Outgrowing names

[Happydoingitjusttheonce]

In dentist waiting room yesterday and dental nurse calls "Alfie". A near 6ft 16 year old with a tracksuit and key wig rises from his seat. He probably made a cute Alfie when he was a toddler. Do kids outgrow cutesy names?

I think reetgood that the OP means she would be favourably inclined towards a Paul and Sarah over a Jaxon and a Ella-Mae - and I understand where she is coming from.

Have you posted this from your Parisian hotel bedroom?

For me, the name, "Alfie" conjures up a vision of a roguish Micheal Caine so... [old gimmer]

Happydoing....you sound a bit full of yourself regarding your naming skill. I would bet that someone could come up with mockery about your child's name. Probably one of his peers already has done. Please try to be more kind to those who do not have your SuperNamingAbilities.

Your reasoning that Chardonnays and Sharrons of this world have possibly inherited faulty genes and a warped world view from their parents is a load of balloon juice.

What if by some pure chance and not at all for reasons they thought about, parents from the parts of society you think are closer to the apes than your level chose to name a daughter 'Elizabeth Margaret'?

You either manage your time very poorly, or your company undervalues your work so much that you are not allocated enough time to properly review CVs. Or your work is so undervalued that they do not provide you with an associate or an assistant.

And how can you possibly state I'm not getting the best candidates?
Because you throw out the CVs that come from people with names you associate with slacking. Also because you have stated that you are not in fact qualified to do the job you are doing, though that was very obvious.

Apologies posters, I fell asleep. I do not own the company, or rather, I'm not a major shareholder. I am involved in recruitment only for my own team and have had In house training which does not of course include my bin method. The company is huge.

Mathan, your last comment is a curious one as I've never stated that. What are the qualifications I need to do my particular job, bearing in mind my job isn't recruitment?

Abby, you're attempting to support the posters who oppose me but actually aren't. Their point is that there should be no such thing as naming skill, certainly not as it relates to employment. My son was named after his deceased grandfather. And I don't name the people who come submit cvs of course

And on the Elizabeth Margaret point Mathan, isn't it obvious by now - I'd read her cv and if she looked good I'd interview. And if she was good enough I'd hire her. That too has happened.

You (and others) really are reading something into this that isn't there and its winding you up needlessly.

My best friends name is Trixi-Belle. Seriously. She comes from an incredibly rough area, her family are rough and so far none of them have completed high school. The majority of her family live in council houses, claim benefits and take drugs.
She is the most intelligent person I have ever met. I was born into a very middle class family, I was always a high achiever and quite intelligent, but she has far outstripped everyone from our class at school. She's a director of a chemical engineering company.
She has never even thought about changing her name and it has not held her back. She thinks she get the interviews because they don't believe a Trixi-Belle can have achieved what she has... until they meet her of course.
It's mad how little a name can mean. I will end up quoting Shakespeare's on the importance of names but I'll try not to. When I'm recruiting I generally don't read the top of the CV. I go straight to the experience. I don't care if you're name is princess consuela banana hammock.

That's a great success story sayyouwill. And I bet when you search the register of company directors she's not the only trixi-belle!

I'm sure she won't be. People are always amazed when they meet her. Either they know her name so her success is a shock or the other way around.
Just goes to show you can't judge a book by its title

Anyway posters it's nearly 500 posts and my weekend has started. Thank you to those who added to the debate objectively

Off you toddle.

I recruit fairly regularly and confess I've never taken the names of the applicants into consideration. First up cvs with spelling or grammatical errors go straight to the no pile (recently had an applicant who managed a typo in their own name in the email subject). Cover letters that do not even mention the company or any reason they might be suitable for the advertised role also go...if we ask for a skill set at least show you've read the ad and can offer it or give us an idea that you want to do this particular job. Once had a letter that said "the reason I want to work for cancer research is...". I do not work or recruit for cancer research. If you can't proof or change basic details in a short video St letter I don't want you on my team.) Absokutely no relevant experience (common) also out (they are roles that need at least a basic grounding in the relevant area which is why we have specifically asked for it). By that point there usually aren't that many left to start getting fussy about what they're called. If they can do the job well and be a committed member of the team and nice to work with they can be called fluffy periwinkle trixibelle for all I care

How cover letter became video st letter I will never know! Hate autocorrect

Pa if this was a letter I would have proofed it and then proofed it again. Reading my post back is clear proof that typing on a phone with over zealous auto correct while on a bumpy train is a bad idea and not to be done while applying for anything

In a pub I used to work in there were men in their 70's called Archie, Ted, Billy, Alfie, Charlie etc.

'As someone involved in recruitment sometimes...' means recruitment is part of your job description. Since you are very clearly in over your head in this aspect of your role, I would seek some courses that might show you the error of your ways, and might also help propel your company to greater growth.

As things stand, you are not really pushing yourself - you are fairly smug about the growth your company has experienced so far, and pleased with the job you have done in recruiting. but you do not know if better processes would result in superior hires. You seem satisfied in your comfort zone, but that is not a growth mindset.

I would not hire you because you have not sought to acquire the sort of perspective that a professional qualification would bring to the table in your role. You rely on confirmation bias instead of a method based on research - your conclusions wrt names and how much your company has grown under your hiring regime are therefore very likely to be flawed. Your approach is almost certainly limiting your company's growth.

Incidentally, assuming you belong in the census category of 'white British' how do you figure out whether the names of people from other ethnicities are the equivalent of Chardonnay?

I know a pebbles and her DSis is sunshine. Pebbles was about 2 or 3 when she chose the name for her sis. They are in their mid 20s and love their names. I had a hairdresser called chyna and she had people not believing that was her name

limecordial
First up cvs with spelling or grammatical errors go straight to the no pile

This would rather depend on roles and industry, surely. If you are recruiting e.g. in publishing or education then that's reasonable. But for some positions, such errors might be irrelevant. If you aren't recruiting for roles requiring faultless spelling and grammar, I would question your approach to shortlisting candidates using arbitrary negative criteria - shortlisting should primarily be done by seeing how far candidates match the specification arising from a job desciption. The sort of things you describe (certain errors being a dealbreaker) should really be considered in proportion to their importance to a role and could well only become relevant at a later stage in the shortlisting process, as a means of distinguishing between candidates who otherwise seem well-matched to the person specification.