Man named Daniel Rivera uses a fake name to apply for jobs, immediately starts getting interviews: 'Now considering doing all future applications as Brandon Walker'

Author image for JR Atkinson
JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
Apr 17, 2025 10:00 PM EDT

It's no secret that we live in a society of snap judgments. One time, I had a career counselor tell me that the average recruiter looks at a resume for less than 5 seconds. They get the quickest gist possible of your whole work/life experience, and then they toss you in a pile. Sure, many jobs get hundreds of resumes and it would be nearly impossible to give all of them the attention that they deserve, but less than 5 seconds? That's enough to make you never want to apply for a job again. 

Looking for work is hard as it is. Everyone is competing for a limited amount of space, especially for entry-level positions. And they fill up fast, usually with people from inside the company, or who have interned there, or who know someone who works there. It can be discouraging to put yourself out there time and time again just to get rejected.

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  • 01

    I started submitting the exact same resume twice, once with my real name, once with a fake one. Guess which one got a callback.

    After months of applying and getting ghosted, I decided to run a little experiment out of pure spite. I applied to the exact same job twice.
    via u/PerroInternista
  • 02
    9)
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • That's when one man decided he would try a little social experiment. When he suspected his name was standing in the way of job opportunities, he concocted a plan. And when he put his suspicions to the test, they were sadly confirmed. Read on to see what happened.

  • 03
    First time: my real name Daniel - Rivera - and my actual resume. Second time: same resume, same formatting, same experience, but I changed the name to "Brandon Walker" and made a new email.
    via u/PerroInternista
  • 04
    Nothing else changed. I even forgot to update the phone number. And guess what? Brandon got an interview request the next morning. Daniel? Still waiting. They literally called me, asked for Brandon, and I just said "...yeah, speaking."
    via u/PerroInternista
  • 05
    So now I'm considering doing all future applications as Brandon Walker, because apparently he deserves a job. Not me. Not the guy who actually did the work. This system is so broken that you have to catfish your way into a job interview.
    via u/PerroInternista
  • 06

    Other workers had some suggestions for other workarounds in this prejudiced job market.

    BlondeBuckeye • 8m ago Try Daniel Rivers. That way, if you get hired, you can correct it to your real name when doing all the paperwork and claim your resume had a typo.
    via u/BlondeBuckeye
  • 07
    Shane_Lizard123 • 19m ago . I kind of did the same thing. My last name is foreign. Couldn't even get a job at a grocery store as a teen student. A few years ago I started putting my now husband's last name on the resume. Suddenly I have 6. interviews in one week...
    via u/Shane_Lizard123
  • 08
    Cheezburger Image 10494733056
    via Vitaly Gariev

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 09
    Vox_Mortem • 2m ago One of my friends went through the opposite. She had a white/european sounding last name and had no problem getting interviews, but when she married her Latino husband and took his last name she was being ghosted. She went back to putting her maiden name on her resume, and like magic her phone started ringing again. It's bulls.....
    via u/Vox_Mortem
  • 10
    . wholewheatscythe · 14m ago Shame how times haven't changed. British actor Ben Kingsley said, "As soon as I changed my name, I got the jobs." His birth name was Krishna Bhanji.
    via u/wholewheatscythe
  • 11
    aurorasnorealis317 .7m ago I do this with gender. I changed my very feminine name to a unisex name. Started getting callbacks. F this whole system.
    via u/aurorasnorealis317
  • 12
    DBones90 4m ago This is one example (among many) of why DEI programs are still very much needed.
    via u/DBones90
  • 13
    Dankecheers · 11m ago Bigotry is everywhere.
    via u/Dankecheers
  • 14
    Any_March_9765 • 11m ago yea I thought about doing the same, with a gender neutral white people name, but have been a bit lazy to do that. Another problem is reference. I'd have to tell my references to watch out for a reference call for "whitey McWhite". And all the publications are already in my real name.
    via u/Any_March_9765
  • 15
    Comfortable-Web9455 • 17m ago It's just racism. It's not a feature of the system. It's personal bias by individuals. Don't let them hide behind "the system."
    via u/Comfortable-Web9455
  • 16
    Toginator • 7m ago I think it's both. The system is made up of the biases of the individuals in power. As long as there is not a corrective action in the system and people don't reform their biases then it will exist.
    via u/Toginator
  • 17
    NackoBall 4m ago Racism is definitely a feature of the system.
    via u/NackoBall
  • 18
    Cheebs_funk_illy • 2m ago Racism is systemic, the system was founded and flourished with racism.
    via u/Cheebs_funk_illy
  • 19
    GargantuanGreenGoats 1m ago. • You're so close to understanding that racism is systemic. So close.
    via u/GargantuanGreenGoats
  • 20
    . LeftistEpicure • 1m ago This sounds like a Ph.D. thesis in the making.
    via u/LeftistEpicure
  • 21
    Author_ity_1 · 3m ago Doing a legal name change is real easy.
    via u/Author_ity_1

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