Resume Integrity - Diploma Mills and Life Experience Degrees
What was particularly troubling about this discovery was that Georges current employer was embroiled in several high profile safety incidents that were under federal investigation. I cant help wondering if the safety issues were related, at least in part, to the companys poor due diligence and credential verification during staff recruitment.Our firm explained to George that, as a matter of professional ethics and business policy, we would not knowingly include false or misleading information on a clients rөsumө, and life experience credentials most definitely fall into the category of false & misleading. He was less than pleased to hear this, and there was a considerable amount of high-volume vocalization on his part. Not only was George affronted that we called his credentials into question, but he was genuinely surprised to learned that his bought and paid for degrees were not legitimate.
After talking him down from the ceiling, we explained that our companys policy was not merely self-serving, but designed to protect theҠinterests of our clients. Diploma mills who issue life experience credentials are illegal in most jurisdictions in North America and Europe. They first came to general public attention during the late 70s and early ˜80s when the FBIs Operation DIP SCAM led to more than 20 criminal convictions. But with the power of the internet, Diploma Mills are proliferating once again, and today they represent a billion dollar e-crime spree.
As with any rөsumө falsification, listing life experience degrees under your academic qualifications will result in your immediate removal from the candidate pool, regardless of how many other legitimate qualifications and experience you bring to the table. If the falsifictionҠis discovered after you have already been hired, it can be grounds for instant termination with cause. Worse, it can lead to criminal and civil lawsuits against the employee who made false claims, and against the company who failed to do the necessary due diligence if it has a material impact on a clients business, public safety,ҠorҠshareholder value.
Think youve escaped the firing line because you have already been with your current company for a number of years and provided exemplary service? Think again. The investigative litigation firm Marquet International Ltd. has assembled a rogues gallery of executives and managersҠwhose rөsumө falsifications were discovered long after they had been hired. The vast majority of members of the Rөsumө Liars Club are people who overstated or completely misstated their academic credentials. The list includes the well publicized case of Marilee Jones, long-time Dean of Admissions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who stepped down in 2007 after admitting to falsifying her academic credentials when she first applied to MIT, in 1979! And this was despite the fact that she was now a critically acclaimed author and one of Americas leading experts on navigating the college admission process.
While Jones case didnt involve diploma mill fraud, the case of Laura Callahan did. Callahan, a former senior director at the United States Department of Homeland Security, was forced to resign after a federal investigation uncovered that she, along withҠseveral other federal employees in senior-level positions, had listed diploma mill accreditations on their rөsumөs.
Rөsumө falsification has become endemic. So much so that an entire industry has sprung up specifically to conduct background checks and credential verifications on behalf of employers and recruiters. Even if your target employer doesnt subscribe to these services, the internet makes it incredibly easy to uncover misrepresentations of fact, and todays employers are making full use of these resources to screen their candidates. So if you are tempted to dress up your rөsumө with iffy credentials so that you can compete in todays job market, know that it can be career suicide - not only now, but twenty years down the road.