A SUDANESE man who has applied unsuccessfully for more than 1000 jobs has resorted to using a fake Anglo name on his resume in a desperate attempt to get work.
Former refugee Agnok Lueth, 23, who fled war-torn Sudan for Melbourne in 2004, created the resume alias "Daniel McClean" because he believed Australian employers were unwilling to give him a fair go under his real name.
Mr Lueth sent out hundreds of resumes for jobs he was qualified for, but only received callbacks on applications with the fake names.
Of the six applications with the fake name, he got five callbacks.
The Swinburne University biomedicine and commerce double degree student can speak three languages, has a favourable work history and volunteered for three years for an Australian aid organisation.
Despite meeting the job criteria for positions as a waiter, shop assistant, call centre worker and bank teller, Mr Lueth told mX he felt overlooked by employers.
"I did a test to see if it was an experience problem or something more," he said.
"I sent six resumes with my qualifications but used a different name, and I was surprised at how quickly I heard back from five of the companies for interview requests."
(Read more...)
Perhaps there is more to this story, but taken at face value it is troubling yet not surprising. Recent studies in Australia, the US and Canada showed that having an Anglo-sounding name is a massive advantage in the job hunt. You can read about that in my previous post here.
New migrants are usually going to have some obstacles in a job interview, simply due to challenges of communication and culture which may result in a slight disadvantage compared to locally-raised folks. But from the looks of things, even getting a job interview is challenge enough.
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