My dog is my buddy. When people visit my home and see her tail happily wagging, one of the first things they often ask is “what’s your dog’s name”? I tell them her name is Zoe – but that’s not exactly correct. As an AKC registered West Highland Terrier, her “real” name – reflected on her pedigree papers – is something like “Wembly Williamson Westifer.” You end up with crazy names like this when no two AKC dogs can have the same name.
This reminds me of what I’m faced with every day as a recruiter. Initially, I meet people in the form of a resume, and the first line of their resume is usually their name. Since I meet with all of the candidates we represent, I like to know how to address them.
So, when Hampton Theodore Sedgwick, IV walks into your office, what do you call him? Well, unless he offers his hand and says his name, I typically offer my hand and say “Hello Hampton, Mark Newsom.” Candidates are often nervous, so even if they haven’t been called Hampton since they were 10 years old, they still look me in the eye, smile, shake my hand and say “nice to meet you”. For the next 40 minutes, I try to be personable by peppering our conversation with the name Hampton about a dozen times.
Now, let’s speed ahead a couple of days. I open my mail and receive a nice thank you note from… Ted Sedgwick. Who the heck is… oh, that must be Hampton Sedgwick. Boy, do I feel foolish.
So let’s reflect on what really happened. Ted made a sales call, to sell me on Ted, but his brochure (aka resume) proclaimed him Hampton Theodore Sedgwick, IV – in bold 18-point type.
The lesson: Unless you’re aiming for a position in a big stuffy law firm, you should use the first and last name you would use when introducing yourself to a client or new associate within your firm. Save your full, given name for your social security card, diploma or headstone.
Now, what if your name is Phyllis, but your friends and family call you Pippi, or if your name is Joel but everyone calls you Bubba? Well, in these cases, nicknames are out, so use your given name during the job search process.
Lastly, you might have been anointed with a double first name you’ve carried into adulthood (Grace Ann, John Mark, Lee Marie, etc.) If that’s the case, you might want to consider, temporarily, hyphenating your two first names on your resume so the receiver knows how to address you. Otherwise, you can be sure the hiring manager will pronounce half of your name.
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