ABCDs who changed/shortened their surname (not first name) on their cv to help land a job?

[u/SS0627]

Been applying to a ton of jobs with little luck and I'm sure my ethnic name doesn't help. Mind you I tailor my resume and cover letter and do all that jazz.

Even though my first name is not overly ethnic I have a very generic surname and I'm wondering whether employers assume I'm a fob from back home who spam applies for jobs in my country as soon as they see my surname (Singh 🫩😵‍💫)

I'm torn bc on one hand I don't want to change who I am but in this job market you gotta to do what you have to do.

[u/FancyWoodpecker3]

These days, a lot of companies make you answer a questionnaire in addition to uploading your résumé.

And one of the questions is always something like “do you now or will you ever require sponsorship to work for this company?”

[u/Sparkle_Pony2234 → u/FancyWoodpecker3]

All companies have to ask that question but people lie so frequently on that question just to get to the interview stage, it’s crazy. A lot
of candidates believe they’ll be able to charm their way through the interview. I’ve barely seen this work but that question is basically worthless imo.

[u/FancyWoodpecker3 → u/Sparkle_Pony2234]

So how is that any different than saying you’re a citizen and lying about that on your résumé?

[u/Few_Mulberry7390]

I saw a reddit post of a guy who put “US Citizen” at the top of his resume in all caps and said that helped. Companies probably think you need visa sponsorship because you’re Indian and auto reject you

[u/Sparkle_Pony2234]

I’ve been on the other side of this recently- was hiring for a role on my team. Even if you don’t want to shorten your last name, definitely recommend adding “U.S. Citizen” on the top of your resume/job board profiles. Unfortunately in this job climate, recruiters do assume everyone with an ethnic name is an immigrant needing sponsorship. Seems like a lot of visa holders tend to spam apply and mark no for sponsorship related questions which makes them doubt everyone. I got so many CVs from FOBs even though our job posting clearly specified no sponsorship.

[u/MaleficentBird1717 → u/Sparkle_Pony2234]

But won’t there be other ways to tell the candidate needs sponsorship?

Since a lot of people came to the US through the master’s route post Covid, won’t the resume show that they did the bachelor’s degree outside the US?

[u/Sparkle_Pony2234 → u/MaleficentBird1717]

Yes, a foreign undergrad is always a good indicator for sponsorship however a lot of candidates with foreign degrees can very well be citizens (through marriage/already had a GC petition etc), GC holders or even H4/L2 dependents (they don’t need direct support). A foreign job experience or degree alone makes it a little hard to immediately conclude if they need visa support.

[u/cupcake_of_reddit → u/Sparkle_Pony2234]

I'm sorry for butting in, but Im an American ABCD am planning to do my UG degree in india for financial reasons, is this something I should worry about? I'm fifteen, if that matters

[u/Good-Promotion-8909 → u/cupcake_of_reddit]

Can’t imagine a worse idea unless you plan to live and work there

[u/FancyWoodpecker3 → u/Sparkle_Pony2234]

Is that what happened to you?

[u/unaesthetikz → u/Sparkle_Pony2234]

could this be a reason as to why i'm getting rejected for jobs i know i'm well-qualified for? i apply to around 20-30 jobs a day and am a citizen so i always state that I don't need sponsorship. it never really occurred to me that people would lie about something like sponsorship since i figured that employers would find out anyways.

[u/Old-School8916]

At the top of my resume:

Name

<US Citizen>

<Location>

[u/Banner9922 → u/Old-School8916]

Does the US Citizen really help? I can't imagine putting that on my resume.

[u/DivideSignificant462 → u/Banner9922]

Yes! This has been a requirements ever since the job market went to shit

[u/ocean_800 → u/DivideSignificant462]

I have had this on my resume since way back when like in 2019

[u/shrimpwithatuba → u/Banner9922]

Sadly yes

[u/EmperorSangria]

I dont see whats wrong with this. Euro immigrants have always anglicized their names. Same with Chinese. Some guy named Xiaojun will be known as "Albert".

Give yourself and your kids a name thats easy to spell and pronounce and blends in 

[u/Banner9922 → u/EmperorSangria]

Valid

[u/BeseptRinker]

I literally changed my name to Sam and got 5 interview opportunities in one week after a dry period of 2 months. I also had (relatively) decent experience on my resume.

[u/SS0627 → u/BeseptRinker]

What about your surname? I feel like they're gonna think I'm a scammer with a white first name and ethnic surname 🫩

[u/BeseptRinker → u/SS0627]

Used the same surname. I dunno, they must've thought I wasn't a US citizen otherwise but I put my citizenship at the top either way, and it still got mostly ignored.

[u/HickAzn]

I remember when I was a hiring manager. HR (prevAI) would give me a copy of the resumes with US citizenship blacked out. They would however use it as a screening tool.

This is the way. Nimrata Randhawa will disagree, but it helps.