To get hired, tone down political references on CV

Rather than improving your chances of getting hired, including your political leanings within your resume may actually put you at a disadvantage in your job hunt, new research says.

"Our results showed that individuals may sometimes place themselves at a disadvantage when they include partisan cues on their resumes," said co-author of the study Thomas Gift from the Duke University in the US.

The study found that applicants who shared the minority partisan view of voters were less likely to receive a callback from an employer than a candidate with a neutral resume.

What is more, sharing information in line with the majority partisan view did not give candidates an advantage either.

For the study, the researchers sent resumes to 1,200 help-wanted ads in two counties: Alameda County in the San Francisco Bay Area, described as very liberal, and Collin County, Texas, dubbed as very conservative.

The assessments were based on voting patterns in the 2008 presidential election.

A third of the resumes contained highly partisan cues in the liberal vein such as worked for "Obama for America," while another third listed conservative political affiliations, such as experience with "Mitt Romney Campaign".

The remaining third of the resumes were neutral and did not include any mention of political experience.

The researchers found that individuals with a neutral resume had better chances of receiving callbacks.

The study appeared in the journal Political behaviour.