Racism/Classism in Hiring
I saw an interesting report on 20/20 - they submitted ridentical esumes using traditionally African-American (such as Diamond, Precious, Princess, or Crystal) and traditionally white names (such as Katie, Molly, or Claire). What they found was, more often than not, the resume with the "black" name was passed over for an interview in favor of the resume with the white-sounding name. It is also important to note that the first group of names is often associated with general lower socioeconomic status.
A recent study from the National Bureau of Economic Research concluded that a person with a distincly African-American sounding name was almost 50% less likely to recieve a job interview than a person with a more "traditional" name.White-sounding names recieved 10 callbacks for every 15 that a black-sounding name recieved.
I'm listing the sources at the end of this blog entry. The studies are quite interesting, and a great illustration against prejudices and internalized bias towards poor and black Americans. It's also put me in a tough sport - I have a "poor" first name, and an "interesting" spelling. When you pick up my resume KRYSTAL is the first thing that you see. What if that has been off-putting to potential employers?
What can you do if you have a non-traditional, or black-sounding name? My suggestion is that, depending on what kind of job you're applying to, you abbreviate or initialize your first name. It's a way to get your foot in the door. My next batch of resumes to be mailed will be sent off as K. LastName instead of Krystal LastName. I'm not ashamed of my name, but I'm not going to let a person's prejudices hurt my chances of being hired. I recommend that you do the same.
SOURCE - http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=2470131&page=1&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/09/29/national/main575685.shtml
October 5, 2006, 9:33 PM
That 20/20 story has been redone quite a number of times over the years. So many things happen in Life and there's sufficient time that's elapsed between the next airing of it that it is difficult for the average viewer to remember whether the study participants are the same or new. Wouldn't it be interesting to learn that the study participants are actually the same ones who were testing the job market waters 20 years ago?
Racism is alive and well in all parts of America and all countries. What is interesting about that story, and most like it, is that it only focuses on the black/white picture. It doesn't take time to look at the employment opportunities or barriers of Hispanics or Arabs or East Indians or Koreans or ... You get the picture. So the story is slightly biased in it's analysis and designed to incite in some way. While it does inform, it makes it seem as though the race issue is only between two instead of the spectrum.
Do employers really take a person's name into consideration when reviewing resumes? The 20/20 story says yes. In my employment industry experience, I would have to say not really. But what can hurt a person's opportunities are a resume that lists job functions instead of setting forth accomplishments, has many typographical errors and poor grammar, sloppy appearance, too much information crammed onto one page. These are factors that make a huge statement about the type of presentation the applicant will make to customers and clients. An employer wants to attract and keep not repel. The applicant with poor employment presentation documents repels.
Actually, I would say retain your full name on your resume. If you're rejected because someone thinks you may be of one ethnicity or another, and that opinion is representative of the corporate culture, then you benefit from being rejected. (Unless, of course, you enjoy persecution.) You've saved yourself the wasted time so that you can pursue opportunities in healthier environments.