By Gobinder Gill

At a recent networking function, a newly arrived immigrant from China asked me if she should change her name to improve the chances of her finding employment. It is an age old question – what’s in a name? 

The sound of one’s name could be a prevailing factor in whether an applicant is going to get a call back for a job interview or not. It may sound preposterous, but it is true; apparently Anglo Saxon sounding names have a 40 per cent greater chance of being called in for a job interview than ethnic sounding names such as Singh, Chu, Mohammed or even Petronela.

A study conducted two years ago by UBC economics professor Phillip Oreopoulos revealed that applicants with English sounding names had a greater chance of finding employment. In the study, 6,000 mock resumes in 20 occupational categories were sent to 2,000 advertised online positions in Toronto.

English sounding names received 40 per cent more call backs for an interview than Indian, Pakistan or Chinese names, even though the resumes had the same qualifications, including a BA plus six years of training.

While this may or may not surprise you, it should give us pause. Many businesses often claim they support diversity in the workplace but the underlying processes, biases and awareness results in the opposite behaviour.

This is one reason why new immigrants or even second or third generations of ethnic Canadians do not do well when it comes to jobs and wages as compared to their Caucasian counterparts. It seems, in some ways, an employer views ethnic applicants to have poor English or social skills; this is not always true.

Such biases are often most likely due to historical, cultural, and social factors – they have been ingrained over time. However, that is not an excuse for the right candidate to be disqualified for a job. It seems certain individuals among the human resources personnel or individuals that are in charge of hiring need cultural awareness training on a regular basis. These personnel need to become more aware when it comes to hiring potential applicants from various ethnic cultural backgrounds.

If such attitudes continue to exist in the hiring process, then ultimately it could affect the company’s bottom line because immigrants will be one of the  key components to filling new vacant positions in coming years due to low birth rates and baby boomers retirement. 

Despite the disheartening state of the current attitudes around ‘ethnic’ hiring practices, much has improved during the past 20 odd years.  

I can still recall in the late 1980s at one of the radio stations in Metro Vancouver when I had to change my on-air name to Tony Gill; this happened after listeners called the management demanding “take that Hindu off of the air”.  

I recommend new immigrants to modify their first names, not only to get their foot in the door, but also to make it easier for others to pronounce.  At a later date, they can always change back to their original name – as I have done.

Gobinder Gill is a speaker and an author of Achieving Prosperity through Diversity.  He provides diversity training in the workplace. Gobinder can be reached at info@workforcetranscreations.com. For more information, visit www.workforcetranscreations.com.