New Hope Migrant and Refugee Centre recruitment consultant Warren Brewer said the service had advised clients to change their first names such as 'Mohammad' to Anglo-Saxon-sounding 'nicknames' or contractions to win interviews.

Other "unusual strategies'', including leaving off details on resumes of the countries they had previously worked in, had helped some of the service's clients 'get their foot in the door'.

Despite the obstacles, 230 of the service's 415 clients in the past three years have found jobs in their preferred occupations.

"Every single one [of our clients] is discriminated against - guaranteed,'' Mr Brewer said.

This month, a report Harnessing diversity: addressing racial and religious discrimination in employment, exposed the racial discrimination faced by migrants.

The report, released by the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission and the Victorian Multicultural Commission, highlighted the barriers faced by migrants from recruiters and job search agencies, and the lack of recognition of overseas qualification.

Mr Brewer said there were ways for employers to discriminate without breaching anti-discrimination laws.

Though job-seekers can't be excluded because of their migrant background, they can be overlooked if they lack "local work experience'', he said.

For this reason, Mr Brewer suggests to clients that they include just their occupation and the name of companies they worked for on their resume, but not their country

of origin.

"At the interview, this gives them the chance to explain about their company and how it's similar to workplaces here.''

Mr Brewer said employers, who often gave secret discriminatory instructions to recruiters, needed to be educated on the issue.

"There's little-to-no discriminatory language in any advertisements you find, but there are things they ask recruiters to do which aren't mentioned in the job descriptions.''

The report is available at www.humanrightscommission.vic.gov .au