Claiming degrees you dont have

[51daystoChristmas]

Hi, I have a colleague who is claiming to have degrees she doesnt have. She has two degrees on her email signature that don't match the ones on our company CVs that go out to third parties which is what led me to noticing. So I did a bit of checking and on LinkedIn she has a completely different degree listed, with the university name. So I emailed the university which is in Australia, that information is on public record there, and they confirmed that degree and date. She works on winning business for the company so I think any sort of fraud would be really bad for the company, she's worked here for 10 years though. She has recently been promoted, and is good at her job. I'm in a different team and it makes no difference to me, I was just wondering if I should let anyone know as they've just won a really public facing project. What do you think?

Then if you know for a fact that they are lying and it’s something like architecture then go to HR. Although I’m not sure if you said you already have. If so what happened in the meeting between you, are they investigating?

It’s ORCID. University researchers are assigned an ORCID number and it follows them throughout their career.

Can you be more specific about the degrees? If medical, accounting, legal then that is a very real risk to the company. If business administration, meh, less critical tbh.

It doesn’t matter to you. It’s not your job or your responsibility.

It matters if someone is murdered but I don’t suggest you go barging into a crime scene to form your own opinions.

You flagging this to HR will only make you a target who’s considered a busybody creating hassle for everyone and, b, you’re flat-footed yourself as HR should have checked things like this at onboarding.

Exec Sum: you’ve now pissed off HR. A target is likely on your back.

And you need a hobby.

This is worrying RIBA qualifications are easy to check. Insurances annually paid to cover the architect . Lives can be at risk here by impostors holding the position.

OP has said that the individual concerned has an architecture degree. The question is whether they are registered by the ARB. If they are, they are suitably qualified and are entitled to call themselves an architect. However, if they are not on the Architects Register, they are breaking the law if they refer to themselves as an architect.

I would expect an employer to be concerned if an individual is claiming qualifications they do not actually possess. However, unless OP has investigated more than she has told us, all she knows for certain is that her colleague does possess the architecture degree mentioned on LinkedIn. It is not clear from her posts why she believes that the other claimed qualifications are false.

OP you are really shocking 😮 mind your business!! Your sound so bitter and jealous. Get a hobby and get busy with your own life.. You are only get the company reputation bad and not directly towards your colleague..

people like you are the reason I don’t trust some colleagues.. STOP and leave him/her alone

Yes, but is that the one with degrees on as well? May be now, I’m not an academic any more.

We're talking about building projects here. They need to be safe. The people who design them need to be qualified and insured.

Well then you’re a liar with no integrity and committing literal fraud and it’s because of people like you this country is going to the dogs! You should be in prison, really. 🤣

I think any position that requires you to legally have the right degree should be properly checked by HR, that should be part of their job.

It seems rather brazen of her to declare these qualifications where her employers can clearly see it, so is it possible she does have them, just not at the same uni she got her under graduate from. Could she even have got them during her ten years working there?

Could you shed light on why you are sure she doesn’t have them rather than you just suspecting she doesn’t?

Doesn't matter where the degree was achieved. RIBA holds the list.

To be honest, as someone who has worked long and hard for a professional qualification and is bound by my institute, insurance etc, this would annoy me.

However, I would only act if a) the person could cause harm and b) perhaps got a promotion ahead of me while not holding the correct qualifications.

I think OP has gone too far in contacting the university. That's HR's job. OP, you'll not come out of this well because of that bit.

The trouble is, we don't know the OP's motivation here as she hasn't said.

So OP has checked that and her colleague isn’t on there?

She may have acquired other qualifications after starting in the job - she's been there 10 years.

Unlike you and OP some people keep up their CPD and gain more qualifications alongside doing their job. Do we all have to send proof of qualifications to other colleagues now?

I have 3 genuine degrees but would I give a pluck about someone else....no. HR have accepted her to work in the firm, so it's on them. Also your stalking behaviour is weird, and could get you in trouble, if you repot HR she could put in a complaint about you.

People who say we shouldn’t challenge - I do feel it’s wrong someone I know claiming Oxbridge earns 6 figures and barely has GCSEs…but she’s always been one to wing it.

Crikey, some people have a lot of gall don’t they!

@justasking111 wow! Sounds familiar. Woman I know who did similar beautiful & classy which helped. Very Highsmithesque…

There’s also a breed of ‘private university’ male ‘banker’ who investment banks about & typically somehow progresses despite getting fired after 6 months when others realise he’s all mouth, contacts & trousers. Then has job as boutique adviser & makes a lot of ££ in process.

She may indeed. Getting a post-grad degree while working isn't the sort of thing that goes under the radar - everyone including me who has done further study etc has talked and moaned about it, and celebrated once finished!
Really appreciate you assuming I'm a thick non-starter who doesn't want to better myself. Other than my undergrad, I've done my masters and PhD, plus professional quals, while working full-time. Not that I need to justify myself to you, but somehow I feel I need to push back against your making me feel even more shit today than I did.

Some people don’t talk about their studies in case they don’t work out. Many people still don’t know about my highest qualifications.

Sorry that you feel shitty. Sounds like you have a lot going for you.

So let them find out and let them take it further. I can’t see how this is any of your business. I’d keep out of it myself.

I wouldn't rate the 'honesty and integrity' of someone who is taking it upon themselves to check up on colleagues like this and snoop around behind their backs.