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Can You Legally Use a Pseudonyms on Your Résumé

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  • 06-02-2018, 11:54 AM
    MarkSmith
    Re: Can You Legally Use a Pseudonyms on Your Résumé
    Quote:

    Quoting eerelations
    View Post
    Put your real name at the top of the resume (as usual) then directly under your real name add a note that you use the pen name "XX" for speaking gigs. It would look something like this:


    See how easy it is to get useful advice when you give us all the background information we ask for? Had you said you were concerned about being flooded with resumes from people using fake names, my answer would have been totally different.

    Thank you so much for your response. I have a few other questions for you regarding the same issue:

    1. Your advice is very sound and workable. I have an alternative idea: What if I just had my pen name on the resume making it very clear that it is a pen or stage name without adding my real name. If they require my real name, I would give it to them at that time. This way, I would know that my real name is important to them and they plan to verify the content of the resume. It is very rare when I am ever asked for a resume regarding my educational and employment background for speaking gigs. One other individual who requested a resume told me that they don't plan to verify any of the content. They just need to see my experience in writing. These speaking gigs are not really employment opportunities as they don't ask for any personal info other than the resume and they don't have me sign a consent. They really are more concerned regarding the content of the talk. But to be safe, I would rather treat these opportunities as employment because I really don't know how they plan to use the content of the resume.

    A while ago, I hired a videographer to videotape an eight-week series. He could not understand why I was using a pen name instead of my real name. Even though I explained my reasoning several times, he just didn't get it. Obviously, our working relationship went downhill from there, and that was at the beginning. I just don't want to experience anything like that again if I could avoid it. What are your thoughts on my idea?

    2. I have my business name registered with the state. Do I need to also register my pen name (DBA) even though I don't collect money with the pen name?

    3. I was going to pose these same questions to an individual in another forum who responded to my initial questions. But I won't, unless it is okay with you. I like various opinions. When others found out that I posted my initial questions on other legal forums, it almost seemed that they were concerned or offended. Naturally, I have no intention to offend anyone. I never had this experience with non-legal forums. I usually post on multiple forums so that I get timely responses. I cannot tell you how many times I get no responses. I did not anticipate the number of quick responses I would get from these legal forums. Unless the exact same people respond to threads on the various legal forums, I'm not sure why this is such an issue.
  • 06-02-2018, 12:03 PM
    llworking
    Re: Can You Legally Use a Pseudonyms on Your Résumé
    Quote:

    Quoting MarkSmith
    View Post
    Thank you so much for your response. I have a few other questions for you regarding the same issue:

    1. Your advice is very sound and workable. I have an alternative idea: What if I just had my pen name on the resume making it very clear that it is a pen or stage name without adding my real name. If they require my real name, I would give it to them at that time. This way, I would know that my real name is important to them and they plan to verify the content of the resume. It is very rare when I am ever asked for a resume regarding my educational and employment background for speaking gigs. One other individual who requested a resume told me that they don't plan to verify any of the content. They just need to see my experience in writing. These speaking gigs are not really employment opportunities as they don't ask for any personal info other than the resume and they don't have me sign a consent. They really are more concerned regarding the content of the talk. But to be safe, I would rather treat these opportunities as employment because I really don't know how they plan to use the content of the resume.

    A while ago, I hired a videographer to videotape an eight-week series. He could not understand why I was using a pen name instead of my real name. Even though I explained my reasoning several times, he just didn't get it. Obviously, our working relationship went downhill from there, and that was at the beginning. I just don't want to experience anything like that again if I could avoid it. What are your thoughts on my idea?

    2. I have my business name registered with the state. Do I need to also register my pen name (DBA) even though I don't collect money with the pen name?

    3. I was going to pose these same questions to an individual in another forum who responded to my initial questions. But I won't, unless it is okay with you. I like various opinions. When others found out that I posted my initial questions on other legal forums, it almost seemed that they were concerned or offended. Naturally, I have no intention to offend anyone. I never had this experience with non-legal forums. I usually post on multiple forums so that I get timely responses. I cannot tell you how many times I get no responses. I did not anticipate the number of quick responses I would get from these legal forums. Unless the exact same people respond to threads on the various legal forums, I'm not sure why this is such an issue.

    Personally, I would recommend that you use both names, as was outlined by erelations. Its cleaner, more honest, and less likely to cause a negative reaction, than doing anything else. People understand pen names, stage names etc. If you are upfront about it, it should not cause problems. Its more likely to cause problems if you are not.

    The fact that you had a previous videographer who didn't get it was an oddity, in my opinion.
  • 06-02-2018, 12:11 PM
    MarkSmith
    Re: Can You Legally Use a Pseudonyms on Your Résumé
    Quote:

    Quoting llworking
    View Post
    Personally, I would recommend that you use both names, as was outlined by erelations. Its cleaner, more honest, and less likely to cause a negative reaction, than doing anything else. People understand pen names, stage names etc. If you are upfront about it, it should not cause problems. Its more likely to cause problems if you are not.

    The fact that you had a previous videographer who didn't get it was an oddity, in my opinion.

    Thank you.
  • 06-02-2018, 12:23 PM
    eerelations
    Re: Can You Legally Use a Pseudonyms on Your Résumé
    I agree with llworking, especially the part about problems. If you use only one name on the resume and then later confess to actually having a different name, I can see some people becoming quite upset about your apparent attempt to deceive them.

    Can you explain why it's so important to you to not reveal your real name up front? Especially given that you're going to have to provide it eventually?

    And I agree with what llworking said about the videographer - he may have been a great videographer but otherwise seems to be unusually obtuse. I suspect you won't encounter many people like this.
  • 06-02-2018, 02:00 PM
    MarkSmith
    Re: Can You Legally Use a Pseudonyms on Your Résumé
    Quote:

    Quoting eerelations
    View Post
    I agree with llworking, especially the part about problems. If you use only one name on the resume and then later confess to actually having a different name, I can see some people becoming quite upset about your apparent attempt to deceive them.

    Can you explain why it's so important to you to not reveal your real name up front? Especially given that you're going to have to provide it eventually?

    And I agree with what llworking said about the videographer - he may have been a great videographer but otherwise seems to be unusually obtuse. I suspect you won't encounter many people like this.

    Thank you for your response. This isn't really an employment situation. If I were actually employed or seeking employment, you would be correct.
  • 06-02-2018, 03:00 PM
    llworking
    Re: Can You Legally Use a Pseudonyms on Your Résumé
    Quote:

    Quoting MarkSmith
    View Post
    Thank you for your response. This isn't really an employment situation. If I were actually employed or seeking employment, you would be correct.

    If they pay you money for speaking yes, they will need your real name and SSN. It doesn't matter if its an employment situation or not. Any person or organization that pays money to someone needs to be able to identify who they paid it to. In most circumstances if they don't have to issue a W2 they would have to issue a 1099.
  • 06-02-2018, 03:15 PM
    eerelations
    Re: Can You Legally Use a Pseudonyms on Your Résumé
    Quote:

    Quoting llworking
    View Post
    If they pay you money for speaking yes, they will need your real name and SSN. It doesn't matter if its an employment situation or not. Any person or organization that pays money to someone needs to be able to identify who they paid it to. In most circumstances if they don't have to issue a W2 they would have to issue a 1099.

    Agree with llworking again. You will eventually have to provide the gig boss with your real name. Period.

    But you still haven't answered my question - why are you so darned determined that the potential gig boss not know your real name? This is important!
  • 06-02-2018, 03:25 PM
    cbg
    Re: Can You Legally Use a Pseudonyms on Your Résumé
    We aren't beating you up for the sake of beating you up, Mark. It's like I said before, if we don't know the context, we can't really help.

    I can think of several legitimate reasons, that are not in any way saying anything bad about you, why you might not want the gig boss to know your real name. But whether there is a solution to that, and if so what it is, depend on what the reason is. You are not obligated to share anything you don't want to, but if you can share your reasoning with us, we may (or we may not) be able to help you come up with a way for you to do what you so obviously want to do. Ball's in your court.
  • 06-02-2018, 03:29 PM
    MarkSmith
    Re: Can You Legally Use a Pseudonyms on Your Résumé
    Quote:

    Quoting eerelations
    View Post
    Agree with llworking again. You will eventually have to provide the gig boss with your real name. Period.

    But you still haven't answered my question - why are you so darned determined that the potential gig boss not know your real name? This is important!

    If they want to know my real name, then I will give them my real name. For business purposes, I would like to go by my pen name. If I am telling everyone my real name, what's the point of having a pen name? Obviously, any legal documents would be signed with my real name. This really isn't that big of an issue. If I need to put both names on my resume, so be it. Again, this isn't an employer/employee relationship. I would not be getting paid from them, just the ones who choose to attend.

    As far as I am concerned, my questions have been answered on this forum. I very much appreciate everyone's response. You all have been very helpful.

    Quote:

    Quoting cbg
    View Post
    We aren't beating you up for the sake of beating you up, Mark. It's like I said before, if we don't know the context, we can't really help.

    I can think of several legitimate reasons, that are not in any way saying anything bad about you, why you might not want the gig boss to know your real name. But whether there is a solution to that, and if so what it is, depend on what the reason is. You are not obligated to share anything you don't want to, but if you can share your reasoning with us, we may (or we may not) be able to help you come up with a way for you to do what you so obviously want to do. Ball's in your court.

    Thank you for your response. This issue has been addressed in my prior post below. You all did answer my questions and I truly appreciate it.
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