José vs Joe: Who Gets a Job?

September 15, 2014 / Buzzfeed

In a perfect world, the most qualified applicants would gain the attention of those responsible for filling job openings. But that’s not the world we live in. Something as simple as a non-White sounding name can immediately reduce your chances of getting hired.

Watch what happened when one man decided to change only one letter of his resume, going from José to Joe.

Click for the Transcript

My name is José Zamora and I had to drop a letter to get the title.

Every morning, I’d wake up, go on Craigslist, and apply to as many jobs–every job that I felt qualified for. About 50 to 100 a day for months. No phone calls, no e-mails, nothing.

One day, I just thought, What if I tried Joe? Just remove the S in my name, and maybe I can make some dollar signs.

The Monday I decided to go from José to Joe–seven days later, the next Monday, that’s when all the responses started coming, that’s when all the replies and e-mails came. “The position is open. We want to meet with you. Call us back.”

I was applying for the same exact jobs with the exact same resume, the exact same experience, just the different name.

Sometimes I don’t even think people know or are conscious or aware that they’re judging, even if it’s by name. But I think we all do it all the time.

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