Could Your Name Get You Hired?

I just read a fascinating post on George Lenard's Employment Blawg. It discusses the propensity of hiring managers to hire job candidates who have names similar to their own. Apparently the names don't have to be the same, they just have to sound similar. The post is based on a recent academic study that looks at the concept of priming, which according to the About.com Psychology Guide, Kendra Van Wagner, is the "increased sensitivity to certain stimuli due to prior experience."

As George asks "What does this say about a company’s ability to develop a merit-based, non-discriminatory hiring model?" He brings up the idea of "blind hiring" in which resumes are kept anonymous and candidates are assessed on "intelligence, creativity, and personality?" Of course, as George points out, hiding the name of the college from which a candidate earned a degree, for example, will eliminate some biases but may deem a degree less meaningful if it is not associated with the school that awarded it. This is definitely a post worth reading. Take a look: "Blind Hiring" to Avoid Bias: Wave of the HR Future, or "Blind Alley"?

This concept got me curious. I wondered if any of my employers hired me because of my name. In looking back, I realized that none had a name similar to mine. My husband and I have first names that share all but one letter though, including the first one and the last. Have you even been hired by someone who has a name similar to yours or have you ever hired anyone who does? Take this poll and then share your comments here.