• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Man Changes Nigerian Name And Suddenly Starts Getting Job Interviews

Home> News

Published 11:10 9 Feb 2022 GMT

Man Changes Nigerian Name And Suddenly Starts Getting Job Interviews

He said 'within a week' of changing his name he started getting interest from recruiters

Claire Reid

Claire Reid

A man who changed his Nigerian name has claimed he started to get job interviews ‘within a week’. 

Inein Victor Garrick, 34, who was born in Nigeria, switched to using his middle name after struggling to get any job interviews using his first name. 

He told The Mirror: “I started using Victor as my first name due to the barriers I faced whilst applying to jobs after university.

“I never seemed to get past the first application stages even though on paper, I had all the necessary requirements for at least an interview.

Advert

"In addition, the few calls I had, the recruiters had an issue in saying my first name correctly. With comments like 'your name is difficult or hard to pronounce'. I always felt I was on the backfoot and sent some unconscious bias.

Instagram

“The moment I changed to my middle name Victor, on my CV, within a week, I had multiple calls for interviews.”

Inein, who has been in the UK since he was 22, says people would regularly mispronounce his name and that by changing it to Victor he helped get his foot in the door. 

However, last year, Inein reverted back to his real first name after feeling like he was ‘hiding a part of himself’. 

Advert

Inein, who works for Transport for Wales, spoke to his colleagues during Black History Month last October about how and why he’d decided to use his middle name. 

He said: “I think it did really hit me. Last year, I almost felt like I hid a part of myself all those years.

“It wasn’t shame per se but I wasn’t my true self. People would hear Victor and assume I was British or English and I wasn’t highlighting my true identity.

“I’m proud of where I’m from and I think I hid behind Victor. This opened that door to talk about Nigeria and my cultural heritage, it’s a fantastic conversation starter.”

Inein says he feels as though he’s been ‘reborn’ after going back to his old name. 

Advert

LinkedIn

He added: “I hadn’t heard it in so long. I've been in the UK since 2009 and besides my immediate family, no one's ever called me by my first name, until the last year.

“So when you think about it, you can’t believe it’s been that long.

“There’s a lot of joy but there's also a bit of sadness as well that is taken that long”

A poll from Race Equality Matters found that a whopping 73 percent of its respondents had had their name mispronounced at work. 

Advert

To mark Race Equality Week (7 - 13 February) REM has launched its #MyNameIs campaign. 

Featured Image Credit: LinkedIn

Topics: UK News

Claire Reid
Claire Reid

Claire is a journalist at LADbible who, after dossing around for a few years, went to Liverpool John Moores University. She graduated with a degree in Journalism and a whole load of debt. When not writing words in exchange for money she is usually at home watching serial killer documentaries surrounded by cats. You can contact Claire at [email protected]

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

15 mins ago
an hour ago
3 hours ago
  • 15 mins ago

    Spanish government demand investigation into footballer Lamine Yamal's birthday party after 'dwarves exploited'

    The Barcelona footballer celebrated his 18th with a lavish party but was criticised for his antics

    News
  • an hour ago

    Reality behind not masturbating as 'health benefits' explained after doctor shared how often it should be done

    Abstaining may not be that beneficial after all

    News
  • 3 hours ago

    Mounjaro users warned over little known side effect that could harm you in a heatwave

    Around one in 10 GLP-1 users have reported these side effects

    News
  • 3 hours ago

    Matthew McConaughey praised for his gesture to Prince William and Kate Middleton at Wimbledon

    Prince William and Kate Middleton watched on as Jannik Sinner took home the Wimbledon men’s trophy

    News
  • Woman, 22, left paralysed and ‘only able to blink’ moments after getting ‘pounding headache’
  • Mum-of-five's agony trying to save nipples and breast after Turkey boob job complications mean she can't leave the country
  • Boss uses ‘salt and pepper test’ during job interviews to judge a person’s character
  • Man, 36, suddenly died days after complaining about having earache