Most Job Hunting Resources may omit stating the most important thing on your resume.
Photo Credit: Lucius Beebe Memorial Library

A classmate recently asked me for some advice on writing her resume. Thanks to the Internet, there is no shortage of templates one can use to help get started, and I suggested she merely had to google the term "Resume template." In addition, I pointed to a website that offered resume buzzwords she could use to pepper her page with, that is, power words and phrases that add zing and positive feelings to the resume.

But all the correct formatting, the right power-words, and all the resume pitfalls to avoid will be for naught, I advised her, if she used her real first name, which happens to be Ebonic. As I pointed out in my article The 13 Most Important Traits of an Ideal Employee, most employers will try to avoid hiring people with Ebonic names such as Tabiqwa or Bershawn. It's not because all employers are racist but because many will assume that anyone stupid enough to keep an Afro-centric name is also too stupid to be a good employee.

But let's assume that a fair number of white human resource personnel are indeed racist, bigoted or Xenophobic, then wouldn't logic dictate that, just to be safe, one should not use a name with an obvious ethnic or racial identifier? Legally changing one's name is not a bad idea - and anyway, your friends and family can still call you Trayvon or Lavatoria or any other stupid appellation, but at least your job interviewer won't prejudge your resume based on that and shitcan your application without even seeing you.

As for me, I was born with the Hebrew name Benzion. Although I legally changed it when I turned 18, I called myself Bernie from the time I was 5 years old. Fortunately for me, my kindergarten teacher could not pronounce my name and so called me Bernie. I say fortunately because otherwise I would have spent the next 64 years correcting people on how my real name is pronounced.

I am not saying there is something wrong with honoring your ancestry, but if you want to succeed in life, get an American name.

I believe that before this century ends, many citizens of foreign countries will be giving their children American names, and wisely so.

If you feel comfortable keeping your children tucked away in some small village that is cut off from all contact with the outside world, then by all means name your children zhinpingpow or some other unpronounceable non-American name. On the other hand, if you want your children to be successful, you will take my advice.

You may think, "what's in a name?" however, who would have Hailed Adolf Schicklegruber as Fuhrer when the Name Hitler works so well?