It’s not something that many of us think about: we put our full name on our resume in most cases! But there are plenty of instances where this may not be appropriate for us: name change that haven’t been finalized yet, recent divorce and the name change hasn’t gone through yet, fear that the name may invite prejudice, or people who are transgender may go by one name in their life, but their legal name doesn’t match yet. So, what do you do when your preferred name doesn’t match your legal name? Which one should go on your resume?
Honestly…. It’s Up to You
Most jobs probably aren’t going to care unless your name is a complete mismatch to your appearance in which case you may have some explaining to do in your interview (but you might not; nowadays, many employers are either going to be too polite to ask or will assume that you are trans, nonbinary, or otherwise not matching the initial mental image). But frankly, most employers aren’t going to care about the name on the resume aside from knowing what to call you if/when they reach out to book an interview.
Now, it’s still important to be ready to answer questions when your appearance might not match the mental image that someone has built up in their head upon seeing your name. Humans tend to be very visual, and we build up an image of what someone will look like based on even sparse details. Going wildly opposite that image is probably going to provoke some questions! So it’s important to practice how you are going to handle a surprised reaction or questions. (It is actually illegal to ask about one’s gender identity, so you can always deflect questions by asking how it’s relevant to the job you are doing or by flat out pointing out that you aren’t required to answer that).
But… Doesn’t it Matter?
No! And here’s why:
Simply put, your resume is not a legal document. Once you are going through the hiring process you may be required to give out your (current) legal name for things like criminal record checks, bank accounts for deposit information, and HR, but your resume is a document that is meant to focus on your employment record, not your personal information.
It’s actually considered to be a better idea to use your preferred name than your legal name on your resume simply because this is the name you want to go by when you are at work. For example, people may put nicknames/shortened versions of their names or ‘Westernized’ names (to prevent discrimination). There’s absolutely nothing wrong with using your preferred name on your resume and only disclosing your legal name when and if required to.
So, no, I’m not trying to pull a ‘gotcha’ on you; other resume experts agree that it’s best to put your preferred name on your resume and only worry about your legal name when you absolutely have to (and only with the people who absolutely need it). Remember that asking about sexuality is considered an illegal question as is asking about gender identity!)
So go ahead and put your preferred name on your resume. Your workplace should be a safe place and being called what you want to be called (within reason – nothing obscene!) is an important part of that.
