from other online job boards that fall prey to fraudulent job postings by implementing human mediated search, ensuring all job postings are fully qualified before being published to members.

More information about TheLadders.com can be accessed at www.theladders.com.

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Media Contacts
Maria Schiller
TheLadders.com
646-453-1913
maria.schiller@theladders.com