Non-anglo names barrier for job hunters

Source: Vancouver Sun

Canadians with Asian names face a daunting level of hidden discrimination when searching for a job, University of B.C. economics professor Paul Oreopoulos has found.

“In some cases, applicants are being turned down for an interview because of their name, even if they are the better hire,” he said.

Oreopoulos sent out 6,699 fake resumes to Toronto-area employers in 2008, changing up the applicant’s name, educational background and country of work experience.

Even when applicants had identical Canadian work experiences and educational backgrounds, every 100 resumes with English names resulted in roughly 16 calls from employers. For every 100 resumes with Asian names, only 11 generated calls from employers. That means a resume with an English name was 40-per-cent more likely to generate a call back.

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Sad but true. That's why most Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and to a lesser extent Japanese use English names in North America. It's just easier.

I've heard it around the office too. People dogging on other people's names cause it's too hard. The idea of finding a job is to get your foot in the door and then knock them out with your fabulous interviewing skills. But with a difficult name, sadly alot of people won't get through the first screening at some companies.

How about you? Have you ever found any obstacles with your name?