What’s the point of changing an Asian sounding first name if the last name still remains Asian?
I don’t think there’s anything wrong saying that you’re a native speaker of English on your resume. It’s not like everyone successful in the world of finance was born speaking English. Maybe there are certain parts of this country that have some antiquated idea of protectionism in the workplace, but many financial institutions encourage diversity and there’s nothing wrong with either admitting that English wasn’t your first language, or pre-emptively rectifying any notions that you’re not a fluent speaker of English.
shite man. where do you live, we can go to a bar and get drunk on canadian beer and in one hour, you’ll know everything there is to know about hockey and you’ll be able to play it off like you’ve played for 19 years like myself. although, i do like the maple syrup and seal clubbing thing. you could attach a story about how you own a syrup business in the deep woods of northern quebec… and so on. the story could include your victory in the fight with a polar bear too.
lol@ Matt. I live in Toronto. That is why I never thought about placing the whole “english mother tongue” on my resume before because we are the most ethnically diverse city in the world, but then I saw this article on Yahoo Canada about immigrants finding it tougher to find work, then I looked at my last name from a canadian’s perspective and then wondered if I should add that i was born and raised in Toronto: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080718/national/immigrant_employment_1
yeah i understand the concern but and i can’t truly be in your shoes because my last name is the same as (hint: the largest takeover ever), but i wouldn’t feel right changing my name, i wouldn’t feel like i’m being true to myself. i’d rather tell a little fib that is completely harmless. on my last resume, i said that i still play the saxophone (to play off the idea that people who play music are smarter than those who don’t) and it wasn’t that bad of lie as i did play sax for 5 years when i was much younger. the stuff that makes you stand out or associate with your interviewer/future boss is what gets you the job - its making that connection and making him/her feel like they can put responsibility in your hands. and if you’re looking for a hockey lesson, i live in KW, hehe. so to reply to the post you were going to make… yes i think putting interests/activities is very important.
Numi, in Korean, “Lee” is not actually pronounced with an L sound. It’s just the closest approximation. In Korean, it’s pronounced just like if you were to say the letter E. So if you actually see a Korean person with the last name Lee, Yee, or Yi (or some other close variation), they are all the same name (E). numi Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Definitely mention what your mother tongue/native > language is. It’s unfortunate that HR has the > proclivity to dismiss your resume based on your > last name, but assuming that you don’t plan on > changing your last name to “Smith” or “Johnson,” > make sure you do a heck of a job on your resume as > well. > > On another note, does anyone know why “Lee” is a > surname that occurs so frequently across multiple > ethnicities? In professional baseball alone, there > are players whose last names are “Lee” that are > Chinese, Taiwanese, Korean, Black, Hispanic, > English, or just plain ol’ American. I’m sure > there are other nationalities that I can’t think > of at the moment.
Interesting topher. I didn’t know that. What about “Rhee”? Is that the same surname as all the others you mentioned? And are all of these the same characters, or are there different characters for the Korean names that might otherwise sound phonetically identical in English romanization?
there are tons of very sucessful people with unsual or non anglo saxon names …look up this guy - Abhijit Chakrabortti … If your resume is well written I would not worry too much about it especially in Toronto . If you were in the boonies somewhere maybe it would matter . If you can speak/write well ( even with an accent ) that is all that is relevant . I was looking at a resume of a friend ( non finance job ) and this was a line on his resume " Great at looking after tuff situations " and this guy is white canadian born and bred .
yes numi that is correct. rhee is also the same lol my korean isn’t great but i believe there are 2 variations. one with more of the r sound and the other without. the website below shows the variations and may even show how the variations are spelled in korean but my work computer doesn’t show it so I’m not sure. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_surnames
Just put something that “proves” you were born and raised in Canada if you think this is a problem: “Seeking position in ER/IB/etc. in my hometown of Toronto” Find a way to say something like that.
topher Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > yes numi that is correct. rhee is also the same > lol > > my korean isn’t great but i believe there are 2 > variations. one with more of the r sound and the > other without. the website below shows the > variations and may even show how the variations > are spelled in korean but my work computer doesn’t > show it so I’m not sure. > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_surnames ah, interesting. looks like either way, the lee/rhee/yi surname is far and away the most common korean surname. btw, i don’t read korean, but hyori lee is hot.
-In west Philadelphia borna and raised, on the playground is where I spent most of my days?? Will Smith- Fresh prince of Bel Air
I think the easiest thing is to just list your languages on your resume, indicating which of the languages is your native tongue. I thought it was standard to list languages on a resume but apparently some here feel differently…
>What’s the point of changing an Asian sounding first name if the last name still remains Asian? His first name was much more unpronouncable than his last name.
Having done some entry-level recruiting for a private equity shop, I can unfortunately attest to the fact that name discrimination is quite prevalent (especially at shops where minorities are rare… which is pretty much all shops). The discrimination is not usually against the last name, but more focused on the first name. If you have a foreign first and last name, then the sad truth is that some people will tend to assume you can’t speak english well. If you have a western first name, then you will be fine.
there are plenty of highly successful asians in finance - more than their %population. i think people see an asian resume and assume the person is hard working and smart (not that they all are). anyway if its a bigot of a hiring manager, you don’t want to work for them anyway. and Lee, Chin, Patel, Sharma are just as american/canadian a name as Smith / Johnson, etc. if someone gives you a problem, call them a bigot to their face and watch them recoil from the stigma. don’t be shy.
IH8FSA Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > And Even though I was born and raised in Canada, I > feel that it might be used against me when > submitting my resumes through screeners/HR who may > be temted to dismiss my resume because they might > feel I am a new immigrant (not that theres > anything wrong with being a new immigrant), but > you know what I mean. > > Other than the fact that my resume says I > graduated in 2004, for all the HR person knows is > that I arrived here in 2000 and I am still working > on my english skills. > > basically I wanted to know what you guys think by > putting beside my “Excellent Communication Skills” > a little blurb in brackets (English; Mother > Tongue) etc… > > > Thoughts? if your in vancouver or toronto an ethnic last name probably wouldn’t matter as almost all firms mirror the demographics of the city, which means there will be a lot of minorities working there.
IH8FSA Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Numi, > > So you feel “(English; Mother Tongue)” is > appropriate to place on the resume and has no > negative connotations.?? i dont think its necessary. any firm worth working for wont judge you on your last or even first name. even if you were named ji woon park or ahmed tafreshi they’d only be able to really judge your communiciation abilities through the way you write your cover letter/resume. I have quite a few colleages with english as a second language who have been able to score IB jobs.
MattLikesAnalysis Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > i think stating that you’re an english speaker is > dumb and highlights your insecurity about what > your name might bring. if i was a recruiter i’d > look right through that and never give you a call, > although you sound pretty qualified. > > i swear, put that you play hockey… i dunno if that’ll work, in vancouver even FOBs play hockey and the craziest hockey fans are punjabi dudes from north delta
IH8FSA Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > lol@ Matt. > > I live in Toronto. That is why I never thought > about placing the whole “english mother tongue” on > my resume before because we are the most > ethnically diverse city in the world, but then I > saw this article on Yahoo Canada about immigrants > finding it tougher to find work, then I looked at > my last name from a canadian’s perspective and > then wondered if I should add that i was born and > raised in Toronto: > > http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080718/national > /immigrant_employment_1 immigrants find it tough to find jobs in canada because their credentials arent recognized, native born people like you and me dont face the same challenge. honestly i think mentioning anything about english being your first language is a serious waste of space on your resume. also as a recruiter if I were to see that on a resume I wouldn’t want someone who was so obviously insecure about it to work with me, unless of course you mentioned it as one of multiple languages you speak as numi outlined previously.