Your name could affect your chances of finding a job, now what?
We wrote an article about how your first or last name can affect your chances of getting a job. We received a lot of good feedback and questions via email and by phone about the article. One question that came up more than the others, was, so what do I do?
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Change or keep your name
You could either change your name or keep it the way it is. We worked with a lot of people in various large corporations that have all kinds of ethic and domestic names, so you may not need to change it. If you feel that your name is hard to pronounce, or is associated with someone else who did some kind of terrible crime or similar, you may want to change it.
First name vs last name
Changing your first name is much easier than your last. Most employers do not care that you have a common or short form of your name. As long as you use your legal or birth name on the employment contract, government forms, background check and other forms such as health benefits, there should be no issue.
What kind of name should you choose?
We suggest doing some research, such as typing in some names of interest into Google or other search engines and find out what pops up. Picking a name is important, so choose wisely.
Have you experienced barriers due to having a hard to pronounce name, or associated with a certain ethic group? We would like to hear about your story.
