Lying about having a college degree is mere "embellishment", according to this.

[closeupready]

>>NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson is out after it was found he padded his resume with an embellished college degree, ending his term at the company after just four months.

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False statements: Thompson's published Yahoo bios -- including the one in the company's latest annual report, a legal document that CEOs must personally swear are truthful -- have claimed that he holds a bachelor's degree in both accounting and computer science from Stonehill College. His degree is actually in accounting only.

Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500) called the mistake an "inadvertent error." The board said this week that it had hired outside counsel to conduct a review of the false statement. Soon after, the director who led Yahoo's CEO search committee, Patti Hart, announced that she would step down at the end of her current term. <<

http://money.cnn.com/2012/05/13/technology/yahoo-ceo-out/index.htm

Lying is lying, embellishment is not lying.

[uponit7771]

1. Only for the 1%ers ...this is crazy, they could background check this guy

[Zalatix]

2. Forcing someone to step down over THIS???

Of course they're just being consistent, since they do this to lowly workers, too.

Consistently stupid, that is.

[closeupready]

4. Lying is no big deal?

?? If an employee lied to you about their background, would that be okay with you?

[Zalatix]

10. It is a big deal generally, but today's job market is ultra, ultra competitive.

People embellish all the time.

I've worked with genuine degree holders who didn't know shit, and oversaw 1 or 2 being terminated and replaced by "runner-up" applicants who were more competent but didn't have college degrees. Countless businesses look for degrees now, where one isn't even needed or where experience is more practical.

Lying about a college degree isn't the same as lying about, say, driving a major investment firm into bankruptcy.

[closeupready]

11. Ok, but my point was there's lying, and there's embellishment.

They are not the same thing, though the article referred to his lie as an embellishment.

I understand that people embellish resumes, but lying about a college degree is fundamentally serious, IMO, and many degrees worse than embellishment (which is really more like taking a single course in college German and stating that you studied German in college).

[Zalatix]

12. I don't see lying about a college degree as that serious.

[closeupready]

15. I mean, you are obviously entitled to your opinion.

But professional associations have to perform a process known as due diligence, or else risk - later - being exposed to high costs. Particularly with such easily verifiable data as college degrees - there really is NO excuse NOT to verify college degrees, at least at a professional level.

Yes, I agree, for janitors or cleaning personnel, it doesn't really matter (though many would disagree with even THAT), since you're not hiring such staff for educational attainments.

[patrice]

5. Yep. & Answering the phone for a software development co. can be billed as Director of

Communications for CEO-wannabes coming into fields where there's a high need for certain kinds of cheap Romney-esque "talent", say for example, ElderCareCo.

[closeupready]

7. LOL, how funny that is. You made me laugh, thank you.

I need a good laugh on Monday mornings.

[jberryhill]

6. It's not as bad as Yahoo! generally claiming they do anything valuable

[adigal]

8. Stockbrokers did this regularly in the 1980s

I worked for Bear Stearns, checking out references and education. Many times, I would find stockbrokers who claimed to graduate from Harvard never even attended college. I would bring this to my boss...and nothing would be done. I guess it didn't matter that they were liars. That just meant they were better at their jobs, lying/manipulating/stealing from Granny.

When Bear Stearns went down, I felt no sympathy for that company at all.

[closeupready]

9. Really? That surprises me, frankly.

Was that commonplace?

[muriel_volestrangler]

13. An example: "the University of West Yorkshire"

It doesn't exist (though West Yorkshire, as a county, does), but it shows up in about 10 LinkedIn profiles - mostly non-British, so that cuts the chances of people knowing the university doesn't exist. I suppose they think they're safe from anyone saying "oh, I went there - were you taught by Dr. X?"

I imagine there are a lot more who do choose a real university to claim to have a degree from.

[adigal]

16. Most of the people didn't lie, but when caught, it was common to ignore it

You know, these guys (mostly) were big moneymakers. Sweep it under the carpet, and pick up your bonuses.

[exboyfil]

14. We terminated a very good engineer

who had worked for many years as a consultant to us prior to full employment. He had lied about having an engineering degree (he was a few credits short). Lying on a resume is a very serious offense. Having a degree is either something that is or is not. I characterize my PhD pursuit as finishing all classes towards the PhD. I do not say I was all but dissertation because that would not be true. I can point to the hours on my transcript and verify my claim. Chances are if I said that I just never completed my dissertation I could get away with it, but why take the risk.

Engineers are often called upon to testify in patent and liability cases. Having lied on my resume could be used to damage my testimony and my credibility as a professional. That is the same for all professions.

I was shocked that Yahoo waited as long as it did. Such a misrepresentation would have a corrosive effect on the organization as a whole.