Name change for career and beyond

How about Clark Gable?

I don't think most Asians "change" their names but rather add an English name while still keep their Asian names. If that makes you feel better.

Although it is not professional, this is true. Adding an anglophone first name may be a good idea.

I work in a very large company and can't pronounce about 50% of peoples names here and about 50% of people have strong accents. I don't see the trend changing. Go to a any university and look at the make up of a hard science program. It's not majority WASP. Can't see names/accents to making a difference in the broader sense for big companies. They have diversity quotas to fill though, so I know some ethnicities get passed over in favor of others sometimes.
Someone was once complaining they couldn't find a non-"certain asian ethnicity" female for a role, they had too many "certain asian ethnicity" males already. Needed to have a female that wasn't "certain asian ethnicity" . No one else would qualify. That was the policy. All applicants were either male or "certain asian ethnicity". Position canceled.

You can adopt a nickname for your first name without having to change it legally. I have a friend who adopted a three-letter nickname because it made conducting business easier for him. I know a Mohammed who goes by Moe and an Alireza who goes by Al. Maybe try a nickname on your resume and see if you get more interviews before resorting to a full legal name change.

On your resume and LinkedIn, put your preferred English name on there. The only people who need to know your actual legal name is HR.

I just see this as an excuse.

mathiewannabe wrote: ↑I just see this as an excuse.

it's reality. age and ethnicity matters to a lot of companies quite a bit unfortunately.

the last company i worked for wouldn't hire anyone who wasn't young, and they had to be chinese or a similar type of asian.

a company I applied to recently, only had caucasians and though i had more than enough work experience(2-4 years) in the field and the position i didn't get hired for the part-time seasonal position i applied to.

another company I worked for, they kept thinking I was chinese, and made me do all the asian stuff because they thought i spoke and understood the chinese language.

another company i worked for before that, the first thing they asked me in a phone interview is if i were filipino because they were looking for a filipino worker to join the team.

Companies love philophinos because they work hard for near min-wage and rarely look for a better job (low turnover cost).

SquirreI wrote: ↑it's reality. age and ethnicity matters to a lot of companies quite a bit unfortunately.

the last company i worked for wouldn't hire anyone who wasn't young, and they had to be chinese or a similar type of asian.

a company I applied to recently, only had caucasians and though i had more than enough work experience(2-4 years) in the field and the position i didn't get hired for the part-time seasonal position i applied to.

another company I worked for, they kept thinking I was chinese, and made me do all the asian stuff because they thought i spoke and understood the chinese language.

another company i worked for before that, the first thing they asked me in a phone interview is if i were filipino because they were looking for a filipino worker to join the team.

that has nothing to do with a name.

Change it to the following names:

Chad Makowski
Blake Turner
Bob Wilson
Dustin Carter
Brett Heart

How about Russell Peters.

Keep the name. Work harder. Be more confident. Innovate.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Min_Kao

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satya_Nadella

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jen-Hsun_Huang

Corner3 wrote: ↑Keep the name. Work harder. Be more confident. Innovate.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Min_Kao

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satya_Nadella

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jen-Hsun_Huang

Looked at Chinese names, saw poster was
Corner3. Wasn't disappointed

FirstGear wrote: ↑Companies love philophinos because they work hard for near min-wage and rarely look for a better job (low turnover cost).

This.... if I had my own company I would only hire filipinos

I would be one of the few people here who have sympathy for op. Honestly, here is a Canadian forum and most replies would be:

1. Suck it up, you chose to come to our country;
2. Go back to your own country;
3. There is no such thing as discrimination in Canada. It is just that you aren't good enough.

However, I have seen and experienced different cases (of discrimination) in this country. Just an example of my friend: she is from Asia and of course had an Asian last name. When she first applied for jobs here in Canada, she sent out thousands of resumes with NO LUCK AT ALL (no replies, no phone calls). Then after she got married to a Canadian, she changed her last name to his husband's last name (a typical western last name) in her resume and email (that's the only change). So her name then was like, for example, Jennifer Smith. Oh man... phone calls started to come in and it INCREASED dramatically her chance of getting a job, and she did get a job.

I am not encouraging op to change name... but the reality is that MANY (or ALMOST ALL) employers in Canada just delete your email when they see your email with a "foreign" last name like, 'Chen', 'Okashi'...etc

akuma99 wrote: ↑I would be one of the few people here who have sympathy for op. Honestly, here is a Canadian forum and most replies would be:

1. Suck it up, you chose to come to our country;
2. Go back to your own country;
3. There is no such thing as discrimination in Canada. It is just that you aren't good enough.

However, I have seen and experienced different cases (of discrimination) in this country. Just an example of my friend: she is from Asia and of course had an Asian last name. When she first applied for jobs here in Canada, she sent out thousands of resumes with NO LUCK AT ALL (no replies, no phone calls). Then after she got married to a Canadian, she changed her last name to his husband's last name (a typical western last name) in her resume and email (that's the only change). So her name then was like, for example, Jennifer Smith. Oh man... phone calls started to come in and it INCREASED dramatically her chance of getting a job, and she did get a job.

I am not encouraging op to change name... but the reality is that MANY (or ALMOST ALL) employers in Canada just delete your email when they see your email with a "foreign" last name like, 'Chen', 'Okashi'...etc

People with Asian surnames have far better luck in California. Ironically, the silicone valley is one of the highest paying sectors. But I actually completely 100% believe that one is better off with a white last name in Canada.

I'm sympathetic to the OP. I just believe the OP shouldn't give in to what is negative political pressure like your friend. Otherwise nothing will ever change. It's why I always encourage people with non-white surnames to apply to US jobs. They'll move up faster, then when Canadian companies covet them, you can tell them to kiss your ass.

It's funny, because Canadians think that they are far less racist than Americans. But I bet you if you aren't white, you have a far better chance at landing an above-average job in the United States than in Canada.

Canadians get highly uncomfortable and don't want to talk about racial discrimination, because it goes against how they see themselves. Americans will talk about it. And there's your difference.

Looked at Chinese names, saw poster was
Corner3. Wasn't disappointed

I didn't know Nadella was a Chinese name. Also, what does your post have to do with the OP's topic? Because mine did.

Corner3 wrote: ↑It's funny, because Canadians think that they are far less racist than Americans.

Canadians like to think they are tolerant, it's their "thing". A colleague of mine is part of a minority group and commented on Americans being far nicer to him than Canadians during his residence in both countries. I myself spent a good part of my life on US soil and I tend to agree that most Canadians are not very tolerant people in general towards minorities (they are however, very passive aggressive). It works both ways in Canada -- There are a huge number of businesses/franchises here in Canada that have an illogically high percentage of employees from one ethnicity (minority groups included).

As Corner3 said OP, don't be a part of the problem, be part of the solution. I work with many successful professionals with ethnic first names and/or last names on a daily basis and nobody even blinks an eye.

Bharat Masrani is the CEO of TD. That's about as ethnic as a name can get.