An Asian tech worker’s anonymous post on TeamBlind has ignited a debate around hiring bias in the tech industry after he claimed he was repeatedly rejected when applying with his real name but received multiple interview calls after switching to an “American” name.
In the post titled “I got rejected with my real name but got 3 invites as an American name”, the user wrote that he had been applying for jobs for months but only received “automated ‘unfortunately’ rejection emails”. Despite meeting all job requirements and having his resume reviewed by a career coach, he said he saw no progress.
Frustrated, the poster said he experimented after reading that someone else on Reddit had applied to the same job with different names. “So I changed my name on my resume. BAM. I got an email asking for an interview,” he wrote. He added that his real name is “very Chinese”, but he used “James Bright” on his updated resume. According to him, three companies that had earlier rejected him immediately reached out with interview requests.
The situation, he said, has left him conflicted. “Now I’m not sure what to do. If I go on with the interviews, they are going to know I didn’t write my legal name on the resume. If I continue using my real name, I won’t get past the resume phase,” he wrote, adding that even referrals did not help earlier. “I am lost and I don’t know what to do anymore. Should I just interview as James and hope for the best?” he wrote.
“FYI I don’t need visa sponsorship, I am a citizen. But I don’t think that is even enough on the application,” he concluded.
Social media reactions
Social media users quickly jumped into the discussion, with many expressing sympathy and calling the incident an example of implicit bias in hiring.
“It happened to me too. I applied with my Indian name and nothing. I applied with a fake inferior resume, inferior universities to the same job I got rejected to, as Emily Davidson, a white woman. I got an email! Then I got another email to check if I had missed my earlier email. I am a born US citizen too,” one user shared.
“You are not alone in suffering this BS. There is a class action lawsuit against ATS tools for biased auto rejections. You can absolutely apply under a preferred name to side step this nonsense. Only need to provide legal name for background check and further stages after a human is involved,” commented another.
“If they reject you based on name they my friend you can sue them and get paid,” said a third user.