Would you change your name to get a job?

Thoughts_Arrive

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/business/bu ... 6097072346

My name is very European and I am still unemployed....

StillHere

that's horrible

why should someone have to do that?

geez man

Jason P

Personally, I would have went with the name of Max Power.

ShimmyMommy

no. nor would I change myself for a job...I am either qualified or not...or they like me or they don't

JTH

My last name is German. On occasion it's mistaken for Chinese. I have no idea if this helps or hurts me.

I have a friend from Iran. She moved to the U.S. in the late 70s (not the best time to make that move) and she has a very "ethnic sounding" name but she never changed/shortened it. She married a guy with a really WASPy last name but she did not take the name. It shocked the hell out of me when she started selling real estate a few years back. I saw her business card and it had a shortened version of her first name with her husband's last name.

ShimmyMommy

JTH wrote:

My last name is German. On occasion it's mistaken for Chinese. I have no idea if this helps or hurts me.

I have a friend from Iran. She moved to the U.S. in the late 70s (not the best time to make that move) and she has a very "ethnic sounding" name but she never changed/shortened it. She married a guy with a really WASPy last name but she did not take the name. It shocked the hell out of me when she started selling real estate a few years back. I saw her business card and it had a shortened version of her first name with her husband's last name.

My maiden name is...different...it actually rhymes with my first name, which I thought was cool. I took my husband's name when I got married, so now it sounds really French Canadian...sooo, people tend to not expect me when they meet me in person. It's kind of my thing to keep people guessing. :shifty:

Drowned Out

ShimmyMommy wrote:

JTH wrote:

My last name is German. On occasion it's mistaken for Chinese. I have no idea if this helps or hurts me.

I have a friend from Iran. She moved to the U.S. in the late 70s (not the best time to make that move) and she has a very "ethnic sounding" name but she never changed/shortened it. She married a guy with a really WASPy last name but she did not take the name. It shocked the hell out of me when she started selling real estate a few years back. I saw her business card and it had a shortened version of her first name with her husband's last name.

My maiden name is...different...it actually rhymes with my first name, which I thought was cool. I took my husband's name when I got married, so now it sounds really French Canadian...sooo, people tend to not expect me when they meet me in person. It's kind of my thing to keep people guessing. :shifty:

I have a client with a very scottish last name....I was looking forward to meeting her in person after dealing with her on the phone for a few weeks (yes, I had that laughable 'she sounds hot' thing happening in my head haha)....When it came time to meet with her, I showed up at her work and asked the first person I saw, this beautiful japanese woman, if she was available....I'm positive I had a momentary puzzled expression on my face when she said 'that's me'

As for the OP...

"Unfortunately, there are elements of racism in our community and there are definitely people in Australia who make employment decisions on a racist bias," he said.

"We like to call ourselves a tolerant society, but this happens a lot more often than we think."

I disagree with this...I am absolutely NOT racist...but when I'm going thru piles of resumes, I first look at experience. Generally, if their work history is overseas, in a foreign-language speaking country, they get put behind resumes with similar experience. I've had issues with communication with employees in the past.....and if I've got resume's from 3 people, one named Daniel McClean, one named Mike Smith, and one named Agnok Lueth, all with similar qualifications, and only time for 2 interviews...guess who isn't getting a call? Maybe Agnok is the best candidate of the three, but without interviews how would I know? I can't interview every person that submits a resume, so.....potential communication issues becomes a filter in pre-screening for interviews.
It's def a hardship for immigrants, and I'm sure there are instances that racism plays a part...but I don't think it's racist to consider communication skills a qualification for employment.

JonnyPistachio

I have a jewish sounding last name (and I'm not jewish), and apparently it got me my job where I've currently been working for 11 years where 95% of the employees are jewish. It has nothing to do with changing your name for a job, but it has made me realize how your name can affect your chances.

polaris_x

a former co-worker changed his name to a fairly anglo name after 9/11 ... his first name was osama ...

Godfather.

Thoughts_Arrive wrote:

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/business/business-smarts/little-white-lies-agnok-lueth-adopts-daniel-mcclean-on-his-cv-to-try-to-get-a-fair-go/story-fn7j1dox-1226097072346

My name is very European and I am still unemployed....

I would do what it takes to survive...a name change ,no problem.

Godfather.

Go Beavers

Godfather. wrote:

Thoughts_Arrive wrote:

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/business/business-smarts/little-white-lies-agnok-lueth-adopts-daniel-mcclean-on-his-cv-to-try-to-get-a-fair-go/story-fn7j1dox-1226097072346

My name is very European and I am still unemployed....

I would do what it takes to survive...a name change ,no problem.

Godfather.

.....said the white guy.

Who Princess

JTH wrote:

My last name is German. On occasion it's mistaken for Chinese. I have no idea if this helps or hurts me.

You made me remember a friend in high school whose last name was Lang (German). Occasionally people asked her if it was Chinese. :wtf:

jethrojam420

polaris_x wrote:

a former co-worker changed his name to a fairly anglo name after 9/11 ... his first name was osama ...

i can see that. i imagine a few adolf's changed their name way back when as well...

Godfather.

Go Beavers wrote:

Godfather. wrote:

Thoughts_Arrive wrote:

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/business/business-smarts/little-white-lies-agnok-lueth-adopts-daniel-mcclean-on-his-cv-to-try-to-get-a-fair-go/story-fn7j1dox-1226097072346

My name is very European and I am still unemployed....

I would do what it takes to survive...a name change ,no problem.

Godfather.

.....said the white guy.

ahhh geeez here we go........save that shit for someone else.

Godfather.

Godfather.

whoprincess wrote:

JTH wrote:

My last name is German. On occasion it's mistaken for Chinese. I have no idea if this helps or hurts me.

You made me remember a friend in high school whose last name was Lang (German). Occasionally people asked her if it was Chinese. :wtf:

ha ha ha a good friend of my familys has a nice german name.....Nicewonger,no I'm not joking.
one of the coolest people I know.

Godfather.

LikeAnOcean

Go Beavers wrote:

Godfather. wrote:

Thoughts_Arrive wrote:

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/business/business-smarts/little-white-lies-agnok-lueth-adopts-daniel-mcclean-on-his-cv-to-try-to-get-a-fair-go/story-fn7j1dox-1226097072346

My name is very European and I am still unemployed....

I would do what it takes to survive...a name change ,no problem.

Godfather.

.....said the white guy.

White people change their name all of the time for better success in Hollywood. Most people can't even pernounce my germanic last name.

arq

I would chance my name only if I can change it to:

Prince Of Dorkness

Of course I would.

you didn't really think my name was Lance Long, did you?

marcos

It depends on the profession, some professions are more or less prejudice than others, just like people I suppose. And then it's all about the interview for most jobs. It's all about appearance, so if you're gonna change your name, I suppose a disguise is next? If you're good looking you're name doesn't matter at all; especially now that people put their picture on their resume, that's the real prejudice - good looking vs. ugly people

Jeanwah

I would only change my name if I had the chance to be a rock star. Gotta have a cool name for that!

Some ethnic names can be memorable though. Like Galifianakis.

Godfather.

do you think using the name Elvis Presly would attract too much attention

Godfather.

Godfather.

arq wrote:

I would chance my name only if I can change it to:

LOL!!!!!very cool name !

Godfather.

Go Beavers

Godfather. wrote:

Go Beavers wrote:

Godfather. wrote:

I would do what it takes to survive...a name change ,no problem.

Godfather.

.....said the white guy.

ahhh geeez here we go........save that shit for someone else.

Godfather.

Why, too entrenched in your own beliefs to even discuss them?

Loulou

In my Mum's line of work, she sees LOTS of immigrants from India, Sudan, China amongst other places and they change their name all the time. They know when they go for a job they will be immediately judged by the name because it's pretty obvious that they are from another country.

catefrances

no.

Thoughts_Arrive

Well I got a call this morning for another interview.
I guess being a wog ain't so bad.

Godfather.

GoBeavers, I'm getting a little tired of the race card bullshit that gets thrown out around here and I don't care to defend myself aginst foolish statements tossed at me like "said the white guy" I've said it before and I'll say it again "COLOR DON'T MEAN SHIT TO ME !" so take your race card bullshit back to your save the rainbow club house and get off my ass about this shit.

Godfather.

Jason P

Go Beavers wrote:

.....said the white guy.

And no white people changed their surname while immigrating through Ellis Island to avoid discrimination? Or we just have a ton of Smiths, Johnsons, and Browns by coincidence?

People have to adapt in foreign environments. My buddy spend a year traveling through India and Asia and told everyone he is Canadian (even though he couldn't name Vancouver's hockey team when I questioned him ). He did it to avoid discrimination associated with the U.S. military presence in the middle east.

shadowcast

I would change my name to Mike Hunt...........HELLO!!!!!!!!!!!

Go Beavers

Jason P wrote:

Go Beavers wrote:

.....said the white guy.

And no white people changed their surname while immigrating through Ellis Island to avoid discrimination? Or we just have a ton of Smiths, Johnsons, and Browns by coincidence?

People have to adapt in foreign environments. My buddy spend a year traveling through India and Asia and told everyone he is Canadian (even though he couldn't name Vancouver's hockey team when I questioned him ). He did it to avoid discrimination associated with the U.S. military presence in the middle east.

The point underlying my statement to Godfather is that it's often the white people who are quick to suggest that minorities just assimilate to the majority culture. "Why can't they just be like us and do what we do" is the message. Not saying that Godfather thinks that way, but now I won't know because he's all in a huff.

Godfather.

Go Beavers wrote:

Jason P wrote:

Go Beavers wrote:

.....said the white guy.

And no white people changed their surname while immigrating through Ellis Island to avoid discrimination? Or we just have a ton of Smiths, Johnsons, and Browns by coincidence?

People have to adapt in foreign environments. My buddy spend a year traveling through India and Asia and told everyone he is Canadian (even though he couldn't name Vancouver's hockey team when I questioned him ). He did it to avoid discrimination associated with the U.S. military presence in the middle east.

The point underlying my statement to Godfather is that it's often the white people who are quick to suggest that minorities just assimilate to the majority culture. "Why can't they just be like us and do what we do" is the message. Not saying that Godfather thinks that way, but now I won't know because he's all in a huff.

all in a huff ? "Why can't they just be like us and do what we do" I see everybody like I see myself and I treat them as I would want to be treated and I think the race card is used like first act of fefence when ever a topic is mentioning people who are not white,I don't have anything to be ashamed of and if someone else does then they will have to live with that and they don't need me to tell them that they were or are wrong about color or sexual oriention comments,this guy in the OP's story should do what he needs to do and if that means changing his name then that is up to him,he threw himself into a situation that I'm sure he anticipated this sort of set back so he should do what he has to to survive and how he does that is not my business,if I were to move to Sudan I would expect nothing less that what this guy has to deal with so I would either prepare or do what I needed to do to survive and changing my name is no big deal to me.

Godfather.