This opinion is from someone who's been in charge of hiring a few times and will likely do so again: If you can actually do the job described, I don't give a damn about your credentials. I would not fire an employee who I found out fabricated credentials, if they had been working well for a while.
I was with you right up until the last sentence. I have no problem with people being hired if they're skilled yet don't have a degree. However, lying about it shows a lack of integrity. I wouldn't want that person working for me.
Exactly, it's the lie that's bad. If he had not added on CS most likely he still would have gotten the job. I would bet he was just keeping up a lie he started earlier in his career.
It's a matter of confidence. I wouldn't hire the best coder in the world if that person is a liar. If I know you fabricated this, I'll begin to think about what else you lied about. Even if you're clean otherwise, the doubt is there.
And in this case, the lie is pointless. Nobody cares if Thompson has a CS degree, so why lie about it? It's a poor reflection of character imo, and I wouldn't work for someone I don't trust.
This is a good thread as any to use Buffett's quote on the type of people he looks to hire:
"Somebody once said that in looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if they don't have the first, the other two will kill you. You think about it; it's true. If you hire somebody without the first, you really want them to be dumb and lazy."
Being able to get the job done doesn't mean it is getting done right. If they lied about something so easily verifiable, why would you trust that they're not lying to you about something more important? What does that say about your screening process and you as an employer and a company?
Lying about your credentials is really low and kept the more experienced person from getting the job. You may be happy with the liar's output, but you don't know how much you're screwing yourself (and their future employers) in the end by allowing that type of behavior to be rewarded.
An employee who fabricates credentials is fabricating other things as well. Your statement is saying that you are making a conscious decision to continue employing a person who misleads and misrepresents.
You might be okay with that, but there are enough people with character and integrity out there that I am not okay with it.
This is a guy who has hired a consulting firm to help him run Yahoo and has sued Facebook. Not exactly the person that you want to take on Google, etc.
I thought that this would get a lot of responses, and I'm happy to read so many opinions. To put my thoughts another way: say that you're in a fictional world where discrimination against a particular set of people profound, and they are not protected by any law. Many, to avoid the stereotype, might lie about their identity to not be judged.
I realize that a college degree is different (I personally love college and find it quite useful), and college can be beneficial, I think the value that society places on a degree is so absurd that I feel for those who may he compelled to lie. I may note that I have not encountered such a person yet.
