partisan political club= dinged by haters?

I founded and lead a political club(think college Dems/Republicans). Should I be worried about people of the opposite political affiliation dinging me just because of this club? I was thinking of replacing the name of the club with something that sounds more generic or general interest. good idea?

I am really worried because I interviewed for sophomore year internship and some asshole interviewer gave me some shit about my political affiliation. Obviously he was not professional, but thats life.

no idea what to do as this is my main EC I was hoping to lift up my resume

11 Comments
 
Best Response

It's a tough situation. If you founded a club and it turned out to be a success, that is great experience. However, anything political is tough. When I interview candidates I would do my best not to hold things like that against them, but it is inevitable that some people will form opinions based on political affiliations.

An MD of mine at my previous employer openly told me that he considers liberals/democrats mentally challenged (not as in special ed, but as in they're just not smart). This guy was the only guy in our department who could sign off on a hiring or firing decision.

Obviously, you would have a hard time getting a job at my previous employer if your club was "Young Liberals of America"

Its a judgement call, but I think I would leave it on if you don't have other great things that could take its place. I would suspect that some would agree with you affiliation, some would disagree, but most wouldn't care too much either way (unless you founded something real extreme).

 

If it's a regular plain vanilla republican / democrat / maybe even libertarian club, it should be fine. If it's Young Fascists, College Communists, or Green Peace, you might have issues. Besides fascist / communist / terrorist banker being a oxymoron, banks don't generally hire crazies.

I'm surprised it was brought up in an interview though (From my "What questions you cannot ask" sheet from my bank, I remember politics is a no-no).

 

...I work in a PM group at a large hedge fund. Our group consists of 6 guys: 3 Democrats, 1 Republican, 1 Libertarian (me), and 1 guy who I am unsure of. For most people the club won't matter, however there certainly are people with inherent biases. For example, if I interviewed you and you were president of the young republicans club I would not want to hire you period. I really couldn't deal with working with somebody who stridently was a supporter of endless war and gigantic government which are the two overriding principals of today's republican party. If you were just a republican i wouldnt care but the fact that you are the president of the club would lead me to believe that supporting these policies is a big part of your life and i just wouldn't want to deal with that shitt. My blood pressure is high enough as it is!

 
Bondarb...I work in a PM group at a large hedge fund. Our group consists of 6 guys: 3 Democrats, 1 Republican, 1 Libertarian (me), and 1 guy who I am unsure of. For most people the club won't matter, however there certainly are people with inherent biases. For example, if I interviewed you and you were president of the young republicans club I would not want to hire you period. I really couldn't deal with working with somebody who stridently was a supporter of endless war and gigantic government which are the two overriding principals of today's republican party. If you were just a republican i wouldnt care but the fact that you are the president of the club would lead me to believe that supporting these policies is a big part of your life and i just wouldn't want to deal with that shitt. My blood pressure is high enough as it is!

That characterization seems a bit strident don't you think? At my fund, it's basically 50/50 Republican/Democrat.

Rather presumptuous statement, considering there are many bankers who are members of the Democratic Party.

The argument can be made that Republicans are fiscally conservative, which is why Wall Street would support them; however, 1) The Republican Party is being held hostage by psychotic social conservatives (and you will find many bankers to be socially liberal) 2) and the Party has not shown a sign of this supposed fiscal conservativeness in the last 8 years.

 

Since it shows leadership qualities, I definitely don't think you should leave it off your resume. Why not just generalize the name - ie. (School Name) Political Club, and generalize any descriptions? If your interviewer asks about the party affiliation, you can then decide if you want to disclose that. Your interviewer(s) will know it's on your resume to show your leadership involvement, not to boast that you are a democrat or republican.

 

You should be proud of what you have done regardless as long as it's something not radical like fascism or Communism... If you are a liberal, you will be liked by liberals and they will be happy to see students are getting involved and are bolstering their cause, however you won't be liked by conservatives.

In my opinion, I think candidate should not be judged by their political views, if I was interviewing candidates that I don't agree with politically, I will not hinder their chances because I disagree with them, but at the same I will be happy to see their leadership qualities that they have earned leading their club.

I have a good example: I heard the other day that there is a Republican CEO that asked his team to follow and to examine Obama Campaign, not because he is interested in him as a politician, rather they wanna use their leadership as a model.

If I were you I will not leave it off my resume.

I do have another question though, what about religious organizations?

 

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