What's in a name? (depressing rant)

My super hero identity is "Purveyor of Flatulence."

My stage name is "Trixie."

SlickDizzy wrote: But what REALLY got me was that, as I see on LinkedIn, there are people, like, substantially less qualified getting jobs I applied for. Kids with crappy GPAs, kids who blew class and pissed off the professors all the time, kids who can't write to save their lives. Also, yeah they are white in all the cases I can note, funny enough!

Or they lied on their resume.

I hear white folks lie a lot too.

Streetwiseguy wrote: As soon as you posted your name, I knew what the rest of the story would be.

Same here HR departments are racism's fortress. It's unassailable and catapults E36 M3 over the walls at everyone.

D. Lee Jones sounds a little "hillbilly" to me you might have better luck with it.

Edit: Here's some encouragement, I knew a guy in high school also named "Desmond Jones," he's black and is now one of the most successful people I've been friends with, and he didn't come from a privileged background by any means. But it's because he's charming and handsome, we nicknamed him "Black Johnny Bravo" for very good reasons.

poopshovel wrote:

z31maniac wrote:

poopshovel wrote:

For what it's worth, many people seem to misunderstand how applying for a corporate/urban job works these days.

Apparently I'm an idiot, as I'm poor, jobless, and have never employed anyone. Oh wait. Perhaps I should've spent countless hours and dollars on school so's I'd be all smart & empoyable like. Who are all these black Desmond athletes you speak of? Did Desmond Tutu play for the Falcons? (Seriously. I don't know. Make me smarter.)

How many $1xx,xxx,xxx or multi-BILLION dollar companies have you applied for jobs with? All of my jobs have been been with BIG companies, and sometimes big companies owned by even bigger multi-billion dollar corps. And that is exactly how it is. I currently work for a $1xx,xxx,xxx size company and it's the smallest one I've worked for with around 500 employees. Others include Mercury Marine, L-3 Communications, and State Farm. Walking up to security at the front desk with a suit and a resume, will have security take your resume and say, "Thanks. Have a nice day." You will not speak to a hiring manager, HR person, etc.

None. Then again, I'm not crying about how I'm poor and jobless, or all the LEGIT E36 M3 that could have 'held me back' in life. But my last name is "White" so I guess it's all sunshine and goddamned lollipops for me, right?

Poop, you're also in an industry where if you aren't the boss, you probably aren't making money. And ownership simply isn't for everyone, and often not even possible financially for some.

Even the small company that "head hunted" me (I caddied for the owners brother, he passed my info on) told me I needed to apply online. There were 23 employees there.

poopshovel wrote: None. Then again, I'm not crying about how I'm poor and jobless, or all the LEGIT E36 M3 that could have 'held me back' in life. But my last name is "White" so I guess it's all sunshine and goddamned lollipops for me, right?

Sometimes I seriously wonder if you honestly don't get the point, or if you are just trolling for the fun of it.

If it makes you feel any better, I applied for around 200 positions with only one in-person interview before getting my current job through a friend. (B.S. Engineering / Mat Sci, published in nanotech, research internship, decent GPA)

My fiance has her Masters in Museums and Archives, still hunting going on 3 years on, beiefly had a few temp things, but not her field.

Its rough out there. The key thing is NETWORK NETWORK NETWORK. More and more applying through indeed/monster etc, feels like buying lotto tickets. Just such a longshot. The majority of people I know seem to get their jobs because they knew someone, or knew someone who knew someone and so on.

One of my very successful friend's name is Rufus Bxxxx. When he would travel, if he called to make a hotel reservation in his name, he would not get one (this was well before cell phones and internets). If he called and said R.M. Bxxxx, he would get the reservation. It's definitely out.

Datsun1500 wrote:

z31maniac wrote:

poopshovel wrote: None. Then again, I'm not crying about how I'm poor and jobless, or all the LEGIT E36 M3 that could have 'held me back' in life. But my last name is "White" so I guess it's all sunshine and goddamned lollipops for me, right?

Sometimes I seriously wonder if you honestly don't get the point, or if you are just trolling for the fun of it.

Why is it trolling? Reports have 1/2 of recent college graduates working jobs that do not require a degree, but it's easier to blame it on your name I guess. If that's your excuse, great! But realize it's just an excuse. I can't be the only one that does not think Desmond is a "black name" I bet you can find 5 semi famous people using almost any name.

I know, right?

And all poor people don't work. The minimum wage should definitely be low enough that the middle class subsidize them through tax money sponsored welfare, etc. etc. etc.

Have a good day fellas.

When I thought about your name, I thought of this:

In reply to Apexcarver:

I probably applied for 200ish jobs with a resume that included two internships, leadership positions on a Formula SAE team and a NASA design competition team which we won the design part of and a decent GPA. I had three interviews and kinda half lucked into my current position. It is rough out there straight out college even for a degree which is supposedly in high demand (i.e. engineering, etc). So I can definitely understand what you are going through cause I saw some vastly unqualified people get jobs before me. I feel like a couple of people commenting here don't know what the hiring market is like currently.

Honestly maybe your name is playing into somewhat but I am willing to bet it is largely something else.

mad_machine wrote: the Beatles "o-bla di O-bla da" is the story of Desmond and Molly Jones

Actually it's the story of Desmond Dekker, the grandfather of ska. I think the Jones is just in there because the Beatles were so high and needed a rhyme.

Also, yeah, people are dicks when it comes to names sometimes. Human nature sucks.

jg

Datsun1500 wrote: In reply to turboswede: Does your wife have a black sounding name?

I have nothing constructive to add except this tale: a friend of mine told me about a girl he met named Lacrisha. First words out of his mouth: 'yeah, she's white'.

jg's right on the money that human nature sucks and people are dicks, too.

It's a resume. If D Lee works better, use it. It doesn't commit you to that name once you get hired.

A resume is to get you in the door. Anything that improves your odds to that end is well worth it.

Get hired as "D. Lee."

30 days after being hired, legally change name to "Shaniqua."

File complaints with HR everytime someone says "YOU'RE SHANIQUA?!?!?"

Win at life.

SlickDizzy wrote:

mad_machine wrote: the Beatles "o-bla di O-bla da" is the story of Desmond and Molly Jones

I have been told in so many words that my parents enjoyed Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds more than once. Surprisingly few people pick up on the reference.

I generally refer to it as being a product of my parents' 'hippy period.'

Swank Force One wrote: Get hired as "D. Lee." 30 days after being hired, legally change name to "Shaniqua." File complaints with HR everytime someone says "YOU'RE SHANIQUA?!?!?" Win at life.

LMFAO!!!!!!!!!!!!

I would just put my name in the CV heading as:

Desi "Whitey" Jones

And under your skills summary:
- white male

I'm just reading this for the first time and simultaneously I can and can't believe it. What berkeleying year is it out there, 19 berkeleying 58?

I'm surprised no one here has touched on "Jones" as a possible problem. Back in the good ole days of American History, when people of a certain racial makeup were generally the property of those of a different racial makeup, they tended to take on the last names of their owners. Hence, "Jefferson", "Jones", etc all became fairly widespread last names for people of a certain skin color.

"Desmond" doesn't "sound" like any particular race to me, but I'm also not versed in popular culture. Most of the sheeple who pass for corporate employees these days are probably well tuned in to sports and pop culture. I hate to say a name change may be appropriate here, but look: lots of immigrants to this country changed their last names to avoid discrimination. This all sucks as much now as it did then, but the reality of it is you'll have a much easier time changing your name than you will trying to change society. Then maybe someday when you're all successful and have money and influence falling our of your pockets you can make a headline with "I changed my name because it sounded black." And maybe real change will happen, then.

On a related topic, with a child soon to be blessing our home, the wife and I are concerned about picking an appropriate name. My dad actually suggested googling all potential names, to make sure we don't inadvertently pick one that's got a bad reputation. Since our last name is sort of different (i.e., if you google my first and last name, I'm the only one in the state I live in, and my first name is "Mike"), this is even more important.

Good luck.

Swank Force One wrote: Get hired as "D. Lee." 30 days after being hired, legally change name to "Shaniqua." File complaints with HR everytime someone says "YOU'RE SHANIQUA?!?!?" Win at life.

Shaniqua is too common. There needs to be at least 14 extra syllables to it to even qualify these days.

volvoclearinghouse wrote: My dad actually suggested googling all potential names, to make sure we don't inadvertently pick one that's got a bad reputation.

Good advice whenever you pick a name for anything.

volvoclearinghouse wrote: I'm surprised no one here has touched on "Jones" as a possible problem. ABck in the good ole days of American History, when people of a certain racial makeup were generally the property of those of a different racial makeup, they tended to take on the last names of their owners. Hence, "Jefferson", "Jones", etc all became fairly widespread last names for people of a certain skin color.

I hinted at that pretty early on the first page..... Jones, or the combination of Desmond and Jones, are more likely to be the issue if this is indeed what is happening.

With the last name of Jones, what's your Dog's name? :)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097576/quotes

Louis CK sums it up well here-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG4f9zR5yzY

If it were me I'd send some out with Lee Jones and the rented PO box. Will that make a difference? maybe, maybe not, but it's an easy theory to test. If you suddenly start getting responses....well, you don't have PROOF that it was racism, but you have weighty evidence that something was up. At that point, though, it doesn't matter if it worked. Just file it away for the next time you are sending them out.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: I would just put my name in the CV heading as: Desi "Whitey" Jones And under your skills summary: - white male

Expanding on this, maybe add some affiliations to things like, Italian-American Legion or pastimes like Scottish Clog Dancing.
Add sailboat racing; it has to be the whitest sport in the USA.