The Washington Free Beacon posted a hilarious hitpiece on Vice President Kamala Harris this morning. It’s a three-reporter byline, featured prominently on their website, and heavily promoted by its editors.
Their big scoop: HARRIS LEFT HER JOB AT McDONALDS OFF HER RESUME. PICS OR IT DIDN’T HAPPEN!!!
Yes, for real.
These dipshits are doing GOTCHAS by digging up Harris’s post-college and law school resumes and pointing out that she left off a few weeks working the deep fryer between her freshman and sophomore years at Howard University. This hard-hitting investigation is just asking questions about why the Vice President didn’t mention the McDonalds gig when she applied to be a summer law clerk at the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office in 1987. Instead, she included stints at Charles Schwab, the FTC, a senate internship, and clerking at a law firm.
They’re inadvertently proving that she’s normal as hell, and at the same time demonstrating that there is simply no dirt on her. Incredible miss.
there is simply no dirt on her
Listen, I’m backing the Harris campaign 100%, but if you look at the history of San Francisco area politicians, you will see that very few are “clean.” I would not be surprised if it was the same for her.
Got anything?
I heard she also didn’t list any of her childhood lemonade stands on her IRS 1040 form. 🫢
Like, I’m not super excited about some of Harris’ likely policy positions, but the shit they’re trying to attack her on is laughable. Their opposition research team must be coming up with jack shit.
Of course not.
Nope. However she has ties to Willie Brown, who is a notoriously corrupt politician in the San Francisco area. It’s a “where there is smoke…” situation. My point is not to assert that she has dirt but to point out that declaring there is no dirt might be a bit dubious.
Nope.
You could have stopped there.
“I think maybe there could be because someone else maybe sorta kinda” is not proof.
Also: “has connections to” has essentially no weight in this context. Unless there are personal ties or frequent contacts with this person (which OP definitely did not indicate), then it could be as little as “had a business interaction because their professional lives are related”.
Shit I could say Biden “has connections to” Donald Trump because they ran against each other
Lol, they literally dated right before her political career started. I see you didn’t do the minimum effort to even look into what I was talking about.
Yeah not for nothing but I’m not gonna bother researching a vague comment like “has ties to” from a random person on the internet to try and discern what they’re talking about. If so I’d be up to my ears trying to figure out who all those people that Trump is refering to when he says “people are saying”
You should learn to communicate properly. You didnt even do the minimum to convey what you were talking about.
Yeah, that’s not even “smoke”
I never intended it to be proof, so I don’t see your point.
Nobody likes a concern troll.
“dated Willie Brown” is not “smoke” to indicate corruption.
She would not be the first to be corrupted by his influence.. It also doesn’t help that his proteges have all been running SF local government for years. It seems insane to me to dismiss their relationship as not a concern. It’s not a dealbreaker for me, but it seems absurd to think she is “squeaky clean” in light of it. I can be pro-Harris and express some critiques.
A politician who worked in the same town as another politician might have interacted with that person? Wow. I am scandalized.
I don’t list my high school/college part time job on my professional resume either. It isn’t that I’m assumed of where I worked, or it didn’t happen, it’s just that it feels like small potatoes and not relevant to when I’m applying to a new job in my field.
But if you’re the kind of person who achieved everything they ever did because of Daddy’s connections, that won’t seem obvious to you.
It goes beyond that and… if played “well” this could actually be effective.
For decades, the idea was that Democrats are out of touch hoity toity college kids who don’t care about The Working Man™. That has grown much less effective because… college debt is a massive issue because so many millennials went to college. And the republican candidates are all silver spoon kids who never worked a real job in their entire lives.
But if they can keep consistent pressure AND keep trump or vance or rfk from ever talking? Kamala will eventually have to acknowledge things and there is no “polite” way of saying “My work at McDonald’s was a summer job that had no bearing on my professional career”. Because that means:
- You don’t think working for Ronnie is a “real job”
- You are “better” than that
- You are “hiding” your past
All of which is obviously nonsense. But Biden and Kamala (and to a lesser extent Obama) have been pushing the straight up facts that Democrats are better for the working class. And this potentially undermines it.
I think we are “fine” in that the republicans will just switch back to carrying jizz cups sooner than later. But this definitely has potential to be one of those “How the hell did THAT impact an election?” moments.
if her resume is anything like any of the well-made mid-career resumes I’ve seen then she’s probably left off a lot of experiences, and she can simply handwaved it with a line like “I didn’t list X law clerk internship or y legal work at a corporation either because they aren’t as relevant as the jobs I chose to list” and move on
“So not even being a law clerk is good enough for her?”
Of course she didn’t list everything. But when you are manipulating people who are basically expected to list EVERYTHING in a webform because otherwise they have a gap and get flagged? Or young professionals who still have some of the “character building” jobs because otherwise they only have school and internships?
Empathy is at an all time low. In large part because of The Algorithm putting everyone in their own content bubble where everything reinforces everything (which is often a persona created by influencers but…). So anything that does not match a person’s worldview is not just cognitive dissonance, it is a straight up lie.
Again, I think we are fine and this will be “tan suit” level stupidity. But there is definitely a path toward making “the daughter of rich academics” into a snob who “looks down on” everyday people because she is just better. Which also ties into the republican led effort to vilify any and all academics.
And its important to understand the “reason” behind various attacks. Because some are just straight up stupid. And some are stupid until they aren’t.
"I, like so many Americans, worked in a fast food service job. Unlike so many Americans I was able to pursue a career in the field my degree was in, which is an opportunity not given to far too many of our younger citizens. While pursuing those opportunities I tried to focus my resume on the achievements most relevant to the jobs I was applying for. Only after working in law and politics for years did I see that a dozen things needing your immediate attention with a constant time sensitive to-do list was a bit more relevant than those hiring managers would have been able to see. " Then some chatter about not expecting her time working there to come up as an attack, since resume writing and a job not aligned with your aspirational career are pretty normal occurrences, and not knowing that is kinda weird.
I don’t think it’s too hard to politely say that McDonald’s was not the career she was aiming for. It’s basically an acknowledgement that her parents weren’t rich and hiring managers get picky about resumes. Which is honestly a relatable narrative to a lot of people.
I don’t put my fast food experience on my resume, it was 25 years ago, but I have brought it up in interviews to talk about team work and pressure, and to demonstrate that I’ve been learning and improving for 25 years.
Same here, a lot of the experience I got in customer service jobs is very relevant for talking with business users in my profession, so it’s worth bringing up in interviews, even if it doesn’t feel appropriate to list it on my resume as job experience.
I think this type of attempt at a gotcha just shows that right leaning websites/people are grasping at straws when it comes to trying to cut down Harris.
No one puts fast food or retail gigs on their resume unless the experience is relevant or it’s your first or second job after retail.
Exactly you never list irrelevant jobs on a resume. If they ask about the gaps you can tell them but list too many employers can make a resume too long and bore the hiring manager. Also too many employers listed can make it look like you can’t hold a job or are unreliable.
Hiring manager here.
Friendly reminder, when you submit your employment history to a future employer, please do exactly what Harris did if you can. Please tell me about your recent relevant experience, and do not list out every random ass summer job you’ve had.
I’m overworked, I’m reading applications between meetings and I need concise, relevant info - not a 5 page memoir.
The entire point of a resume is that it is a 1 page summary of your relevant work experience. It was never meant to be exhaustive or comprehensive.
It’s reccomened to do 2 pages these days to hit all the automated resume screening points. 3 pages max if you’re in STEM applying for senior+ positions. Most relevant information should be front and center on that first page though for when it gets into the hands of a real person instead of a bot.
I’ve been an independent contractor for a while (so I havent filled put a resume recently), but afaik it’s strictly 1 page unless you have really really relevant experience. Yes keywords do matter now so it’s entirely possible it’s better to do 2 pages with more keywords. For my engineering degree though, we did a CV (curriculum vitae) which typically is longer than a resume but it’s not really a resume, it’s a CV. They are different.
After getting laid off last year (big tech worker with outstanding yearly reviews) , I had a service that my former company paid for that helps people prep for a job search after getting laid off.
I, like you, had this out dated assumption as well goong into the meetings with that service. They strongly advise people to go with 2 pages, if enough relevant experience exists, with custom tailoring for each job role, to ensure you’re hitting the key words and other data points the resume scanners are looking for. They came to this conclusion using data from said resume scanning services on passing resumes
Shit has changed a lot in the last 3-5 years. And I can only imagine it’s gotten worse over the last 14 months since I landed my job (Sr level) and modern LLMs have been integrated into the scanning services.
Sure, like I said I’ve been an independent contractor for some time. Last time I applied for a job, it was common then to adjust the resume for keywords in the job description as well.
It doesn’t change my point either way that a resume is a summary and not meant to be exhaustive. Whether it’s a 1 page or 2 page summary doesn’t really change my overall point that it’s unnecessary to put her McDonald’s experience on there.
I’ve heard that they are using certain things to figure out roughly how old you are. Like people that still use two spaces after a period. That’s nearly demonic.
I think the idea of listing every job you’ve ever had on a resume is very outdated and anyone who still holds this belief is showing their age and privilege. This might have been relevant when you could expect to work for the same company for 20 plus years and maybe only change jobs 2 or more times in your life but that ain’t the case now (and hasn’t been for decades now). Hell I’ve lost count of how many companies I’ve worked for. I even completely changed professions after turning 40. It would be absolutely ridiculous to list any job experience that isn’t directly related to the skills needed for the job your applying for.
Yes, agree. If I saw a resume like that, I would assume the applicant at minimum will struggle with time management and summarizing and is likely out of touch.
There’s some old gigs that I leave off just because the reputations of some of the companies I worked for is poor, they’re seriously trying to attack her over leaving McDonald’s off? Is the Rebuplican strategy to just appeal to boomers by being as out of touch as possible?
Resumes should be concise, not pages long. If information is irrelevant, you should cut it. When applying for a job as a line cook, I’d include that, applying for a job as a lawyer, it makes no sense for them to care if I know I worked at Cheddars
*Just adding to what you were saying, not saying you were saying something different
I’ve worked in software for years, and even jobs that are relevant, if they were some time ago, I chop it wayyyy down. One or two very short sentences giving a sense of duties/accomplishments. Enough to fit on 2 pages. I used to shoot for just 1 page, but it becomes too dense to look at if I still try to fit a summary of recent work, brief outlines of prior stuff, and a section of keywords for the people who are too lazy to screen it themselves first - which is nearly everyone.
I’ve been on the hiring side and when the 5 or 6 pager gets passed around, I groan. I don’t know how the hell these are making it past our screening. Six pages? WTAF. I’m not reading all that! I think the worst case was someone with 10 pages, I kid you not.
I cannot think of any boomers I know that would think they should leave McD’s as a job, even. In fact, it was boomers (and a few of their parent’s generation) that taught me to mercilessly pare my resume down, and then pare it down again. You are not writing your memoir and no hiring manager could GAF about what you did even five years ago (well, at least in professional white collar jobs that I know about). People don’t want to wade through all that.
I think they are just aiming this at very stupid and weird people, regardless of age. Or maybe people that don’t work or have only worked food service jobs, maybe.
They’re not confused; they are saying she’s poor and black and belongs in fast food and Trump deserves to run the country instead. Asking the question is just a way of trying to be mean about it like a bunch of high school girls in the lunchroom.
I think you are onto something here. This is the way they talk about AOC being a bartender and Obama being “just” a community organizer.
So relatable, these weird Republicans. Relatable to the working class: mocking people for service industry jobs and trying to eke out a living, and mocking people for trying to be engaged in their community.
Such salt of the Earth. Vote for the totally not weird combover guy who was given $500 million by daddy and never worked a day in his life and his sidekick the couch-fucker venture capitalist. These are real men of the people, and not at all like those elitists in the Democratic Party, I tell you!
Completely ignoring the (better) point that most resumes only really include job history that would directly affect what you’re applying for, I have been told countless times that if I so much as dared to include a resume that was more than 1 single page, it would immediately get tossed in the trash.
Or only require a job history for the last X number of years. I would be surprised if I applied for a job and they wanted to know where I worked 35 years ago at a fast food establishment.
I’m an interface programmer at a hospital. I was hired at a hospital straight out of college and worked there for over 15 years and only recently moved to another state. I’m shocked they hired me because I left out my employment history prior to graduation which included working th efront desk of a nurse staffing office when i was 14, a video store at 19 in a law office as an office assistance at 20, working construction when I was 21, a fry cook at 21.
You know what’s weird? Asking 59 year old woman to list her summer jobs from when she was paying her way through college.
Shit, I forgot to include on my resume that 1 week I worked at dominos where I received no training and spent the entire time either being following around by the driver while he rambled on about conspiracy theories, erasing the chalkboard nipples someone kept drawing on the dining room chalkboard, or both. Guess my employer should fire me from my IT job now. /s
Decades into my senior leadership IT career I’ve always harbored the dark secret that I didn’t disclose on my resume I worked summers at a go-kart track in a tourist trap town in high school. /s
Tsk tsk, shame on you.
Wow fucking insane that she would list relevant work experience and omit irrelevant work experience on a job application. Glad these guys got the scoop, sounds like it took three people so it must have been significant effort.
My resume goes back 27-years, but at least it’s all tech related. But that’s still ridiculous and I don’t know why I haven’t culled it.
Also, where was James O’Keefe at the time? Did getting this scoop involve dressing up as a pimp or a weird plot to get a woman on a boat and “seduce” her? Or maybe trespassing into a government building with plans on tampering with the phones?
Whenever I see “exposes” like this I tend to think of O’Keefe and his clownshoes outfit that was hilariously called “Project Veritas”. Why that POS is not rotting in prison is a shining example of white right wing privilege if ever there is any.
STOLEN McValor
“Robble Robble Robble,” Hamburglar Accuses Former Coworker Harris of Stolen McValor
Jfc.
Jesus Fried Chicken is how I read that and forever will.
Jesus Fried Chicken is so good! It’s to die for!
He nails every order. Has OVER 100% accuracy🤷♂️
Those eyes are saying “The F doesn’t stand for ‘Frying’”
Three authors to say “We don’t know how resumes and job applications work!”
How to tell the internet you’ve never had a professional job without telling them you’ve never had a professional job.
In high school, I worked a coffee kiosk in a Costco. In college, I worked at a Taco Time, a portable coffee cart, and (very briefly) a shitty telemarketing company.
None of those jobs ever appear on my resume. Ever. They’re simply inapplicable. I’m a software developer. Why the fuck would a potential employer care that I know how to pull an espresso shot?
Maybe they need to hire somebody at the office that can show them how to work the espresso machine in the break room that hasn’t been used since Bruno left 6 months ago.
Coffee connections!
You are entirely correct. That being said mentioning that you know how to pull an espresso shot under the skills section not gonna hurt, speaking as a fellow developer who does later stage interviews. :)