‘Systemic racism’: Real name gets him nowhere; Asian man starts using American name, gets job interview calls

An Asian tech worker has sparked a major online debate after sharing his encounter with racism. He anonymously posted on TeamBlind that he had faced repeated rejections when applying for jobs with his real Chinese name.

“I've been applying for a few months now, and all I've been getting are the automated 'unfortunately' rejection emails. I checked off all the requirements and even got my resume critiqued by a career coach,” the user wrote.

He got the idea of using a different name from a Reddit post. When he switched to an “American” name, he immediately received three interview calls.

The techie tried using “James Bright” on his résume. The new name was based on his old school nickname and a translation of his surname. The change led to interview invitations from companies that had earlier rejected him.

“My name is very Chinese. But, I used to go by James when I was in school. So, I put James Bright as my name (bright is the translation of my last name) and yea, I got interview requests from 3 different companies that initially rejected my original resume,” he wrote.

Now, he feels confused because using his real name gets him nowhere. Also, he believes using the American name may cause problems during interviews.

“Now I am not sure what to do. If I go on with the interviews, they are going to know I didn't write my legal name on the resume. If I continue using my real name, I won't get past the resume phase. I even applied through referrals and nothing,” the techie added.

“I am lost, and I don't know what to do anymore. Should I just interview as James and hope for the best?” he asked.

He is a US citizen and does not need visa sponsorship. Still, he said none of this helped his applications, leaving him unsure of what to do next.

Response from others

Other users responded to the post. Most of them find nothing wrong with the tweak.

“You can go by a preferred name, nothing illegal about it. If it's helping, do it!” commented one user.

“I don’t think anyone would openly challenge it. Would they raise their eyebrows when they learn you have a different legal last name? Yes. Does it matter? Probably not,” wrote another.

“Since now you know how to get their attention, use James+real last name and continue to apply,” came from another.

Another wrote, “Yes. Paycheck first, fight systemic racism later.”