That's not my name.....

They call me Bell, they call me Stacey, they call me her, they call me Jane……oh I love that song and the most random place I heard it was a sandwich shop in Queensland after I’d just seen a memorial for Captain James Cook. One minute being in a spot that held so much history, to hearing one of the catchiest tunes, a memory that always makes me smile.

Today my friend Chris sent me his CV to have a look at. I opened it and the first thing that stood out was Christopher, because that’s his name, but that’s not his name in my world. My stepdad is John Arthur, but he’s only ever called Arthur. (Thankfully as a Farmer in Wensleydale he never needed a CV.) But there are people everyday who use their middle name as their main name. And then there are abbreviations, nicknames, I think I’ve heard it all over the years. And there’s a cousin of mine, he was called Jonathan, but we called him Nathan and that’s what he’d always been known as. I simply don’t have a cousin called Jonathan.

And it may come as no surprise that yes, I am Jo, but that’s not on my birth certificate.  But if anyone calls me Joanne, my instinct is to reply “that’s not my name”. So what do you call yourself on your CV? First impressions count and your CV is the window that people peep through to get to know you in a professional capacity. But when I started working for a company in London and my email address was joanne.richardson@ all because I put Joanne on my CV, I had to ask them to change it. All of this goes back to my core values, and for those that have read any of my other blogs, or watched my vlogs, I am all about being yourself, being the best you that you can be, keeping it simple and straight forward. So if you’re an Andrew who hasn’t been called Andrew for 20 years (other than when you’re being told off!) I vote you put Andy on your CV. If you’re not comfortable with that then how about Andrew (Andy) and your surname.

And who really wouldn’t invite a candidate for an interview because of their name? Because if they did, then I simply wouldn’t want to work for a business like that.  Always be you, always be proud of who you are, of what you’ve achieved and for what you dream your next job to be.

Contact:jo@winhurstrecruitment.co.uk
http://www.winhurstrecruitment.co.uk/news-blogs-2/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/5140403/
@winhurstrec
Tel: 0115 972 6513