With so much going on in today’s political climate, it’s hard not to speak up and share your opinions and support for causes on social media. But could this digital activism be impacting your job hunt? Jason Thatcher and colleagues found that political statements on social media affected how hiring managers evaluated candidates. 

Most notably, they found that the more similar a candidate’s political views were to the hiring manager’s, the more hireable they were considered, and the more different, the less hireable they were considered. This pattern of polarization calls for mindfulness on the company’s side of these potential biases that impact the hiring process, and for caution on the applicant’s side in regards to how their statements on social media may be perceived.