Lying on a Resume'

CNBC has a brief story about Wal-Mart's Vice President of Communications, David Tovar, losing his job as a result of lying on his resume' about having finished a baccalaureate degree at the University of Delaware. He claims to be "a few credits short" of finishing.

Demonstrating Tovar is by no means unique, the article mentions two other high-level executives who lost their jobs by claiming degrees they didn't have.

Scott Thompson left his post as Yahoo's CEO after Third Point's Daniel Loeb discovered Thompson had only earned an accounting degree from Stonehill College—rather than one in computer science as well.

In 2006, RadioShack's then-chief executive David Edmondson resigned after it was revealed he lacked a college degree but had claimed he earned two.

Like it or hate it, large organizations are credential-driven. You have to wonder how many more top execs have bogus credentials and live in fear of discovery?

On the other hand, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs both made a pile without ever lying about their lack of credentials. The difference, they started their own companies while the sad sacks mentioned above were corporate ladder-climbers who had to claim to have credentials to get ahead.

My career field - university professing - is totally credential-driven. However, unlike corporate employers, universities insist upon receiving certified transcripts reflecting the claimed degrees and GPAs before hiring tenure-track faculty.