Nickname or legal name change

Emergent, RN · Feb 21

I highly doubt that your name is holding you back. It's probably your age. Employers are less likely to want to invest in training someone who might be retiring soon. That's just the reality of the situation, coming from someone else who's old...

**CalicoKitty, BSN, MSN, RN** · Feb 21

My name (spelling) is pretty unique. A first name web search is me and eventually another person showed up, too. I have read research and articles that show people with non-traditional do not get call backs with the exact same resumes when the name was changed. In my workplaces, the few jobs I've gotten from resumes were in very diverse workplaces. It is probably one of the reasons I think diversity is very important, but makes me wonder with the new political attacks on employment, could affect my future applications.

But this is basically why I am asking if the name I put on the resume "matters", in a more legal/nursing/license sense. I don't really know if I want to bother going for a legal name change, so is using a new first name OK just on the "name" part? And how does one go about that on applications? Such a Liz instead of Elizabeth or Dick instead of Richard. It is a relatively new idea for me, so asking people about their advice/experiences.

Emergent, RN · Feb 21

I doubt if it's DT's fault that you haven't gotten called. Interesting about names though. Try and see if you get better results with a different one and report back!

DavidFR, BSN, MSN, RN · Feb 21

Emergent said:

I highly doubt that your name is holding you back. It's probably your age. Employers are less likely to want to invest in training someone who might be retiring soon. That's just the reality of the situation, coming from someone else who's old...

Whilst I agree that it's harder to get hired when you're approaching retirement, an unusual or foreign sounding name can be a factor. I have an unusual Ukrainian surname that has certainly attracted comments over the years - more so when I lived in the UK than where I am now in France. Whether or not that's ever impeded any job prospects I'll never know.

However, studies have been done that have shown that African looking names are sometimes dismissed out of hand in certain European countries. Disgusting, disgraceful, horrible, shameful but a sad fact of life.

Some European hospitals have introduced anonymous CVs. No names, gender or photos on initial application forms or CV' s. Such details only to be revealed at interview once the candidates have been selected.

Check out the legality of not putting your legal name on a job application with a lawyer. I think that in some places this might pose you problems.

**CalicoKitty, BSN, MSN, RN** · Feb 22

DavidFR said:

Some European hospitals have introduced anonymous CVs. No names, gender or photos on initial application forms or CV' s. Such details only to be revealed at interview once the candidates have been selected.

Check out the legality of not putting your legal name on a job application with a lawyer. I think that in some places this might pose you problems.

I am kinda asking for advice. What do people do when their license name is different from the name they use. And this is for the future as I think about doing a new job search. And still kinda kicking myself for not changing my name in Jr high like I wanted, though I do prefer the uh alternate name I have chosen now. But, maybe I could have been a dramatic Heather (my top pick in Jr high for a name change... there's a movie Heathers that may have affected that)..😄

DavidFR, BSN, MSN, RN · Feb 23

CalicoKitty said:

I am kinda asking for advice. What do people do when their license name is different from the name they use. And this is for the future as I think about doing a new job search. And still kinda kicking myself for not changing my name in Jr high like I wanted, though I do prefer the uh alternate name I have chosen now. But, maybe I could have been a dramatic Heather (my top pick in Jr high for a name change... there's a movie Heathers that may have affected that)..😄

Could your BON advise you as to the regulations regarding used name/legal name on your licence?

adventure_rn, MSN, NP · Feb 24

I'm not in exactly the same boat, but I go by my middle name, and it always creates a whole to-do with job applications. For what it's worth, I use my first initial + middle name at the top of my resume and in my email signature, and it's never created an issue. I do try to give every recruiter, talent acquisition rep, and manager I speak to in the hiring process a heads-up about the discrepancy to avoid confusion. There can also be confusion if your references know you by a different name than the name on the application - I have to remind my references that they'll get a request for the legal first name they don't usually hear, and remind the hiring team that my references may call me by a different name than the one on my application.

That said, when you're filling out applications, I would use your legal first, middle, and last name, and only put down a nickname if they give you a "preferred name" option. If you were to put your nickname down as your name on the application, it seems like it could create a huge headache with your license verification and NP credentialing (which is painful enough under the best of circumstances).

With everything being electronic these days, I'm not sure changing your name on a resume will have much of an impact, since you'll still automatically show up as [legal first name] [legal last name] in the system.

kbrn2002, ADN, RN · Feb 24

I work with a new employee who is transitioning from female to male but has not legally changed his name yet. All hiring paperwork needed to be in his given female name, I assume for legal and tax purposes. I have to manually edit his name in the schedule before posting it. So while you can go by whatever name you prefer at work, as far as the paperwork goes they would need to use your legal name.