What's in a Name? Letters. Each Additional One Costing You $3,700 Annually!

On a First-name Basis with Success? Your Mom Chose Your Name Wisely.

(Click the above link to view the original article written by Daniel Cronyn is the director of consumer marketing)

Happy Mother’s Day! (Sorta). In celebration of all the hard-working mothers out there, we recently conducted a study to see if the names they choose for their children could have possibly dictated their future success in the workplace. First, we analyzed data around first names from TheLadders’ nearly 6 million members against variables such as industry, salary level, and location. We wanted to prove the null hypothesis that what your mother names you makes a difference.

Second, we populated a few lists, hoping they would generate some additional questions. We started by aggregating and sorting names that were at the top of each list:

Top five C-level names, by gender, in ratio to their overall frequency:

Top five highest-paid names:

Both lists are normalized for frequency (not just absolute counts) giving a ratio of [C-level first names]/[all first names]. Here are a few quick takeaways:

• Christine was the only name that showed up on both the top five C-level and highest paid lists
• The top 10, highest-paid, C-level executive names earn, on average, 10% more than other names
• The top 25 most-popular names make about $7,000 more, on average, than the rest of the list
• Females make, on average, 22% less than their male counterparts in all comparisons

One point we noticed was that shorter names seemed to be higher ranked across all categories and metrics, so we investigated further. It turns out we were right, and there is a correlation between the number of letters in your name and the average salary:

Doing a simple linear regression, it looks like every additional letter added to your name accounts for a $3,600 drop in annual salary. One exception is names with seven letters, like Stephen, but closer inspection showed that seven-letter names lend themselves to males over females, so it’s higher paid males over-indexing and inflating the seven-letter bucket.

This surprising trend of shorter names led us to look at nicknames, and test whether Williams truly make less money than Bills. We looked at every abbreviation and nickname we could identify; here is a summary of results in the “Nickname versus Proper Name” head-to-head death match (gold stars for the winners):

All the shorter names earn more. Our test included 24 pairings, and in only one case (Lawrence vs. Larry) did the longer name win. Still not convinced? The definitive proof for this theory can be seen in Sara vs. Sarah, Michele vs. Michelle, or Philip vs. Phillip –  one letter less positively correlates with increased salary.

In conclusion, it DOES make a difference what your mother named you. So, to all prospective mothers, our advice is to keep Baby’s name short and sweet – your child will thank you when they’re raking in the money one day.

The 3 Biggest Resume Mistakes

The 3 Biggest Resume Mistakes



In a typical week I spend on average 10% of my time screening resumes, interviewing or reviewing interview notes and offers for candidates we want to join the team. Talent management is a core pillar of our company strategy and one of my most important responsibilities. I have reviewed thousands of resumes over my career and built a system to categorize them into yes, no and the dreaded maybe buckets. The resumes that go into either the yes or the no piles are usually very easy to identify. But I often think about the maybes. These resumes get saved as a backup but in reality, never get a chance to be in the field of play.


With over 200M resumes on LinkedIn, it will be harder and harder for a maybe to become a yes which is the first step in landing a new job. Great candidates with fantastic backgrounds can get condemned to the maybe pile because the resume didn’t represent them well and didn’t make an impression in the 30 seconds an average hiring manager spends on filtering a resume.


I find there are three big mistakes that usually cause an otherwise great resume to be filtered out in a screening process:


1) Focusing on the wrong thing: I often see candidates explain their responsibilities and list them in great detail, but forget to highlight their results. The unique things they did that their predecessors had not. What were their specific accomplishments and what sets them apart? The more quantitative, the easier for a screener or hiring manager to understand and select them for the next discussion. Numbers and metrics speak louder than words. Vague generalities are the kryptonite of a resume.

2) Writing a thesis when a synopsis is needed: Mark Twain once said, “if only I had more time, I would write thee a shorter letter”. When writing a resume, it is important to heed these words and take the time to really write succinctly and precisely. The longer and more dense a resume, the harder it is for a recruiter to get to the heart of your achievements and contributions. Precise, clear, factual, numbers driven resumes will always get more traction.

3) Leaving unanswered red flags: Candidates will often wait for the interview process to explain any red flags or gaps that may be on their resume, but by that time it may be too late. In most cases, they won’t make it that far if the issues are not explained on the resume, cover letter or LinkedIn profile itself. Candidates should put on the hiring manager’s hat and look at their own resumes with this filter and then proactively address any of these issues in a clear and unambiguous way. A couple of examples of what I mean:

• Let’s say someone has moved around a lot in their career. A screener may see this as inability finish things they start or an indication that they aren’t a committed candidate. It behooves you to explain the reasons for the movement where possible. Was it a corporate change, like an acquisition, that caused the moves? Or is it an indication that you were looking for more of a challenge?
• Let’s say someone is applying for an engineering role but doesn’t have an engineering degree. This should be addressed in the objectives and the resume should reflect any and all skills that do relate to the job you are looking for. Do you have any relevant certifications? Are you self-taught? Can you link to any code you have written?

It is worth the extra effort to make your online profile rock solid. That’s the only way to convert the page views into clicks on your resume.


Oh and one other thing, in this day and age, there is no excuse for typos and grammar mistakes in a resume. Those types of errors demonstrate a lack of detail orientation and commitment, and may result in your resume going into the no bucket.


I’d love to hear if you agree with these, and which other resume mistakes you’d add to the list.

Posted by:

Rajat Taneja

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