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Weird resume question - what's my name?

Okay, this is a strange situation, but here goes. My legal first name is unusual, embarrassing (to me, anyway), and often mispronounced or misheard. Several years ago I worked at a company for a few years, then left to go to grad school. Immediately after leaving the company, I decided to start going by my middle name. Everyone who has met me since I left the company knows me by my middle name and it is on my voicemail and email.

Here's my problem - I am applying for a job back at my old company and obviously I will put my experience and time there on my resume. Normally I apply for jobs using my middle name and last name, but if I do that in this case, they won't find any record of me working there under that name, and that will look weird. I could easily just put my legal first name and last name on the resume, but then if I get called for an interview, my voice mail will have my middle name. If I change my voicemail to my first name, everyone else who calls me will be confused.

Sorry this is so long. It's such a dumb problem to have, but I don't know how to handle it. Any thoughts?

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Re: Weird resume question - what's my name?

  • Is this an online application or a resume submission?

    Maybe put your real name in parenthesis and/or  make a note that you prefer to be called middlename if it's a resume.

    I know some online applications have a box for preferred name as well but if not, I'd still try to fit that in on the resume somewhere. 

     

  • Can you put your first initial and then middle name? That way if they go to look you up they should be able to figure it out. Something like:

    J. Elizabeth Smith

    should suffice.

  • That's a tough one.     My first name is a family name that I didn't go by growing up. So I've always gone by my middle name. A good friend of mine and I both worked at the same place and had the same name but different last names of course :) Several years later she became my sister-in-law so we now had the same names.  It became confusing on records and computer signatures.  I decided to start going by my first name thinking it would help but then that just added to the confusing. After about a year people were still not use to it and I wasn't either.  It just seemed weird so I just went back to the name I always went by. I know what it's like to be called by a name you're not use to.  If everyone else in your life has always known you by your middle name then I would go by the name you're most comfortable with. 
  • First, middle, and last on your resume for this job in particular. When you interview, state that you now go by MiddleName.

    Problem solved.

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  • I would put "First name middle name (Middle name) last name"

    That way they have both names and know which one you go by.

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  • Thanks everyone for the help. I think the easiest way to handle it is just to put first middle last and then tell them about the name preference issue if they end up calling me.
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  • I applied (and interviewed) with a company I worked at for 6 years. When I applied online, there was a question asking if I was a previous employee. My name is different since I got married -- new last name, and they knew me by a shorted nickname of my first name. When interviewed, I gave the HR recruiter the name I was known by when I worked there.

    They will see your resume and that you worked there. If nothing else you may get a call asking about that. 

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