Downside to using a "fake" last name on your resume?
June 11, 2013 1:13 PM   Subscribe

A friend wants to use a short, easy-to-spell last name on their resume, in place of their legal name, putting the first initial of their legal last name as their middle initial. Why is this a bad idea?

A friend wants to simplify their last name on their resume, but not legally*. They intend to fill out necessary forms with their legal name, if hired, and will provide their real last name via the "former names" section on applications.

Can you (as someone who has done this before, or as a hiring manager who's encountered this before) advise as to potential pitfalls? This is in the US, in the state of California.

*the reason why is not nefarious, but is both boring and irrelevant to the question, so I've skipped it.
posted by davejay to Work & Money (37 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Bad idea. We Google everyone before we bring them in for an interview. If nothing comes up (no Linkedin, no prior jobs, no publications or whatever), that's bad.
posted by 2bucksplus at 1:15 PM on June 11, 2013 [3 favorites]


So the first thing a possible employer learns about the applicant is that he has cause to be ashamed of his name, is a liar, and cannot be trusted to tell the truth. Impressive.
posted by Cranberry at 1:18 PM on June 11, 2013 [8 favorites]


Because it looks like they've got something to hide when they Google you. Criminal record, terrible references from last job - take your pick, it raises a question mark. If your CV is going to be in a pile under consideration, don't do anything that makes it easy for them to put it in the reject pile.
posted by penguin pie at 1:18 PM on June 11, 2013 [2 favorites]


There are enough qualified applicants hustling for jobs right now that even the SLIGHTEST little "huh, that's weird" moment when reviewing a resume is enough to make a hiring manager discard it. And the whole "non-legal name change" this is a large, economy-sized "wow, that's REALLY weird!" moment. Do not do this. Unless the dude's name is, like, "Jonathan Hitler-IdiAmin-PolPot-ensburg". In which case, DON'T DO IT ANYWAY, just change it legally (I have done this twice - it's not hard).
posted by julthumbscrew at 1:22 PM on June 11, 2013 [5 favorites]


Also bad news - they won't find out your friends real last name until they call for references. I know comparison of data on application forms vs resume hasn't happened on my previous jobs. I can't imagine it will work out well for anyone on that call.

"Hi. I'm calling about John Doe."

"I don't know a John Doe."

" it says here John Doe worked with you for 6 years?"

" do you mean John Doensbbgtsdbnjgfvssdv?"

And scene. Now everyone on the call is flustered and less likely to his glowing praise due to be thrown off balance at the beginning of the call.
posted by Suffocating Kitty at 1:23 PM on June 11, 2013 [6 favorites]


Even if the reason is not nefarious, a lot of employers will assume that it is nefarious. Basically, you run the risk that potential employers will think that you're a criminal or are lying or hiding something negative about past job history.

Also, a lot of places won't have a formal application that asks for former names, and at least some places will call references (even informally) before the interview process is complete. If a potential employer calls your last job and asks whether John Smith was a good worker, and your old employer says that John Smith never worked there before because they know you as John Bhatnagar or John Silverglate-Ortenmeyer or John von der Fenstermacher or whatever, that would be really bad.
posted by decathecting at 1:23 PM on June 11, 2013 [1 favorite]


Best answer: It's going to make your friend look like a crazy person.

I get resumes all the time from people with non-legal nicknames names on their resume.

Fake example: someone named Xiwen Xu who goes by Sharon Xu. For those cases, it's pretty much always noted thusly: "Sharon (Xiwen) Xu" You can google for them and their LinkedIn page shows up with the legal name and the nickname just like that. Because it's effectively their real name.

Just using a completely fake last name is weird and dumb and is going to make people think your friend is lying.
posted by phunniemee at 1:23 PM on June 11, 2013 [10 favorites]


Even if the potential employer doesn't Google them (which is unthinkable in this day and age), what happens when they ask references for their opinion?

REFERENCE: "Jane K. Smith? Never heard of her. Do you mean Jane Kandrapallian?"
EMPLOYER: "Thanks for your time."
*assumes applicant is a unrepentant liar, tosses application in trash*

On preview: What Suffocating Kitty (and that would be a name to change legally!) said.
posted by zombieflanders at 1:24 PM on June 11, 2013 [1 favorite]


Best answer: I use a "fake" last name in my day-to-day life for nearly every purpose, but even I use my legal last name on resumes. I usually note in the cover letter that I can mostly be googled under the other one. People change last names, especially women, and it's probably not a big huge deal, but I wouldn't do it the way you're describing at all. It's just too confusing.

What your friend could do, if they have a reason to want this name attached to them, is either mention it in the cover letter or list their name as Firstname Fakename Lastname. In either case, you're going to want to be really clear which name should be used when checking references. If the fake name isn't it, then I question whether it's worth introducing.
posted by restless_nomad at 1:24 PM on June 11, 2013


I am a hiring manager. This is a really bad idea. You can't control how the hiring manager would find out, and it looks like you are hiding something. You will also look unprofessional, and it casts doubt over the entire process.
posted by spaltavian at 1:25 PM on June 11, 2013 [1 favorite]


the reason why .. is both boring and irrelevant

And yet, that's going to be the first (and probably last) question:
"Why isn't your name correct on your resume?"
posted by Rash at 1:29 PM on June 11, 2013 [3 favorites]


A friend wants to simplify their last name on their resume, but not legally*. They intend to fill out necessary forms with their legal name, if hired, and will provide their real last name via the "former names" section on applications.

So s/he's planning to give significantly false information on a job application, and s/he's planning that if this works, s/he's going to admit to the new employer that s/he used false information on the job application? And s/he thinks this is worth doing to make it easier for the employer to spell this person's name? And you're asking if this is worth doing? The question answers itself.
posted by John Cohen at 1:31 PM on June 11, 2013 [1 favorite]


Jumping on the bandwagon - even when hiring people for part-time, low-wage jobs, I don't think I ever interviewed an un-Googleable person. (Granted, I was hiring for a library, so I wanted someone tech-savvy enough to have an internet presence - YMMV, but I think most employers want someone who can use the internet.) In any case it's a weird, fishy thing to do, and it would make me wonder what else they were lying about. If your friend was using the shortened last name professionally already, that would be different, but otherwise, this is a weird thing to do. Don't do it.
posted by goodbyewaffles at 1:35 PM on June 11, 2013


Aside from the fact that it seems, um. Kind of stupid? And/or weird? It will make confirming any references difficult, since no one will know who the reference requester is talking about. Also, how do they plan to handle getting paid under a false name? If they do not plan to do so, how do they plan to explain why they applied under a false name and will need their employment paperwork prepared under a different name?
posted by elizardbits at 1:45 PM on June 11, 2013


Response by poster: That was faster than I'd hoped. Thank you much, drawing their attention to the thread now.
posted by davejay at 1:51 PM on June 11, 2013


I don't know... it seems like most of the people giving advice here are posting from a somewhat privileged point of view where their names are mainstream enough to not trigger the latent racism that comes to play when hiring managers see "weird" names.

If your friend is just trying to present an easier-for-westerners version of their last name, and said friend has linkedin and/or other profiles using the simplified name I say go for it. I don't put my full legal name on my resume, partially because no one calls me by it, and partially because it is a huge marker of my otherness (not that the nickname is mainstream either, but it's easier for all involved).

Just as in the "Sharon (Xiwen) Xu" case, reasonable hiring managers will understand the use of a westernized name. Your friend might want to be sure to clarify the name thing before it gets to the checking references point though.

And to all you hiring managers who claim that this is a huge red flag... have you never hired a recently married woman before? There are lots of reasons why people's last names now could be different than the names they were known under in their previous jobs.

If you friend is just trying to hide from a bad reputation online though-- yeah, it's a bad idea.
posted by sparklemotion at 2:04 PM on June 11, 2013 [10 favorites]


sparklemotion: And to all you hiring managers who claim that this is a huge red flag... have you never hired a recently married woman before? There are lots of reasons why people's last names now could be different than the names they were known under in their previous jobs.
Seems to me that anyone who isn't clever enough to change their resume after changing their name probably isn't very professional.
posted by IAmBroom at 2:15 PM on June 11, 2013 [2 favorites]


I'd go with a transition period. Go online, update everything she can. Give a heads-up to former managers and co-workers. Update LinkedIn to Fakename Lastname. Be clear with hiring managers that you've had a recent name change. I don't see this as a big deal. I have friends who have changed their names and, as long as they have give people a heads-up and been open about it (and indicated former name too), it isn't a big deal. Women change their names all the time and it's common for people here in Canada to have an "Anglo" version of their name, if they have immigrated. However, in Canada, your only legal name is your full name (including middle name) and even married persons are still legally registered under their birth names, even if they register to go by another name. So ymmv.
posted by Chaussette and the Pussy Cats at 2:23 PM on June 11, 2013


I have done it for years and never, ever had a problem.

@IAmBroom - the issue is not that the woman in question did not update her resume, it's that her old contacts know her under her old name, ditto for online history, etc.

@Cranberry - whoa that's a lot of (bad) assumptions.
posted by rada at 2:25 PM on June 11, 2013 [3 favorites]


My name before I married was very hard to pronouce (lots of consonants, not many vowels) and in the pre-internet era, I often included a "how to say MyName" at the end of my cover letter. (I started doing this because someone thought my correctly spelled name was a typo, and trust me, that was a very embarrassing conversation.) So, your friend could do something similiar: Paris Wowzysky (Wowskee)
posted by Ideefixe at 2:35 PM on June 11, 2013 [2 favorites]


rada: @IAmBroom - the issue is not that the woman in question did not update her resume, it's that her old contacts know her under her old name, ditto for online history, etc.
This is pretty easily solved:
Jane Doe
Work Experience:
1992-2000 IBM Corporation (under previous name of Jane Smith)
posted by IAmBroom at 2:37 PM on June 11, 2013


And to all you hiring managers who claim that this is a huge red flag... have you never hired a recently married woman before?

But that is not the situation this question is about. No one questions that employers are capable of dealing with genuine name changes. But the OP is contemplating doing something different: providing a name that is not his/her real last name, having nothing to do with marriage, and then admitting this to the employer.
posted by John Cohen at 2:39 PM on June 11, 2013 [3 favorites]


But the OP is contemplating ... providing a name that is not his/her real last name, having nothing to do with marriage, and then admitting this to the employer.


OP is providing a simplified version of their name. And being upfront in any case where an employer would want to be able to do background checks or the like (accurately filling in "previously known by" fields and the like). It's troubling how everyone assume that this is out of some terrible dishonesty.

Would you fire a William Smith who introduced himself at his interview as Billy? Why would you not hire a Lena Jóhannsdóttir who likes to be called Ms. Johanna?
posted by sparklemotion at 2:48 PM on June 11, 2013


It's troubling how everyone assume that this is out of some terrible dishonesty.

Well, yeah. That's the thing, isn't it? It doesn't matter if it's completely on the up and up or not. The problem is that as soon as someone gets a whiff that something is off, the natural conclusion to jump to is "oh, obviously because of the terrible dishonesty." It's not really a dice roll I'd want to take when playing the already nearly impossible job hunt game.

OP, if your friend really wants to do this, the best way would likely be "Jane Doe (Dzhozherblatt)"
posted by phunniemee at 2:59 PM on June 11, 2013 [5 favorites]


What if a person has taken care all of their life to not be google-able? What is to be said of the,?

And yes, there are some super security conscious kids out there.
posted by squirbel at 3:37 PM on June 11, 2013


Look, it may be wrong or unfair or privileged, but the way the modern world works is that you're going to find yourself disqualified from a lot of jobs if you can't be googled or if your resume doesn't use the same name as your references or if there are any other discrepancies with your name. That's true of people with hard-to-pronounce names, and it's true of people who have made efforts not to be google-able, and it's true of married women who have changed their names. A lot of people will not hire people they can't find on the internet and check out. It makes people suspicious, whether we like it or not.

In our society, first name nicknames are understood and accepted, while surname nicknames are not. Again, protest it if you like, but that's where we are right now. It's the reason that a lot of married women who change their names use FirstName BirthSurname MarriedSurname instead of FirstName MiddleName MarriedSurname (e.g., they go from Jane Louise McNally to Jane McNally Adams instead of Jane Louise Adams), so that they can make the professional transition more easily. And it's why a lot of people who keep their names off the internet in their personal lives create basic LinkedIn profiles or otherwise put their professional lives on the internet. It may not be fair, but it's true.

It may be that it would be better if the world were not this way, and we should speak out against the racism and sexism and other isms that underlie it. But a resume is not the place to fight that battle; it's a marketing document, and you risk losing out on jobs if there's anything that looks hinky, or if nothing can be found at all, no matter how good the actual reason for it.
posted by decathecting at 4:01 PM on June 11, 2013 [4 favorites]


I can think of a dozens of examples of people who use non-legal names on resumes with no ill consequences.

It's *extremely* common in journalism for women to have a byline that is different than their legal name. Jane Doe marries Joe Schmoe, legally changes her name to Jane Schmoe, but continues to use Jane Doe as her byline and for all other work purposes. When filling out tax forms and pre-hiring paperwork, she puts her legal name on the forms and then "Jane Doe" down when asked for other names she goes by.

It is also *extremely* common for the children of immigrants to the U.S. to use first names other than their legal names on resumes and all other websites. If everyone else calls her Rachel, why should someone who's legal name is Wai Yee have to put that on her resume? If everyone else calls him Howard, why should someone who's legal name is Hung have to put that on his resume?

My (now deceased) grandfather's legal name was Nauman, which his family adopted before he was born in order to hide from anti-Polish discrimination. When he became a professional, he began to go by Naumowicz, rather than Nauman, to show pride in his ancestry. He had a successful career despite this discrepancy.

I went to college with a woman whose family also tried to hide their ethnicity with a last name change, and who has adopted the original name for professional purposes.

And there are the dozens of people I've known over the years who put names like Jon, Will, Rob, Cathy, Sue, etc. on their resumes, despite their legal names being Jonathan, Will, Robert, Catherine, Susan, etc.

And don't people who go by middle names and don't bother disclosing first initials. If H. Ross Perot had just put "Ross Perot" on his resume would you automatically disqualify his candidacy for a job on grounds of dishonesty?
posted by croutonsupafreak at 4:03 PM on June 11, 2013 [3 favorites]


croutonsupafreak, you've given a bunch of examples of people whose names are consistent throughout their professional careers. Jane Doe has the same name in all of her past jobs, so when she looks for a new job, her references and search engine results will check out. An immigrant or someone who has always used a nickname has a professional history under that nickname. Your grandfather began using his ancestral name "when he became a professional," so his entire professional history would be under that name. Also, again, there's a difference between first name nicknames and last name nicknames, and there's definitely a different standard for people like journalists (and actors, artists, writers, etc.), who commonly use pen names or stage names, than there is for us common folk.

davejay, if your friend has no past professional history and is planning to use the pseudonym throughout his career, he might be okay. If, however, he has a past professional history under his real name, that's where the problems (and the suspicion) will likely come in.
posted by decathecting at 4:54 PM on June 11, 2013 [3 favorites]


What if a person has taken care all of their life to not be google-able?

I am not google-able, but I have a linked-in, which I'm guessing is enough (ie there is at least something). I don't know if I've had trouble getting work, because I have no basis for comparison, but it's worked out ok.
posted by anonymisc at 5:20 PM on June 11, 2013


I am hiring now, and if someone pulled this, their resume would go directly in the trash and the call would end, and I would mutter "freak" as I hung up the phone.
posted by wenestvedt at 5:51 PM on June 11, 2013 [1 favorite]


sparklemotion: And to all you hiring managers who claim that this is a huge red flag... have you never hired a recently married woman before? There are lots of reasons why people's last names now could be different than the names they were known under in their previous jobs.

OP, I'm quoting this because it proves exactly why this is such a big red flag. The only thing anyone can compare this to is a legal name change in a culturally well-understood context. "Oh, it's not a legal change, I just like this name better" guarantees the hiring manager thinks you're a flake.

For the record, I don't Google anyone. The information I get is useless. I don't care that you smoke pot or whatever. I do care that you lie on your resume.
posted by spaltavian at 6:44 PM on June 11, 2013 [1 favorite]


I do care that you lie on your resume.

I guess the impasse that we have come to is that OP has not given us enough information to tell whether or not this is a "lie".

I think its only a "lie" if it's being done for deceptive purposes (cover up a history of embezzlement, or the like).

If OP's friend is just simplifying, and it's early in his career -- there should be no problems.

If OP's friend is just simplifying, but it's later in his career -- then said friend should probably be sensitive to the confusion that it should cause.
posted by sparklemotion at 7:13 PM on June 11, 2013 [1 favorite]


Why do you keep saying "simplifying"?

A friend wants to use a short, easy-to-spell last name on their resume, in place of their legal name, putting the first initial of their legal last name as their middle initial. Why is this a bad idea?

This isn't spelling "Smythe" as "Smith".
posted by spaltavian at 7:19 PM on June 11, 2013


Perhaps the OP is contradictory on this point? I got the word "simplify" from two sentences after your quote, spaltavian: A friend wants to simplify their last name on their resume....

Also, the word "fake" is in quotes in the title, leading me to assume that this is a case of westernizing.

Other people have come to other assumptions, so I believe that this is another point on which we don't have enough information to make a real judgment.
posted by sparklemotion at 7:42 PM on June 11, 2013


OP is asking for downsides, but the upside is getting a call for an interview, and I know more than one person who only got calls after creatively adjusting their name.
posted by BinGregory at 12:12 AM on June 12, 2013 [2 favorites]


Hiring manager here. I've hired people in the past who have shortened or westernized versions of their names (both first or surname); the candidate has been clear about the correct version of their name from the start. I do a version of this myself - Chris instead of Christopher.

The only reason I'd be suspicious is if the new name had no relation to the old name or there was not a reasonable explanation. The only red flag I'd have is that there was a case in the UK of a vexatious litigant who submitted 2 versions of his CV for various jobs and if the Anglo sounding name got invited for interview but his Asian name didn't, then he'd sue for damages. This has made employers in the UK a little suspicious of naming issues.
posted by arcticseal at 7:32 AM on June 12, 2013 [3 favorites]


Well, geez. I am not google-able by my legal name. I have put EFFORT into not being Google-able. Not for nefarious purposes; I just don't think it's your business.

Good thing I like my job.
posted by Windigo at 1:53 PM on June 12, 2013


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