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If you’re applying for a job, think twice before posting politically charged content on social media.

Jason Thatcher

As the political landscape in the U.S. becomes increasingly polarized, contentious posts and heated debates on social media are reaching far beyond the online realm. They now profoundly affect the hiring process. 

Recent research from Jason Thatcher, professor of organizational leadership and information analytics at the Leeds School of Business, indicates that a person's political views, as expressed online, can significantly influence their employability.

“Your political orientation as a self-disclosed characteristic is being seen more and more like a personality trait among potential employers,” Thatcher said.

Social media has long been a tool for vetting job candidates. According to a , 70% of employers said they researched potential job candidates on social media, and 57% of them found content that led them to reject an applicant. But the main reasons for rejection were inappropriate photos; posts about drinking, using drugs or criminal behavior; discriminatory comments related to race, gender or religion; lying about qualifications and poor communication skills. Politics didn’t make the list in 2018.

Given deepening political tensions in the U.S., Thatcher is currently researching how social media posts about polarizing political topics, particularly immigration, can affect whether a job applicant secures an interview. Initial findings suggest that such posts can overshadow a candidate's relevant qualifications, making an interview less likely.

“If you post a really inflammatory comment about immigration, be it conservative or liberal, if I'm on the hiring side, I sometimes ignore all the other information that I find about your ability to do the job,” he said.

Thatcher’s research team chose to focus on immigration because it’s a highly divisive topic, but he said there are others that would likely produce similar results.

“I would suspect the Jan. 6 invasion of the U.S. Capitol, because it violated so many norms, could be a really problematic topic. Abortion is also a really tough issue,” he said. “Frankly, I think we all agree to disagree on these issues. We recognize people have different points of view. But it's the rhetoric and venom tied to them that makes them particularly inflammatory.”

Thatcher said sharing divisive political views online signals to employers that a candidate may be hard to work with or is going to pick a fight. His advice for job seekers? “Make everything private for the next six months...and scrub your last eight years if you have to.”

The broader implications of this research are stark: Biases inevitably arise as hiring managers pick up on political cues from job candidates, Thatcher said.

Political affiliation isn’t a protected class under federal law, although including California, Louisiana and South Carolina prohibit some form of political affiliation discrimination in the private sector. Others, including Colorado, offer limited protections on “political activity,” such as attending a rally or signing a petition. In some states, although not many, refusing to hire someone because their social media activity reveals they support a certain candidate for president could be considered illegal.

“Ethically, politicized information should not affect your opportunities in the workplace,” Thatcher said, adding that employers should judge signs of character based on the interview. But the reality, he says, is “what you post will affect your opportunities.”

How doxing affects hiring

Thatcher’s research also examines how doxing—in which private or sensitive information is maliciously shared online—also poses a serious risk for job candidates. 
In a recent study in the , he and other researchers looked at how job candidates' political affiliations and online information, including information obtained through doxing, can sway potential employers’ perceptions.

For instance, a politically contentious Facebook post could be anonymously submitted to an employer to sabotage a job candidate's chances. This trend has become increasingly concerning as doxing incidents rise, Thatcher said. According to the Anti-Defamation League, 27% of American adults have experienced severe harassment online, which includes doxing.

In the study, participants were asked to review fictional resumes for a managerial position alongside either positive or negative political content linked to job candidates. When the information was obtained through doxing, participants exhibited increased suspicion toward the candidate, suggesting a lack of trust in victims of doxing compared to those evaluated through traditional human resources screenings. This led to concerns about the candidate’s potential to represent the organization well and fears of public retaliation. 

“The mere fact that that content exists...results in employers looking at you with greater suspicion," Thatcher said.

He added that doxing (short for “dropping documents”) can have long-term impacts on your employability and emphasized: “It can affect whether you can ever find work again.” 

Advice for job seekers

The implications of this research are clear: Job applicants should be cautious about politically provacative social media posts. In turn, Thatcher said, organizations need to limit social media screenings to professional platforms like LinkedIn, where they are most likely to find job relevant information.

Here’s what job seekers should do:

• Be prepared for screening. Given that more than two-thirds of employers say they screen potential job candidates on social media, be ready. Clean up your social media presence well before starting your job search.
• Be prepared for the unexpected. You never know who may approach potential employers with information you’ve posted—or the spin they will put on that information if it is a dox—so prepare to answer uncomfortable questions.
• Limit personal information. Once something is posted, you lose control over how it may be used. Be careful when posting pictures and content that disclose information about your family and friends or where you live.
• Always consider how your posts might make others feel. It’s likely OK to post political content if you use a measured tone, Thatcher said, but “it’s more problematic when you post negatively about people who don’t share your opinion or party affiliation.”
• Actively manage your online presence. Make sure your Facebook, Instagram and other social media profiles are set to private. And when it comes to job searching, remember: “Getting your foot in the door gets harder if you post politicized content,” Thatcher said.