# Workers tweak resumes to match political winds

> Job candidates are adding and removing politically charged language from their resumes around elections to align with employers' views, sometimes winning jobs over more qualified rivals.
- Title: Workers tweak resumes to match political winds | Shortify
- Summary: Job candidates are adding and removing politically charged language from their resumes around elections to align with employers' views, sometimes winning…
- Keywords: joseph pacelli, harvard business school, resume editing, esg language, dei language, political polarization, hiring practices, 2020 election, 2024 election, workplace politics, business, management
- Source: Harvard Business Review — https://hbr.org/2026/11/research-when-workers-adapt-their-resumes-to-fit-the-political-moment
- Author: Jay Fitzgerald
- Published: 2026-11-02T13:25:49+00:00
- Read time: 2 min
- Topics: joseph pacelli, harvard business school, resume editing, esg language, dei language, political polarization, hiring practices, 2020 election, 2024 election, workplace politics, business, management
## Workers edit resumes for political gain
Job candidates add and delete politically polarizing language from resumes before and after presidential elections to show alignment with employers who share their views.
## Companies favor ideologically aligned candidates
Businesses often choose applicants who appear politically aligned over others with stronger skills and experience, according to research by Harvard Business School Professor Joseph Pacelli.
## Quality suffers when politics drive hiring
Companies chasing current political trends can end up hiring less qualified workers, sacrificing quality for ideological alignment, Pacelli says.

> companies chasing the current political trend can actually end up hiring potentially less qualified workers. The companies are sacrificing quality for that alignment.
## Study tracked nearly three million workers
Researchers analyzed two point nine million workers at U.S. public firms who revised job descriptions between two thousand eighteen and two thousand twenty-five, covering periods around the two thousand twenty and two thousand twenty-four elections.
## ESG language surged after Biden's election
In the month Biden was elected, about thirty-five thousand workers added ESG or DEI language to past job descriptions. After Trump's two thousand twenty-four win, about twelve thousand deleted this language.
## Corporate ESG commitments followed elections
First-time ESG commitments on earnings calls peaked at roughly two hundred thirty firms in the third quarter of two thousand twenty, just before Biden won.
## Resume tweaks improved hiring odds
Workers who added ESG language were about two point six percentage points more likely to change employers the following year and slightly more likely to be promoted internally.
## But hired workers were less qualified
Among workers who changed employers after adding ESG language, predicted job fit was about two to three percent below average. Fit mattered about ten percent less in hiring decisions when candidates had added ESG language.
## Pacelli urges employers to refocus on skills
Employers should not depend too heavily on algorithms to screen resumes, prioritize experience and skills, and deemphasize political leanings when hiring, Pacelli advises.

> Experience and skills are the core competencies that workers need to do the job, right? Pay more attention to them.
## Political swings will change hiring priorities
Companies need to remember that political swings will occur and issues important today may be completely gone tomorrow. Hire workers for the long haul, not for current political alignment.

> Issues important today may be completely gone tomorrow. It's important that you're hiring a worker for the long haul.
## Key takeaway

Workers strategically edit resumes to signal political alignment with employers around elections, and companies often hire them over more qualified candidates, sacrificing quality for ideological fit.