No matter how many self-righteous managers and nurses might deny it, there is still plenty of discrimination against job hunters with ethnic names. All you have to do is Google to find plenty of articles, stats, and studies showing that people with minority names must complete 2-3 times more job applications in order to receive the same number of job interview offers as their Anglo-Saxon sounding counterparts.
For those of you lucky enough to go by an Anglicized nickname, here's something interesting from a manager/HR blog: you are NOT obligated to apply for jobs with your legal name. If you've been going by another nickname for ages, then for goodness's sake, apply with that name! Resumes, cover letters, and even digital applications are not legal documents. When HR is interested enough to need a background check and social security number, that's when you give them your legal name.
But of course, not everyone has been lucky enough to go by Jennifer or Lauren or Rachel. So is there no other advice for them except to keep their chin up and keep applying? In a job market where even "white-named" job hunters are having no luck with 100+ job applications, that is surely disheartening.
