What is in a name - Discrimination

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If this is true, then African-Americans must get positive responses when they send their resumes out because there is no way of telling them apart in most cases based on just the name.

Not doubting what you say OP .........

Are you joking?

Black and white Americans have had distinctive naming patterns for a long time.

It's not universal. I'm AA and no one in my family has a name that is distinctively AA.

Agreed. Some people have very distinct AA names, and some people don't. And I actually hired a person a few years ago who I was SURE was AA after reading her name on the resume, but she turned out to be white!

Lol might have been me. My brother and i both have really black sounding names despite being the whitest of white people. I don't think it's had an effect on my job search, but who knows...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

OP, if you don't mind, could you tell me your field/sector? Just curious - I'm Asian too and I always figured having the 'right' firms, titles, and schools on my resume would be enough (and granted I see tons of C-suite types with fully Asian names) but I have heard of this as well.

So I'm curious if this is a sector by sector thing

I am in technology consulting.

[Anonymous]

I'm in HR/recruiting and have learned that names mean nothing. Nobody wanted to hire Ana because they said her accent was too thick (basically, they were too lazy to engage their brains), but I felt like she'd be a hard worker, and knew she wouldn't be the face of the company. Everyone loves her now. My coworker passed by a Makisha resume but we got that woman in, and she's risen so quickly and her work quality is great. Yet a woman named Jane and another named Alexa were awful and had to be fired. A name tells you nothing.

[Anonymous]

I am jewish and a scientist. Only once did I see a blatant case of discrimination in my 20+ years: someone refused to hire someone because they were Indian (Asian). It was apparent in the name, and he was not brought in for an interview.....

In my case, I do not even look at the name...beyond to figure out if I know them, or know someone who knows them.

With that said, all of my work requires a high-level clearance. People who immigrate from certain companies might not be clearable. If I here/figure out that you are from China (mainland), Iran, Russia, and a few other people, I will tread more lightly -- I do not want to spend time only to find they can not be cleared.

This has not really been an issue lately, as we verify existing clearances before interviewing them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm in HR/recruiting and have learned that names mean nothing. Nobody wanted to hire Ana because they said her accent was too thick (basically, they were too lazy to engage their brains), but I felt like she'd be a hard worker, and knew she wouldn't be the face of the company. Everyone loves her now. My coworker passed by a Makisha resume but we got that woman in, and she's risen so quickly and her work quality is great. Yet a woman named Jane and another named Alexa were awful and had to be fired. A name tells you nothing.

Sounds like a sconfirmation that name discrimination happens. Any other HR stories out there?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If this is true, then African-Americans must get positive responses when they send their resumes out because there is no way of telling them apart in most cases based on just the name.

Not doubting what you say OP .........

Are you joking?

Black and white Americans have had distinctive naming patterns for a long time.

two friends - Rita and Nakisha

Who's black, and who's white?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OP, if you don't mind, could you tell me your field/sector? Just curious - I'm Asian too and I always figured having the 'right' firms, titles, and schools on my resume would be enough (and granted I see tons of C-suite types with fully Asian names) but I have heard of this as well.

So I'm curious if this is a sector by sector thing

I am in technology consulting.

Oh woah - I was expecting biglaw or something whiteshoe.

I have lots of family working in tech and most don't feel discriminated. Sorry that it happened to you. Perhaps consulting is different from pure technology? There's asians at the highest level of msft and google.

[Anonymous]

I'm Indian and went to an ivy and have worked at many big companies including a famous wall Street bank. Never felt discriminated against but my resume is rock solid. Maybe a name matters on the margins?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If this is true, then African-Americans must get positive responses when they send their resumes out because there is no way of telling them apart in most cases based on just the name.

Not doubting what you say OP .........

Are you joking?

Black and white Americans have had distinctive naming patterns for a long time.

It's not universal. I'm AA and no one in my family has a name that is distinctively AA.

Of course not -- just like not all Asian people have distinctively Asian names, not all Latinos have distinctively Latino names... This thread is about people who do have non-Anglo-or-Caucasian names.

You should have said duh at the end. Because I can't believe you had to spell that out to people. Duh!

[Anonymous]

This was in the news not too long ago:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/04/upshot/the-measuring-sticks-of-racial-bias-.html?_r=0&abt=0002&abg=0

But I've seen evidence of it working the other way around as well. Where people mentioned picking someone because they saw their name and figured that they're from the same area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm Indian and went to an ivy and have worked at many big companies including a famous wall Street bank. Never felt discriminated against but my resume is rock solid. Maybe a name matters on the margins?

DH and I both have American first names and Asian last names. We have never had problems with interviews and job offers. Our resumes are also rock solid.

I recently resigned to stay home full time with our young children. I am afraid I will be overqualified for certain positions I apply for in the future and be passed by. Don't think that will have anything to do with my Asian last name though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If this is true, then African-Americans must get positive responses when they send their resumes out because there is no way of telling them apart in most cases based on just the name.

Not doubting what you say OP .........

Are you joking?

Black and white Americans have had distinctive naming patterns for a long time.

two friends - Rita and Nakisha

Who's black, and who's white?

This thread is about statistical averages and probabilities. Your specific counter example does not negate the point that names give hints about race and anglo names get more callbacks from sent resumes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm Indian and went to an ivy and have worked at many big companies including a famous wall Street bank. Never felt discriminated against but my resume is rock solid. Maybe a name matters on the margins?

That is a huge issue though isn't it? As a fellow south asian, I'm disappointed with your attitude though my resume is the same.

The set of people that are ivy grads that have big companies on their resume is a drop in the bucket compared to the total workforce.

[Anonymous]

On the flip side the Indian recruiters change their names on resume hunting emails..lol..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a social experiment, I posted my resume twice on the same job sites: once with my Asian name and once with a made up Anglophone name. It has been two days and the anglophone me has received two calls from recruiters on senior management positions. I was never contacted about those positions before with my real name . I guess the quickest way to get what I want is change my name

I have a friend with a Slavic name who changed it and basically immediately got the job she wanted. I was amazed, and sad. I was also a little scared, as someone raising kids with distinctively Russian first and last names.

I actually use my Russian name on my resume (think Sasha, not Alexandra) along with my neutral-sounding last name so that employers don't think I am selling them a bill of goods when I show up with my Russian accent. If they don't want to hire me because of who I am, I don't want to work for them. Never had a problem, but then the resume is rock-solid (work in BigLaw).