I have a court date in about two weeks for a name change, but would like to start putting in applications for work. Nothing particularly fancy, just at big box stores like Wal-Mart. Should I use the current name when it's just going to be changed in two weeks or the future name?

Honestly, if it were me, I wouldn't apply until the name was changed - if it's just two more weeks, why bother now with applying in your old name? 

That being said, some places will provide a "preferred name" option on application forms.  Don't know about Wal-Mart, though.

I worked at Walmart, at orientation just say you go by X.

Yea a lot have preferred name, you should do that or what i did was put preferred name before my legal birth name


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I just talked to the HR person when I knew for sure that I was hired, asked them to use a preferred name, and told them why (last part is optional).

The point is, my name is just going to be legally changed in two weeks. So what would be the point of applying in the current name only to change it that soon?

I will probably just wait until then but I kind of wanted to see if there were any positions available around town.

i think a lot of applications are going to have a line for any previous names. Never worked for any big box retailers, but I would be a little surprised if they didn't. My vote would be to apply as your new name and list the old if required. Speak confidentially to HR if you get hired about how to proceed with tax paperwork. If there are issues in the hiring process with matching you to your SSN or something like that, pretend it was an honest mistake. "Oh you know what, I bet I wrote down the name I go by instead of my given name. I always forget."

If you were applying for anything that required any kind of background check, this would not be my advice. But I am pretty sure none of these do.

Yeah, my job had an extensive government background check, so I had to use my legal name and list all aliases.

If you're not getting a background check, you can probably just give them your new name. You probably won't even have your interview for like a week or two anyway.

My experiences have shown me that many companies have preferred name options, and the ones which don't will gladly accommodate you if you tell the interviewer what you go by, and ask for arrangements where your preferred name is used.


For yourself, since it's only a couple weeks out I would just use your preferred name as long as you know it's going to be changed for certain.

I've worked for box stores, a pharmacy, two private schools, a City Hall and my University. Out of all those places the only place that didn't require my previous names or my legal name was one of the private schools I worked for, but I was also getting paid under the table. If you are having your name change for sure in a couple of weeks and it won't hurt you financially, I would say wait until its approved. That way you can put your name without potentially causing any problems with background checks. Having done a couple in my time, they can get easily get muddled if you are doing a name change while the background check is being performed. One woman who applied for a job with my old company was actually declined originally because she was going through a divorce and put her maiden name down. She later got the job, but it was a huge hassle for her and caused a lot of confusion in the office.

That is a sticky one. Although applying with the new name would be ideal, it won't be connected by a social security number. If you are working with an attorney, find out about getting your social changed, because that is going to be on your payroll. If you have one name and a social that doesn't fit it, there may be a mix up.

I guess if you are not in a rush because you are on your own and need funds, I would wait. It causes less confusion

Sam1234