Can Your Name Keep You From Being Hired?

[applesnpairs.livejournal.com]

Hello.  I came across this article this morning and hadn't remembered seeing it posted here.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- For job hunters, that very first line on your résumé can influence potential employers. Just ask Glenn Miller.

Miller, 56, was out of work for about four months earlier in the year. On every interview he went on, the senior software engineer had to field jokes about his namesake, the great American jazz musician.

"They say, where's your band? And I say, they're all dead."

Even though Miller became adept at responding with witty one-liners, "it changes the tenor of the interview to have that opening dialog ... I think it makes people not take me seriously," he admitted.

For other job seekers, it's no laughing matter.

Colleen Rzucidlo, 27, has been actively looking for a public relations job for about nine months, but believes her hard-to-pronounce surname has hurt her chances of landing a position.

"While I certainly can't prove it, I often wonder if my last name hinders me when it comes to the job search process," she said. "Nobody knows how to say it -- that's a turn off. If they can't say my name they are not going to bother reading my résumé."

Of course, considering someone's name as part of the decision-making process is not only wrong but illegal, says San Diego State University Human Resources Professor Christine Probett. "Discrimination of those sorts are well protected under the law," she said.

But that doesn't mean it's not happening.

For example, résumés with white-sounding names have a 50% greater chance of receiving a callback when compared to those with African American names, according to a study performed for the National Bureau of Economic Research by the University of Chicago's Marianne Bertrand and Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sendhil Mullaina.

Many job seekers agree. Nakores Sameita, 26, believes her ethnic-sounding name works against her. The former credit analyst for Chrysler was laid off in June and recently decided to go back to school for a masters in finance because her job search has been fruitless.

Hiring managers often question her immigration status, Sameita said. "I've had a couple of interviews and the first thing they mention is my name and ask me where I'm from," says the Kansas City resident, originally from Kenya. "Even though I'm a citizen it puts me at a disadvantage," she said.

Recruiters say that an applicant's name has no bearing on their chances of getting hired, and many states require employers to establish and enforce anti-discrimination policies.

"As a recruiter, the name is usually the last thing I look at," said Thad Schiele. "My job is to get the hiring manager the best candidates for a position."

But cynics suggest that if résumés can be scanned for appropriate terms and keywords, then someone's name could also play a role in the initial screening process, whether consciously or unconsciously.

While hiring managers may not intend to discriminate a candidate based on a name or ethnicity, the name could still signal something about the applicant's skills or background that is relevant to the job.

Duram Gallegos, 25, believes that potential employers call him assuming he speaks fluent Spanish because of his name.

Gallegos has been looking for a job near his home in Elgin, Ill. for six months and thinks his last name gives hiring managers a false impression that he can't back up in an interview.

If a job seeker does feel that their first name conveys an image they are uncomfortable with, then they could just use their first initial on a job application or résumé, Probett of San Diego State University suggested. But deemphasizing a last name is obviously not realistic.

Instead, job seekers should focus more on the aspects of their image that they can control, Probett said, like their online presence or the email address they use for correspondence.

"For example, 'PartyDude@BeerU.Com' might project an image of someone who is not too business savvy," she said.


jobs.aol.com/articles/2009/08/28/can-your-name-keep-you-from-getting-hired/



I was wondering what you all think about the examples in the article? I noticed that, to my knowledge, none of these names are ~kre8tyv~ but do you guys think that little Mykinzee & little Klaytyn will have trouble getting hired in the future? Or other people who share names with a famous figure such as Harry for Harry Potter or Hendrix via Jimmy?

Comments

[beepandetch.livejournal.com]

Interesting. Although when I used to receive resumes at my job, I never even looked at the name until I got ready to call them.

Although, I do automatically assume someone is not very intelligent when I see they have an overly creative spelling. It's not fair because it's the parents who named them Mahllyssah (Melissa). They're the stupid ones.

[lind-saay.livejournal.com]

I've always made that argument about the ridiculously spelled names, and names that just don't grow up well. A James, regardless of how many other kids named James are in his class, is going to be taken much more seriously as an adult than someone named, say, Jaydyn.

[daydream11.livejournal.com]

Jaden will be taken more seriously than Jaymes. More than sound, I believe spelling is just as deciding a factor.

[so-there.livejournal.com]

I'd put those on the same page. stupid name v. stupid spelling. is there really a "worse"?

[daydream11.livejournal.com]

I'd say so. I'd choose a MacKenzie over an Alyzabeth, personally. Something's more professional about a decent spelling, regardless of sound.

In general, of course.

[lustdumpster.livejournal.com]

i don't think the names in the article are very good examples. i don't see how the woman from kenya's name is hindering her, it's an unusual name but i can't see how someone could overlook her qualification for the job based on the fact that she isn't from the US. and since she was only laid off in june, i think she might just be looking for reasons that she hasn't been hired yet when the fact is that there are no jobs, even for people with "normal" names.

i do think creative spellings can hinder people, though. especially considering most job applications are online now, until they call you for an interview you don't meet managers and stuff like when you hand in a paper application. the person looking over your application can't be like "she has an interesting name but she was professional and has a good personality for the job," i think if i got an application from someone named mykinzee i'd be like what the hell?

[falls2climb.livejournal.com]

I thought the same thing about the woman with the difficult last name. I can see employers being more like to discriminate on the basis of the creative first names, but it's not like you get to choose or "creative-fy" your last name.

[velkoria.livejournal.com]

I was actually in charge of handling the resumes of people that came in looking for a job at a particular place and the names did actually influence in the process... basically it was more likely we'd hire someone with a name like Glenn Miller or Nakores Sameita over someone named Dyshla'denae Smith. Of course Dyshla'denae Smith might be qualified or what not but I cannot picture potential clients taking her at all seriously.

Is it some kind of discrimination? Not really because it has nothing to do with race or culture because trust me... white people, black people, yellow people, red people, blue people and all kinds of people might do this to their kids. A school I worked at also decided not to hire a teacher because their name might spike problems with the kids there and so they were denied. It's not that this person chose their name but it's something to really think about when naming children.

There's a difference between lets say Jayden, which I hate, and Jaiauhdonne you know? Specially with certain kinds of jobs (I myself would look for correct spellings in names if I am hiring grammar teachers... basically because of the nature of the job. Just like I wouldn't hire someone named Hitler...)

[sandtree.livejournal.com]

I would never judge a job applicant on his or her name. It's completely and utterly unfair. I might think 'McKynnzeigh' is a stupid name, but it doesn't follow that the person herself will be stupid, or silly, or uneducated, or a bad worker. People can't help what they are named, and sometimes they don't want to change their name out of respect for their parents, or, shockingly enough, they might actually LIKE their strange, badly-spelled name, and still be an intelligent, capable person.

I don't understand how anyone in good conscience can judge a person completely by their name, and make a major decision such as whether to hire them for a job, based on whether they like or dislike the name. It's absurd, and it's totally unjust.

Unfortunately, it obviously happens, you can see that just based on some of the comments here. Because of that (and for other reasons, but those aren't exactly relevant at the moment) I think that parents should be careful about what they name their kids. 'Kaeyleeigh' might look fun and cute and unique, but clearly people are going to judge her based solely on her name, and you have to keep that in mind. I don't think it's good, but it's reality.

[snowowl.livejournal.com]

Meh. This article really just gives me the impression that people need to grow the fuck up and stop crying "DISCRIMINATION!" every time what they want doesn't land in their laps.

[nandy-pandy.livejournal.com]

At the same time, it has been proven that people with certain names are less likely to get callbacks. You all might not want to believe it, but your name is kind of a big deal in this case.

[snowowl.livejournal.com]

But look at how they deliberately drew the line along racial differences when if they were being honest, it really isn't so clear cut. What they probably classified as "white" names are really just Anglo-American names (e.g. not Russian, Eastern European, Nordic, etc. white names), which the majority of Americans have no matter what their ethnicity. If you fall outside that majority -- whether it is a foreign sounding name or a creative spelling or whatever -- then THAT is where the distinction is drawn, not some covert plot to discriminate against non-whites. One might even make the case that the opposite may well be the case since so many companies actively pass over whites in order to fill quotas.

[morningapproach.livejournal.com]

See, I think that with my generation (born in early 80s) a lot of people changed their names to be more creative spelled (Kaytie, Cerah, etc) as they got older. So I get that reluctance.

I have an awkward last name (helbich) that is frequently mispronounced. I don't think that it has hindered me, but I doubt that it has helped me except on the off chance that they know family members of mine.

ETA: I will say, however, that I refuse to name my child a unisex name precisely because you never know what sex they are, and that is always awkward.

[so-there.livejournal.com]

my husband is signed on as registry at a local hospital, and the first time they called, they kept calling him "she". after I corrected her, she's like, "oh, CHRISTOPHER D*****, yeah, I know who that is now." I guess she saw "chris", immediately thought girl, and then it escaped her that if she wasn't thinking girl, she would've connected the name with the face.

[krosp.livejournal.com]

I know a Glenn Miller hahaha.. he does have a good job :p

I agree with you, those names aren't so bad, and it's more about racism than names as such. I think known but poorly misspelled names put out a worse image. Not that it's fair, but it's just a gut reaction to something so badly spelled.