调查：名字影响职场发展

 

If you've done your research and laid out your smartest clothes, you might think you're ready for your job interview.

 

But one detail that's a little more out of your control could still be holding you back.

 

One in eight young workers fear their name stops them from climbing the career ladder – or even getting a job in the first place, a report has revealed.

 

It showed people with 'modern' names such as Wayne and Kayleigh were losing out to those with conventional ones such as John and Rachel.

 

More than 600 workers between the age of 20 and 35 were asked how they feel about their names and whether or not it has helped or hindered their career prospects¹.

 

The report, published yesterday, warned: 'They told researchers that they felt colleagues with more traditional names, particularly those found in the Bible such as Mark and Rachel were more likely to be rewarded by bosses.'

 

One in 20 of those questioned said they had been passed over for a promotion² in favour of someone with a more traditional name.

 

One legal worker called Kyle said he suspects there is 'a lot of unspoken snobbery³（势利，摆架子） around'.

 

He said: 'I started straight out of university and even getting a job was harder for me than for friend with names like David and Daniel.

 

'I am just as well qualified⁴ as them yet potential employers struggled to take me seriously. I am convinced my name is to blame.

 

'When I did eventually find work, I was overlooked for promotions⁵ while others with nice, safe, solid names such as Matthew and John were recognised ahead of me.

 

'I have got to the point now where I am actually thinking of using my middle name for work. I definitely blame my parents.'

 

A spokesman for Officebroker.com, the serviced office experts which commissioned the poll, said names 'really should not make a difference.'

 

But he added: 'When we meet someone new, we do unconsciously categorise them by their name.

 

'Our study shows that happens in the workplace and may even hamper⁶ career prospects in certain professions.

 

'Traditional sectors⁷ such as law and insurance seem to be less open-minded when it comes to accepting modern names than more youthful sectors such as sales and marketing⁸.'

 

It comes after a former Apprentice⁹ star Katie Hopkins triggered fury last week after declaring she vets¹⁰ her children's friends according to their names.

 

The mother-of-three said she uses names a 'shortcut¹¹' to working out whether or not the child comes from the right sort of family to make an appropriate 'playdate' for her children.

 

She told ITV's This Morning: 'For me, there's certain names that I hear and I hear them and I think "urgh".

 

'For me, a name is a shortcut to work out what class a child comes from and: "Do I want my children to play with them?"'

 

She added: 'I tend to think that children who have intelligent names tend to have fairly intelligent parents. They make much better playdates therefore for my children.'

 

Miss Hopkins claimed children called Tyler, Chardonnay and Charmain are less likely to have done their homework and been disruptive at school, claims dismissed by her fellow guest as 'snortworthy'.

 

She went on to insist she hates any child named after a footballer, a season, a geographical¹² location - even though one of her children is called India - and a celebrity¹³.

 

The presenter¹⁴ Phillip Schofield pointed¹⁵ out that children with all types of names, such as Monty, can still be 'nasty, self-centred airheads'.

 

The most popular girls' names chosen by parents in England and Wales in 2011 are Amelia, Olivia, Lily, Jessica and Emily, according to the Office for National Statistics.

 

For boys, the top five options were Harry¹⁶, Oliver, Jack¹⁷, Alfie and Charlie.

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