This week a comment was posted to my blog asking for advice for a young PR pro who has a number of blog postings published regarding politics.

Here is some of the comment, which was posted by Jennifer Shulz.

“I am a pr student who has quite a history of political involvement. I feel that I cannot personally go into “cave mode” and become uninvolved in politics. I currently do not blog about pr however, just politics.”

“I also am at a loss as how to present this experience on my resume when I am applying to positions that are not necessarily politics-related. I have typed up several versions of my resume, sometimes listing political affiliation and other times not. Should I forgo the listing of my political experience altogether?”

I’ve got a few views on this, which I will share here. But I’d love to open Jennifer’s questions up to the Forward readership. I’ll put forward some advice about political blogging, but resumes aren’t my forte.

It’s important to be aware that anything posted to a blog is in the public domain, so you should assume that it will be noticed by potential employers. Anytime you post something on a blog, make sure you recognise that it can (and will!) be read by anyone at anytime.

Politics is a touchy subject, and one that can cause major differences with potential employers, just as it can with friends and family. But if you feel veryy stongly about something, as Jennifer clearly does, I don’t think you should shy away from adding your voice to the debate.

Personally, I’m extremely interested in politics – but I try not to touch on political issues on my blog. This is because I write my blog for a specific target audience, with a clear topic area. My subject matter is PR in general, and issues facing young PR’s in particular. There is no room for me to push my own political views within that subject area.

I think any employer worth their salt should not be overly concerned about a potential employees political persuasion – so long as it doesn’t impinge on their work performance. If an individual doesn’t offend with their views and those views don’t affect their work, surely it is not right to judge them on this issue?

Also, if you feel that strongly about a political issue – you probably wouldn’t fit in at any employer who would hold your political views against you.

However, there is a definite grey area there where you can get yourself into trouble. Particularly if your public political views run against those of your client.

My advice would be that if you must blog on politics try to be judicious and careful with your postings. Be aware that they can be read by anyone, and try to respect the opinions of others. The thing is – these rules of thumb apply everywhere in the blogosphere, not just posts about politics.

And remember, it’s likely that an employer who wouldn’t hire you because of your blog postings on a particular issue is not going to be one you’ll fit with anyway.

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