What's in a name?

[Otakatt]

Having typed up a resume for someone and having a friend help with editing it I've been talking with them a bit about... well... resumes. Stuff like that. As a terrible person who has never had a real job or made a real resume, I try to at least absorb some knowledge on how to go about making one.

When you haven't had a real job, putting anything you can on a resume seems important. I asked them if it'd be viable to put something on one, like the fact I helped with some art on the OCR FF5 album, and was told experience is experience, so that wouldn't be a bad idea.

However!

They also went on to tell me I'd have to be careful who to submit that to, because if more professional people saw "The Otaku" listed as the one credited, they might be pretty "Ehn" about it.

And before anyone says anything, yes, I know The Otaku is a horrible name. I've been teased about it on VGMix. I've been teased about it the other day when a friend saw that.

While I'm not going to be going for anything professional any time soon, if ever, I wonder if this is something I should nip in the bud? Is "The Otaku" going to come back to haunt me later? It also makes me nervous because I have various cat related names attached to my DeviantArt account, as well as my email address. And my YouTube... But it's more the DA account that worries me.

I'm really a personal person to the point of paranoia, so I keep my real name pretty guarded. I'm trying to get over that though, and have been known to out my first initial, middle initial, and last name for art related purposes, at least. Still, The Otaku, The Catlady... it's still there.

I figure this is a good place to ask about that, considering the various musicians here that go by pseudonyms and even attach them to their work. Successful musicians at that! Zircon comes to mind, although zircon is a tasteful name. I have to wonder what would have happened if he was head of SirVegetaStudios.

Are pseudonyms generally frowned upon? Are they okay if tasteful? Has anyone had first hand experience with terrible online names biting them in the butt? Any insight about this from anyone would be greatly appreciated!

[Calum]

I think you shouldn't worry about it.

I'm the opposite, my really quite boring first name is bereft of the air of mystery a pseudonym might give and it kinda gives you all sorts of perks, at least it does to those who have them in my mind! But I don't think I'd ever happily decide on anything other than the name i've been given so I'll use that! It's kind of more "professional" but who needs that.

I am my name out of saving myself the hassle of racking my brain for hours then regretting it later. Though i'd love to be the mystical "EnergyTiger" or something like that... but maybe not that.

[BardicKnowledge]

Are pseudonyms generally frowned upon? Are they okay if tasteful? Has anyone had first hand experience with terrible online names biting them in the butt? Any insight about this from anyone would be greatly appreciated!

Assuming that you're going to put art-related work on a resume to apply for art related jobs eventually, you should be just fine. Most artistic fields are now used to the idea of people publishing material to the internet/blogosphere/whatever under psuedonyms.

If you're applying for a non-arts job, then I would consider the value in listing that you've done album art / deviantart projects at all, other than collaborative projects you've been a part of. Instead list things that prove you know how to work in whatever field/job you want to apply for.

Edit: This of course implies that your psuedonym isn't setting off red flags everywhere (you are just fine). If your handle was "SerialRapist", for instance, then yeah there'd be problems.

[suzumebachi]

ooh a topic that i can relate to.

allow me to introduce myself. my name is Ty "Suzumebachi" Guenley. my pseudonym is horrible. my real name is horrible. lose/lose. at least "The Otaku" is pronounceable.

i've tossed around the idea of changing my pseudonym before, and have used a few others in certain cases, but i've been using this handle for so long now though that trying to go back and change it everywhere would be silly. lately, in some internet circles i've been using a shorter form of my pseudonym ("suzums") and while it's probably an improvement, it's also still silly and i seem to get mistaken for an lady a lot.

what should i do guise?

[Gollgagh]

I call you suzu so iunno

[Tables]

tables just sorta sounds like tazers

tazers is the name I use everywhere else on the internet

I don't know why I didn't chose to use 'tazers' here

I don't know why I chose 'tazers' anywhere

p.s the first time I used it was before the 'don't taze me bro' thing so it wasn't even that.

I think tables and tazers are casual enough that I could use them as serious pseudonyms if I really had to.

As far as names go you could do so much worse than 'The Otaku'

[Abadoss]

I find with mine, I have to make sure to mention the correct pronounciation of it. Once they realize that it's not a poorly spelled "A Bad Ass", it's okay. The only place it shows up in my work resume is my e-mail address. Granted, it would probably end up a little more prominant in a music resume, but I've not had to use one in a while. Speaking of which, I should probably update that... hmm...

I suppose it comes down to the balance between what you want people you want to impress to know you as and what you want your peers to know you as. I suppose other than that, it's what you're willing to live with (or are forced to live with, after a certain point).

I suppose you could always do what McVaffe did and have a bazillion different psuedonyms for various different things...

[Deep Thought]

Dual meanings are nice. The obvious source for mine comes from Douglas Adams, but deeper down, I'm studying to be an engineer, and also to get a masters in philosophy/theology. So in reality, the depth to a name makes it all worthwhile

[Sole Signal]

Beyond the question of using "the Otaku," you should have different resumes tailored to who or what you are submitting the resume. I see no problems with sliding your pseudonym tastefully into a resume, but make sure it's applicable. Just having experience in your resume for the sake of experience isn't the best idea.

My management roles at work have expanded to include reviewing resumes and the hiring process, and it's sad how unprofessional and fluffy peoples' resumes often are. I've seen "very experienced with operating a fascimile and copier," and "submitting files electronically" in their skills section. Mix in scores of grammatical, formatting, and spelling errors and it's hard to bring them in for a professional position.

Just be prepared to explain why you chose to include your artistic work under "the Otaku" when the employer (inevitably) asks. Even though all my applications were for financial positions, I found that my Audix/Sole Signal business name always was a good talking point to show differentiation from the other applicants. It's good to show that you have pursuits outside of work and a fun, creative side that could add to the business.

I do wonder if it's a bad thing that one of the first links in searching for my name brings up my OCR profile. I wonder if someday I'll get to explain that one to a CPA firm.

[Nutritious]

Wait, who's Sole Signal again?

[Jillian Aversa]

I agree completely with Bardic. Pseudonyms are okay to use in certain situations, but on a resume you at least need to include your real name as well.

As far as "The Otaku" goes, it could be worse... But yeah, it's pretty iffy. I'd change it if I were you.

[Sole Signal]

I agree completely with Bardic. Pseudonyms are okay to use in certain situations, but on a resume you at least need to include your real name as well.

As far as "The Otaku" goes, it could be worse... But yeah, it's pretty iffy. I'd change it if I were you.

Oh, certainly. Having "The Otaku" (or any handle) up at the top as your name is a very bad idea if that's what the OP was asking.

[Benjamin Briggs]

don't even talk to me about handles >:[

[Gollgagh]

don't even talk to me about handles >:[

rooooooofl

[Mirby]

Mirby

from

MetaKirby

from

dakirbymaster

Simple, eh?

[zircon]

For what it's worth, I used to be "Silverguy" when I was, I don't know, 10 or so. Then, when I started playing online RPGs, it became "Silverhawk" which stuck for another 5 years until I began my music career (if you could call it that) as "dj zircon" Thankfully, I dropped the dj...

Basically I agree with the points made here, but I do want to talk about search engine optimization. If you ever plan on using your pseudonym for more projects (eg. you decide to do more professional art pieces) or in general want more recognition, you want something that is unique. "zircon" is not unique because it's the name of a company that makes stud finders, as well as an element. It took me years to even get in the top 5 search results on Google, and I'm still not #1. In this sense, "The Otaku" is even worse. "The" doesn't really even get picked up by search engines and "otaku" is a generic term.

Now, I'm not saying your pseudonym is bad at all, and if you don't really ever intend on doing a lot with it, then nothing I'm saying applies. But if you ever want to build a brand (so to speak) and you're having doubts, you might consider switching to something more unique. The power of Google and easy-to-remember domains can never be underestimated.

[Mirby]

Mirby's #1 result on Google is my profile here.

[Gollgagh]

gollgagh #1 result, somewhat embarrassingly, is my devart account with a whole 1 picture on it

[Rozovian]

All top 10 google hits for Rozovian are me. I think I've only ever seen one google hit of it that wasn't me. I get some flak for it sounding a bit too Russian, tho. Probably just a local thing.

I think most ppl that know a thing or two about artists on the internet are less concerned with their names and more concerned with the quality of their work. Like most here, I wouldn't be too concerned with including The Otaku or thecatlady on a resumé as long as they're in their appropriate place and you're applying with your real name.

[Ray Falling]

They also went on to tell me I'd have to be careful who to submit that to, because if more professional people saw "The Otaku" listed as the one credited, they might be pretty "Ehn" about it.

Are pseudonyms generally frowned upon? Are they okay if tasteful? Has anyone had first hand experience with terrible online names biting them in the butt? Any insight about this from anyone would be greatly appreciated!

I think it is safe to say that most people, even professionals, are into the internet these days and may or may not have an embaressing thing or two to hide themselves.

I think that the more casual you are about it, the less likely you are going to get 'bitten in the ass' by it later. Remember, even your future employer may have embaressing nicknames online.

Also, if anyone is going to not hire you because of that, yet you have an awesome portfolio or resume or whatever, you're probably better off.

That said, I can't really imagine that happening a lot. I could be wrong.

You can always decide to go with something new, a new nickname or artist name. Pick something you are happy with, and stick with it.

[Dhsu]

ooh a topic that i can relate to.

allow me to introduce myself. my name is Ty "Suzumebachi" Guenley. my pseudonym is horrible. my real name is horrible. lose/lose. at least "The Otaku" is pronounceable.

i've tossed around the idea of changing my pseudonym before, and have used a few others in certain cases, but i've been using this handle for so long now though that trying to go back and change it everywhere would be silly. lately, in some internet circles i've been using a shorter form of my pseudonym ("suzums") and while it's probably an improvement, it's also still silly and i seem to get mistaken for an lady a lot.

what should i do guise?

Dude isn't your name Tyberius? You can't get more freakin' badass than that.

[Nabeel Ansari]

Neblix gets me the first two pages of google.

Last.fm

Youtube

Veoh

OCR

Twitter

Microsoft Help Forums

Even my TF2 Stats xD

I used to be neblixsaber, though, which was unbelievably cheesy (i'm not even gonna get into it if you don't know why)

[Brandon Strader]

I'm really a personal person to the point of paranoia, so I keep my real name pretty guarded. I'm trying to get over that though, and have been known to out my first initial, middle initial, and last name for art related purposes, at least. Still, The Otaku, The Catlady... it's still there.

Yeah, I chose not to use my real name on the internet either. Oh wait, I totally did. What's in a name? Nothing. It's an identifying handle. There's probably a bunch of other people in the world with your same name. The difference between you and them, however, is that you must gain dominance over them and rise to the top, like the alpha lion. Observe;

http://tinyurl.com/2wzbfyv

See? All me, baby. I used to go by the name Oinkness -- and to some extent I still do, such as my email address and XBOX Live username. http://lmgtfy.com/?q=oinkness Since I stopped using that name so heavily on the net (I had used it for over 10 years), some kids without their own identity swooped in and started using the name. Seriously, it happens. One year ago you wouldn't see anything but me-related stuff on google for the name Oinkness. There's still a couple that remained there.

So, The Cat Lady, I tell you this. If you're ready to take your work seriously, use your real name. There's probably only a handful of people in the world (depending on the rareness of your name) who share it, and you can dominate them. Much easier than using a name that is the same as a popular term that hundreds of other people will be fighting over or just referencing in general.

Dominate them!

[KyleJCrb]

I use this name everywhere. All of the Google results for it are me, which actually is probably not a good thing since I used this name during my early internet years and there's probably some mildly embarrassing things floating around attributed to me.

If you're embarrassed by your handle, just use the name of one of your original characters, Otaku (since I know you have over nine-thousand characters ). More creative and less embarrassment potential.

[PROTO·DOME]

My handle is a location. A location.

Man I'm going by just Proto from now on.