Using my real name: dilemma

by queenbuzzy

Posted: 15 years ago 18 replies

INTERNET MARKETING

Forgive me if this is in the wrong place, but I have a feeling some of you may have experienced something similar...

I don't yet make full-time income off of my online businesses, and was eager for a home mortgage a few years ago, so I went to the "real world" and got a JOB. They were totally cool with all of my other entrepreneurial endeavours, and at the time it wasn't a big deal.

Well, I just got laid off, and my online stuff is doing ok, but not bringing in enough to pay the mortgage and support business costs. So, I'm looking at getting another job, and of course, when you google my real name (something employers are bound to do nowadays) a whole plethora of stuff comes up with my various businesses...not to mention a lawsuit that I'm a plaintiff in, (copyright infringement.)

These are not things I want potential employers to see. I don't want them to think that I wouldn't stick around long term just because I moonlight in other areas, or be scared off just because I have a lawsuit pending. So, I'm tempted to shorten my real last name on my resumes and applications to hopefully not disqualify myself before I get in the door.

I'm wondering two things:
1) as those of you who have ventured into IM full time, how have you balanced privacy issues with establishing yourself as a brand name?

and

2) Do you think shortening my last name on my resume/application is dishonest? I'm trying to justify it because I have a hard-to-pronounce last name, women take their husbands names all the time, and many people have pen-names...but I don't know...

any thoughts?

#dilemma #real

Tsnyder 15 years ago

You profile info says your location is "US/Can depending on my mood"

If your job search finds your mood in the US you will have a major
problem due to US law regarding proof of eligibility to work in the US.

You'll have to sign a form and provide your SSN and one other form
of I.D. (drivers license, etc) so your ruse will be discovered immediately.

As the old saying goes... honesty is always the best policy.

If you're in Canada I have no idea if the above is true but I'm sure they
also have some kind of identity verification process.

Tsnyder
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- queenbuzzy 15 years ago
  
  Hi Tsnyder,
  
  I'm not talking about lying on my employment forms...just getting past the pre-interviewing stage to being hired. (on the application or resume that I send in) Of course when I fill out the W-2, (or whatever it's called) I'll use my legal name. I just don't want google to render me unhireable before I get a chance to get in the door!
  
  Thanks for your input!
  
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sevenish 15 years ago

Most of my online business is done via individual business names.

there is a great deal of pressure in this forum to use real names, but I think that demand is misguided and aimed at those who would want to brand their personal names in various MMO type business models.

I don't use my real name in forums for exactly this reason. While WF is a decent example of a forum for discussing online business -- and I've learned a great deal here -- a typical business person doing some basic research on you -- once they get a load of the mayhem of the WSO section -- will likely consider you no better than the typical infomercial hack.

One of my business streams is online reputation repair. Most of my clients in that area made the mistake of associating themselves too closely with certain "business" forums.

Edit: Case in point: http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...good-idea.html
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Tsnyder

15 years ago

I understood that from your first post. The question is how
will a prospective employer feel when they learn that the name
you used on the application isn't your real name?

Further... if they're going to google you what makes you think
they won't google you again once they learn your real name?

If you really need the job I'd think long and hard before starting
off the relationship with any kind of deception or misdirection.

Tsnyder

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sevenish

15 years ago

Originally Posted by Tsnyder

Hi Tsnyder,

I don't think this thread is about deception so much as it is about reconciling certain online entities and history with the name on the application.

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Tsnyder

15 years ago

Originally Posted by sevenish

Hi Tsnyder,

I don't think this thread is about deception so much as it is about reconciling certain online entities and history with the name on the application.

I'm sorry to be so blunt but deception is precisely
what it's about. The OP proposes to use an altered
name in order to prevent a prospective employer
from discovering facts she would prefer remain unknown.

The advice you've offered, while good if done in a timely
manner, is useless to her at this point. The online record
has been established... I doubt she can change it now.

Her best option is to be honest from the outset.

Tsnyder

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sevenish 15 years ago

Queenbuzzy,

One more thing ...

there are many ways to position your other entrepreneurial endeavors that won't threaten a potential employer. Give it some thought and pre-empt the issue by folding that experience in with how you're selling yourself.

Life happens and being an entrepreneur is essential. Let me know if you want some help on how to position it. I'd be very happy to help you as I've been there many times.
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Stray201 15 years ago

This is something I'm having a hard time with as well, though more for privacy issues than anything. Has anyone on here ever had any negative consequences as a result of using their real name for their online ventures?
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- Kay King 15 years ago
  
  You can use a pen name for your online work - but I think it's too late for that for the OP.
  
  I would not put an "alternate" name on an application. If asked about your online work you can describe it as part-time or as a hobby and leave it at that.
  
  kay
  
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artwebster 15 years ago

What if?

That's a wonderful question you are asking and can only be answered 'Maybe this or maybe that.'

When you make your first resumé submission you will have a better idea of which way to go but, it is better to be turned down at the outset than to be dismissed after a few days in employment.

Employers may well submit a name search on Google but if your qualifications are good enough, try brutal honesty and get the monster out from under the bed before he leaps out and scares you!
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- sevenish 15 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by artwebster
  
  What if?
  
  That's a wonderful question you are asking and can only be answered 'Maybe this or maybe that.
  
  Art, put down the cocktail.
  
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  artwebster 15 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by sevenish
  
  Art, put down the cocktail.
  
  Cocks don't have tails, they have cloacas and feathers.
  
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  You might not like what I say - but I believe it.
  Build it, make money, then build some more
  Some old school smarts would help - and here's to Rob Toth for his help. Bloody good stuff, even the freebies!
  
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Steadyon 15 years ago

Queenbuzzy,

I wouldn't even worry about it beforehand.

Most won't even check things out, depends on the job I suppose.

Anyway, why worry about something that hasn't happened yet anyway.

Get out there, do your thing and then see what happens and then re-evaulate as necessary.
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cashcow 15 years ago

I think it would be far more damaging to your hiring possibilities for the prospective employer to find out that you gave them a "shortened" last name then to google you and find out you have websites selling various products.

I know when I used to hire people that would definitely have been something that would have landed your resume in the recycle bin.

So what if they google you? I googled myself the other day (sounds naughty doesn't it) and came up with a bunch of Lee Dobbins's that had nothing to do with me. So how can your prospective employer know that the google results are all about you?

Lee Dobbins
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Brad Gosse 15 years ago

Privacy or the idea of it are gone.

The only thing private happens in your home. Everything else is public these days.

I came from the adult business where everyone used a pseudonym except a small group of people (me included). I think I gained an edge using my real name.

Using my real name evokes trust in people. I would hate to have a client out for dinner and whip out my AMEX with my REAL name and have to explain that I use a fake name in business.
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Using my real name: dilemma

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