John, Jani, Janardhan in Canadian Job Market - what's in a name?

The curse of a foreign-sounding name in today’s job market -  Toronto Star
"It’s common for hiring managers to skip over resumes with ethnic names, preferring to interview candidates with names they recognize." By:Priya Ramsingh thestar.com Nov 30 2013

On the same shelf:

• Should candidates apply with western names? Nathan Chan at 28, Mar 2013 | Elevated HR

Extract: So the topic I’m about to launch into has come up before, particularly with candidates who are immigrants or persons with very foreign names. The fact that I just said “very foreign” does make me cringe, so don’t kick me in the arse just yet! Let me explain myself a sec here. I’ve only recently returned to Maple Leaf land, my homeland, and our country is a country that is made up of foreigners after all, no? I spent almost a decade abroad, but I have never lost sight of my nationality. (Before leaving, I even branded a tattoo of the Canadian flag on my leg.) As Canadians, we pride ourselves as a ‘cultural mosaic’ – where we are an awesome and delicious bunch of ethnic groups, languages, and cultures co-existing together. ... This topic has been a recurring one for me. Should immigrants/foreigners with “very foreign” names give themselves a westernized name? I think, yes (and no). What an answer right? – read on!

• HR overlooks applicants with non-western names - Human Resources Mag, May 10, 2012"Australian Human Rights Commission has said there is a growing trend of immigrants adopting Western names in the hope it will get them hired.   “There are still elements of race discrimination in employment. It is certainly present and problematic,” Disability discrimination commissioner Graeme Innes told HC."
• How an ethnic-sounding name may affect the job hunt, by WALLACE IMMEN, The Globe and Mail Nov. 17 2011
• Job hunters change 'foreign sounding’ names 15 Apr 2013 By  Rhiannon Elston  sbs.com.au  "Australian-born Muslim woman Cindy Mohamed uses her real name on her resume these days, but that hasn’t always been the case. " 
• English-Sounding Names Still Hold Edge Over Others In Canada’s Employment Sector Link Newspaper  December 7th, 2013 
• In Canada, English name a clear advantage in landing job: survey, By Douglas Todd, Postmedia News October 14, 2011

Extract: The extensive study for Metropolis B.C., whose federal funding will run out this year, was conducted by having researchers respond to online job ads in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. Each sample resume said that the applicant had a bachelor's degree and four to six years' experience.

In a related test of Canadian hiring practices involving immigrants, the researchers sent out a series of virtually identical resumes to company recruiters — changing only the country in which the applicant had job experience.

"We find that employers value Canadian experience more than Canadian education when deciding to interview applicants with international backgrounds, suggesting that employers are more interested in internationally born applicants with more Canadian experience," wrote Oreopoulos and Decheif.


Whatz Related in the News this week:

• Nelson Mandela, Madiba, Tata - what's in a name? Telegraph.co.uk-Dec 6, 2013  
• My identity depends on who is identifying me (including myself)'  Interview with Sheniz Janmohamed,  Generally About Books -- Quote:
  “I was born a Hindu, no doubt. No one can undo the fact. But I am also a Muslim because I am a good Hindu. In the same way I am also a Parsi and a Christian too.” - Mahatma Gandhi 30 May 1947

• My Name is Mike Ghouse

English-sounding names hold edge for job seekers in survey

Emily Jackson, Oct 14 2011, Toronto Star

Looking for a job? If your name is Panav Singh, expect fewer callbacks than Matthew Wilson, even if your resumés are exactly the same.
Employers in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal “significantly discriminate” against applicants with Chinese and Indian names compared to those with English names, researchers have found.
On average, resumés with English-sounding names received 35 per cent more callbacks, according to a study supported by Metropolis B.C., a federally funded immigration and diversity research centre.
Researchers sent out thousands of resumés listing identical experience to online job application sites, changing only the names of the applicants, and measured the response rate from employers.
Recruiters in Toronto and Montreal were 45 per cent more likely to call Alison Johnson over Min Liu, while Vancouverites were 20 per cent more likely to respond to those with English-sounding names.Continue reading

Tolerance a Canadian Myth or Fact

Two current news stories give you two shades of opinions, and we value your opinions, right?

• Tolerance a Canadian myth — DAVE DALE’s Soapboxing [highlight: Our tolerance for weather is also a reflection of not being able to tolerate people.]
• Canadians are the most tolerant people in the developed world: report‎  [highlight: At 84 per cent on average, Canadians report the highest community tolerance of minority groups—ethnic minorities, migrants, and gays and lesbians—in the OECD, where the average is 61 per cent.”]

So, what do you feel, reading the above?

The painful truth about age discrimination in tech

By: Lisa Schmeiser,  18 Feb 2010, IT World Canada: InfoWorld
There are bold programmers, but no old programmers -- the reasons for this reality aren't simple. A closer look suggests that it's the nature of IT itself to push its elderly workers out.

There's a commercial airing on ESPN right now that features two hiring managers discussing the two job candidates sitting in the lobby. We see the backs of these candidates' heads; one is dark brown and lustrous, the other brittle and gray. The managers debate -- should they go with the experienced candidate? ("He won't have energy!" frets one manager) -- or the fresh young thing? And then -- surprise! -- the two candidates are the same person before and after a hair-dye job.

It's a nasty and effective commercial, and one that deftly plays on a pervasive fear of job hunters: Will my age be held against me? And in IT -- where the popular narrative favors kids launching companies in their dorm room or bringing down a corporate network as a way to blow off steam after finals -- that fear of age discrimination is especially pervasive. continue reading

On the same shelf:

• Five Pervasive Myths About Older Software Developers | Lessons of Failure

Toronto woman awarded $25,000 after boss used racial epithets

Linda Nguyen, Canwest News Service, February 17, 2010

TORONTO - A Toronto woman who was repeatedly called "Paki" and other racial slurs at work has been awarded $25,000 by the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal.

The ruling, handed out earlier this month, orders Cheryl Khan's former employer, Lynn Tompkins, the owner of Lynx Trucking Transportation in northwest Toronto, to pay the fine, in addition to $6,500 in lost wages. He has also been ordered to create an anti-harassment policy at his company and attend sensitivity training.

"It was horrible," said 36-year-old Khan on Wednesday. "I knew that if I stood back and let this gentleman walk all over me and not do anything about it, it makes it seem like it's OK." continue reading

On the same shelf:

Racist taunts cost boss $25,000, Moira Welsh, Staff Reporter, Toronto Star

The words were shocking and so unfamiliar that Cheryl Khan's friends could not believe her boss used them.

"Paki," he called her, according to Khan's testimony before the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal. "Half-nigger babies," he said of her two little boys. "That's what you get for sleeping with a nigger."

Evangelicals in Canada Fight to Preserve Hiring Policy

By Ethan Cole|Christian Post Reporter
The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada began on Tuesday defending in court the rights of religious organizations to hire people based on their religious beliefs.

In the landmark religious freedom case Heintz v. Christian Horizons, the Superior Court of Ontario will consider whether to uphold an earlier ruling that a faith-based organization involved in social work cannot require an employee to share its same religious beliefs and service commitment. continue reading

Charities must prove purpose, lawyer says
Discrimination case; Rights exemption for sharing faith, not doing good
by Charles Lewis, National Post, December 17, 2009

Discrimination common in Toronto rental market: study

Watch the Video

Extract:

July 7, 2009 Comments64Recommend26
CBC News
"Volunteers posing as prospective tenants found discriminatory approaches by landlords in about a quarter of the cases, the study says. (CBC)
A new study into rental housing says race, gender and marital status are all factors when it comes to finding accommodation in Canada's largest city.
According to Toronto's Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation, about a quarter of black, South Asian, single parents and households on social assistance face discrimination in the city's rental market.
John Fraser, director of CERA, said in an interview with CBC that "if you're a single mother with a Caribbean accent, or someone with a South Asian accent … or someone receiving social assistance, you basically have a one in four chance of facing discrimination when you first inquire about renting an apartment." continue reading

Wanted: Plumbers. Must not be foreign

Red tape bars immigrants who could end skills shortage
Apr 29, 2009, Toronto Star
Comments on this story (46) Nicholas Keung IMMIGRATION REPORTER

Getting foreign credentials and work experience certified in Canada isn't just a headache for brain-surgeon cabbies. A new study says immigrants in skilled trades, such as electricians and plumbers, also hit a brick wall when it comes to getting licensed and accessing jobs.
The findings are alarming, says the Citizenship and Immigration Canada-funded report to be released today, because more than half of Ontario's skilled tradespeople will retire in the next five years and four of every 10 businesses that depend on skilled trades are expected to face labour shortages. continue reading

Not All Struggles Are Equal ~~ Learning to Live with Racism

Quotable quote: “I feel positive about living in Canada because you have to be very, very smart. You have to think above society. It’s very tough, but if you like something, you can achieve it. You make your mind up. There is a great
deal of good opportunity in Canada if you are smart, sensible. I mean, some people make such fools of themselves. It’s too bad because the opportunity is in Canada – schooling, education, good jobs.” (P. 48), in Chapter Three: 'After Immigration: Identity and Culture Shock' by Francis Henry: The Caribbean Diaspora in Toronto,University of Toronto Press (1994).

What the Book News' reviewer says about this book: "This ethnographic study examines the immigration process, culture shock, racism, religion, coping mechanisms and many other aspects of life for Toronto's Caribbean immigrants, and is strengthened by case studies and interviews." Read more from this book World Literature in English, 1998

All's well in the kingdom of Canada

Haroon Siddiqui @ Toronto Star, Mar 08, 2009

"In the five years since it was established by some students at the University of Toronto, Israeli Apartheid Week has spread to 40 cities around the world, according to its organizers."

Bottomline: "I found the officials at all three universities to be reasonable, even-handed and calm in the face of provocation and pressure.

Contrary to all the claims and counter-claims, at times repeated by gullible media, all is reasonably well in the kingdom of Canada."

Study exposes tolerance of racism ~~ Toronto Star

York U. study finds that while most condemn bigotry, majority fail to respond to anti-black acts Jan 09, 2009 04:30 AM
Comments on this story (78) Joseph Hall Staff Reporter
"When it comes to repudiation of racism, words speak louder than actions, according to a York University study that suggests people are far more tolerant of bigotry than they might express.
While people would clearly condemn racism in advance, the majority of non-black people would sit mute and indifferent as blatant acts of anti-black racism occurred before them, according to the Toronto research, published today in the journal Science." Continue reading @ Toronto Star /Science Obama or no Obama, racism is here to stay

see also:

Dealing with Discrimination During Your Job Hunt

"In an ideal workplace, staff would be hired based on work ethic, education and experience. Unfortunately, some employers may still be behind the times." By Jennifer McFee, @ Toronto sun

For new immigrants to Canada, employment experts offer five key pieces of advice on how to handle the sensitive situation of prejudice during a job hunt.
1. Assess the situation.
2. Eliminate objections.
3. Address the issue.
4. Develop a support system.
5. Keep positive.
Continue reading

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