I have recently begun seeing a job rehabilitation counselor to help me find a job. She is nice, but she calls me by my birth name and has used my birth name on the applications she has filled on my behalf. My birth name is also my legal name, and I am assuming that is the main issue. In the paperwork I filled out when I first entered the job rehab program, I specified that I am transgender and prefer to be called AJ (it's easier for people to understand because it is not specifically male or female and is the first letters of my legal first name and middle name), as well as asking that AJ be used on applications. My state does not have laws protecting trans people from discrimination in the workplace, but I am not sure if this may be different since it is a service I my insurance is paying for. I am also not sure if this counts as discrimination. I am going to meet with her tomorrow, and I plan on bringing this up. She may not understand what transgender even means.
Anyway, I need some advice as to what I should do. Should I explain that I identify as male and would like my future applications to use the name I have chosen? What will happen if I use my chosen name on an application rather than my birth name? Using my birth name has caused major issues in my previous jobs. I am just worried that I will be turned down indefinitely if an application requires me to provide my SSN, and my name doesn't match the name I put on the application. Please help!
Unfortunately if you haven't legally changed your name you don't have much of a choice, since when they go to report your earnings to the IRS it may come back with a name mismatch.