<p>what do you do when your interviewer asks you about your political thoughts?</p>
<p>I think the logical choice would be to tell them your political thoughts</p>
<p>Tell them, I hope you don't mind my thoughts, but I'm going to tell you them straight up. And then go ahead. In my mind, colleges would much rather their students talk about their opinions than have them sit on the fence.</p>
<p>When an interviewer is asking a question, there is usually a motivation behind it that may or may have nothing at all to do with the actual question itself.</p>
<p>If your interviewer is asking you to share your political thoughts, he may truly be asking you about your party affiliations, who you support, what your points of view on various issues are....that sort of thing. While it isn't exactly ethical, if you are say, Liberal, and the interviewer is Conservative, he may not want to hire you because of it.</p>
<p>OR, the interviewer may intentionally be asking questions that are designed to test you in a potentially uncomfortable situation. The answers don't matter so much as the way you react and choose to respond.</p>
<p>So, probably the best way to answer a difficult question like this is to illustrate that you are an intelligent thoughtful person. It is possible to respond to this political minefield by saying that while you lean toward one side (without admitting to what that side is), you make an honest attempt to research all points of view with an open mind before you come to any conclusions. An answer like this shows that you are not a knee-jerk reactionary and that you'll be an intelligent asset to the company/school.</p>
<p>I vote on the side of being honest, and describing how you decided on your political views.</p>
<p>If a college rejects you because of your political views, you'd likely have been unhappy there anyway.</p>
<p>I've interviewed students whose political views were the opposite of mine. What I've been interested in was their thinking: what they read, how they formulated their political views, whether their views are based on research or whether they are lock step following their peers and parents' opinions. I gave an arch conservative student a strong recc for Harvard even though I'm a flaming liberal. He got in, too.</p>
<p>A thoughtful interviewer/university wants to promote intellectual discussion/disagreement/debate. So, there should be no worry in sharing your views, whether you are a righty, lefty or something else.</p>
<p>The question may have been honest, but I would be careful. Most people with strong political opinions, do not like to hear the other side..esp. libs lol. I really don't see the point of a question like that, other than to exclude someone because of their political beliefs.</p>
<p>I would err on the side of caution and be prepared to show how you keep up with current events, but would assume if a catholic school you do not support reproductive rights, or anything even remotely consistent with that (which likely means somewhat conservative), and all non-religous schools are liberal (but would include Brandeis as liberal). To me, safety is maybe talking about how Obama supports Volunteer work, and actually does it, and lead into your own volunteer work.</p>
<p>I'd run from the question like a scalded dog. It is isn't like colleges are some sort of idylic sanctuary from political correcititude. Rather the whole notion of PC was invented at colleges and there can be found in it's purest essence. You have no assurance whatsoever that this interviewer can be objective, and a thousand reasons why to believe he or she will not be. That the interviewer strays into sex, politics or religion is evidence enough that he or she is outside the bounds for no good purpose, as an interview can be done easily enough without. How to best deflect the question is the tricky part.</p>
<p>I tend to agree with JW; the question really isn't appropriate for an interview (in job interviews, I would get in big trouble if I asked a question about the applicant's political persuasion).</p>
<p>I would avoid being pigeonholed into left vs. right and say that it depends on the issue, then give an example or two that you're likely to agree on (e.g., government pork is an easy one, abortion is not). And it's fair at your age to say something like you've recently begun paying more attention as a new voter and you're still formulating your positions on many things, but it seems hard to get the facts without bias. Something like that could be interpreted favorably by someone of either persuasion.</p>
<p>i would tactfully avoid the subject and bring something else up.</p>
<p>i call these issues "no go issues": everything that has to do gay marriage, abortion, israel vs palestine, gun control, euthanasia, marijuana...ect. all these divisive and controversial issues are better left at home, i would suggest not to bring them up during the interview.</p>
<p>just imagine your pro abortion and ur interviewer is a right wing church goer. no matter how impartial he will try to be, humans r subjective and ur report to the school will b affected. (maybe it wont but i wouldnt take the risk).</p>
<p>i would just give it all to them... all the thoughts i've been building over the last few years...</p>
<p>I think it's right that you have no way of knowing if the interviewer might not use it against you. However, I'll ask about current events to see if the student has an opinion and how he/she came to those thoughts.</p>
<p>Recently, I interviewed a person who stated that she had lots of interest in Econ or PoliSci. I asked her about what she thought about the economic melt down. I was struck by her one-dimensional answer: there's been too much Govt control. I pointed out the fact that conventional wisdom has shown that to not be the case perhaps. She was unmovable and couldn't even understand the counter arguments. I noted this.</p>
<p>I think the reason most people who sight themselves as liberals may find themselves slightly riled at conservative views is if those views are prejudicial against other people. So.. keep your feelings of religion, gay marriage and planned parenthood to yourself regardless of political affiliation. These are red hot issues that are sure to draw more emotion than true reason.</p>
<p>Also, as the above poster said, there is something to be said for understanding a lot of sides of an issue even if you don't agree with them. The best way to disagree is to fully understand where the other person is coming from. And truth be told, not too many opinions are all right or all wrong when it comes to politics.</p>
<p>The interviewer doesn't care about your political thoughts; s/he cares about how you articulate them. Then s/he might ask "Did you know that students at our school are mostly on the other side?" and be curious about how you react.</p>
<p>tell them that all politicans are corrupt but the Great Satan will destroy the whole world soon anyway so it doesn't matter</p>
<p>Tell 'em you are a Proustian/libertarian. Nobody reads Proust anymore so you are safe defining it any way you want, and the interviewer will be totally impressed. Just remember to pronounce his name "Proost".</p>
<p>I forgot the quote from Proust that'll stop 'em from asking you any more questions about your politics: "The only thing more difficult than following a regimen is not imposing it on others".
Not that's Proustian libertarianism in a nutshell---viola!</p>
<p>My Bates interviewer and I talked politicals for half of the interview and I thought it went really well... that might have something to do with the fact that we shared a lot of the same views :) I agree vossron, it's how you articulate and support your views. If I were an interviewer I would be impressed by a kid who was up on current issues and had good insights into political issues. I guess I should have stayed on the fence about some issues more than I did, but when someone asks me my views I really can't hold back. </p>
<p>just my 2 cents.</p>
<p>I actually embraced the question when my interviewer asked me who I would like to vote for between Obama and McCain. We went onto talk about how my political views had been developed over time through my own philosophy and reading. Overall, I think it showed my thought process and allowed me to articulate a lot of diverse issues into a few minutes. If you know what you think, I wouldn't stray away from it. Rather just let the interviewer know that you have your own opinion and that you are willing to listen to the other side.</p>