Mentioning LGBT stuff on your CV?

ewan whose army

Hey,

At my Undergrad Uni I got involved with the College LGBT Society and became an "Official" in the SU , so I had a position and responsibilities within my old Union. While this was voluntary and for a young gay guy who is struggling to come out it helped me a lot and I gained alot from the experience.

As a result I put it on my CV and my LinkedIn, however I have been told by an advisor that may be a bad idea for some reason.

My logic is that I am open about my sexuality (To be honest I am starting to love being gay, I have a boyfriend now its awesome) and if an employer sees it as an issue then I don't want to work for them simple as. I have no plans to return to the closet ever.

Is this a bad attitude to it?

Annasopra

I think it depends

Most of the jobs I am applying for I would because they tend to be very equality type jobs - however if I was applying for work in the finance or business sector I might take it off

I can see why your careers adviser suggested it - there is employment discrimination even though it is illegal

smcgiff

You might want to try it for a while and see how it goes. However...

Unfortunately, it's likely that it will put some employers off - remember they cannot explicitly use sexual orientation to discriminate, but it could be an unofficial barrier.

If you're putting down your university achievements then I imagine you're going for graduate level jobs. With this in mind I think your priority should be to get a job. Get work experience first.

You say you don't want to work in a place that discriminates - but you're not going to be spending the rest of your life in the first job you get.

Good luck

ewan whose army

Well I already have a job! I was just wondering for the future

baby and crumble

I would think that most firms would see someone who held an SU position and got involved in college to the fullest as an advantage, regardless of the position and area of interest. I don't have anything like that on my cv but I do volunteer with some lgbt groups and I have that on my cv. Granted, I'm applying for jobs in the academic/ social work sector so it wouldn't be a big deal. But I don't like the idea of editing my cv so much. But of course if its not relevant to the jobs you're applying for then as with anything there's no reason to include it. Everything on a cv has to be there for a reason.

ongarboy

Nowadays, with securing a job a lot harder in the recession, you are advised to customise your CV for every job you apply for to maximise the effectiveness of your CV for securing work. You may enhance or elaborate certain points/achievements for certain jobs you're going and exclude/modify them for others. Once size(CV) does not necessarily fit/work for all jobs/recruiters.

Apart from the LGBT element, I'd be careful as to whether I'd put in the fact I had a lead role in a union or at least word it carefully. This is an achievement for you but some employers (both companies with and without unions) may not want someone who has experience of and is passionate about union causes (organising rallies/revolts/strikes against management/authority etc). This may seem unfair but if you are competing against numerous other equally qualified candidates, it could be the deciding factor that works against you.

Re including the LGBT element in your CV, I'm uncertain on that one but think I'd personally leave it out. If I was to join a workplace, I'd rather people get to know who I am as a person first and foremost before I chose to share my orientation with them rather than it being the first defining and public characteristic they know of me. I doubt a majority of companies would discriminate but if you have more conservative companies with an "old boys network" culture, then it could go against you. But as you said, they are not the type of companies you'd want to work for anyway. You may not always have that choice however if you are struggling to find a job so I recommend being flexible.

Daith

ongarboy wrote: »

Apart from the LGBT element, I'd be careful as to whether I'd put in the fact I had a lead role in a union or at least word it carefully. This is an achievement for you but some employers (both companies with and without unions) may not want someone who has experience of and is passionate about union causes (organising rallies/revolts/strikes against management/authority etc). This may seem unfair but if you are competing against numerous other equally qualified candidates, it could be the deciding factor that works against you.

I think it's a Student Union which is normally a good thing to put on your CV.

I'd leave out the LGBT stuff to be honest. You were a member of the Student Union, you did this, this and that. Roles and responsibilities were this. I think in an interview it would be fine but leave the specific stuff off your CV.

face1990

I've got LGBT society stuff on my CV. I kind of assumed the majority of employers wouldn't have a problem with that, in this day & age. I suppose it would depend on what kind of industry you're trying to get into. I think some would be more open to LGBT people than others.

That said, I've been struggling to get a job for a while, maybe my openness is to blame!

Doug89

My CV is the gayest thing ever, and I'm planning on leaving it that way. I got asked in a job interview last year how Marriage Equality's and GLEN's online presence differed, which was a bit awesome.

TheGilch13

You said you were told by an advisor that it would be a bad idea For some reason. Maybe you should ask them why they think you should take it off. It might not be about the LGBT thing at all.

mikemac1

Leave it on, it's good experience in lots of areas

Some of the big American companies even have LGBT societies but they are not called that, they are the Pride group

Tbh you'd have a bigger issue if your CV stated you were a college official on young FF, young FG, young Lab or whoever. Nobody wants to talk politics with a candidate!

Peregrinus

The fact that you were an SU officer should be a draw for most employers. It doesn’t hugely matter what the particular office was - being (say) Gay Rights Officer is no different from being (say) Women’s Rights Officer in terms of the experiences it will give you and the skills and competences it will develop, or in terms of what it says about your capacity for leadership or for teamwork.

So if you decide to leave it off, you are abandoning something that should, and I think for most employers would, be a draw card.

The fear, obviously, is that there will be some employers out there that will be homophobic. And undoubtedly there are some. But I’d encourage you to draft your CV for the notional employer that you do want to work for, rather than for the notional employer that you don’t want to work for; it will be a better and more attractive CV if you do that. And, yes, it’s possible that you may lose one or two shortlistings or interviews as a result - though you’ll never know for sure - but, if you leave this off, you may lose shortlistings or interviews because you are eclipsed by candidates who have relevant experience of this type included in their CVs.

But, in any event, this issue will fade quite quickly. You’re already in a job, and when you’re applying for your next job, your employer will be less interested in what you did in college, and more interested in what you did in this job. And you will tailor your CV accordingly. Within a few years the college section of your CV will be reduced to just the bare academic bones.

LegacyUser

Jobs like gardai or army I wouldnt mention your sexuality. Im a gay garda and lets just say its a very homophobic environment to work in,you have to keep it a secret to get by so it would be a disadvantage to put it on your cv for those jobs but not others like nursing admin etc where I have friends working and its not an issue whatsoever.
Having said that,should we want to work for an employer who is homophobic and we cant be our true selves,living a lie.

CdeC

I personally would put it on but not mention the LGBT.
Put on that you were an official officer on the SU. If they ask then you can gauge how to respond and tell them all about it.

I know this may seem harsh but your CV is to get you an interview and you do not know who is selecting the CVs and whilst the company may have an open LGBT policy that individual might not.

Get your foot in the door first, then burst through it loud and proud.!!!