A baby names expert says if you have been given a bogan name, it could ruin your chances of landing the job you want.
Writer Sabrina Rogers-Anderson says many employers tell her, off the record, that having a bogan can be a big problem.
“No one will go on record, because it sounds like discrimination, but so many employers have told me [that a bogan could stop an employer hiring], and a CEO of a big company told me, ‘I can not look down on names that are misspelt’,” she told Mamamia.
Listen: How to avoid picking a bogan name. Post continues…
“Spelling counts.”
The expert says if your name has strange spelling, it could be a bogan name.
If you’re not sure what qualifies as a bogan name, Rogers-Anderson has penned a book of some 200 bogan names to avoid in her book, The Little Book of Bogan Names.
“At first I thought I can’t actually come up with 200 names, but I could write a second book now with all the new names that people have contributed,” she said on an episode of This Glorious Mess.
Bogan names are apparently getting more creative and have moved on from classic “true-blue bogan names” like Sharon and Barry.
NOUN
NZ, Australian
derogatory, informal
An uncouth or unsophisticated person regarded as being of low social status
(source: Oxford Dictionary)
“They’ve evolved so much now,” said the Canadian-born author.
“There’s just completely made-up names up now and people mash names together. They put two names and stick them together to create a new one,” she added.
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Top Comments
You probably wouldn't want to work for people like that anyway.
As someone who frequently has to spell my name (which isn't "bogan", just has a few variations), I can promise you it isn't crippling in the slightest. And certainly less annoying than the constant comments on my very common surname.
If you're going to turn down a potential staff member purely because of their name (which was most likely out of that persons control), your business is probably going to suffer. I've employed dozens of positions and I really don't care if your name is Tinkle Winkle Fart Face, if you have the educational requirements, the necessary skills or experience, you have an approachable personality and if you're willing to work efficiently, I'll employ you.
But what if you had two equally good applicants for the job, one with a name like Sarah, and the other was called Krystelle-Tiaarnye?
To be honest that probably wouldn't happen but I would probably employ them both because great staff come along only so very often. Or I would try to use some other method to separate them such as references, availability to work, future aspirations etc.