Today's San Francisco Chronicle (www.sfgate.com) has the headline, "Fired Official Lied on Resume: SF building worker in bribery suit claimed false degrees, jobs." It begins, "A senior San Francisco building official fired after he was accused of taking bribes from two computer sales companies faked his resume, claiming college degrees and job experience he did not have, The Chronicle has learned."
Article can be found here. Maybe the salaries were the budget. I don't believe that bogus credentials are at all uncommon. Do they really check where you folk work?
From the story: Marcus Armstrong, information systems manager for the Department of Building Inspection, worked for the city for five years after he falsely claimed to have graduated in 1993 from UC Berkeley with a bachelor's degree in business administration and from Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa (Orange County) with an associate's degree, also in business administration. A UC Berkeley official said there is no record of Armstrong attending the school, and the records maintenance company for Orange Coast said Armstrong was enrolled from August to December 1985 but did not earn a degree. Confusing one semester at community college with graduation from UC Berkeley? In Palo Alto they tell me that anyone could make that mistake.
Yes. We need official transcripts sent directly from the institution to the payroll department. Bruce
I like his description of his job at Office Depot as "business machines specialist." Does this mean he operated the photocopier?
This is similar for my employer too. We can interview based on an unofficial transcript, but the company will not make an offer of employment until the official transcripts are received directly. HR also get candidates to sign a release authorizing a background check. I've never had anyone rejected because of a faked academic record. But I have had two people rejected because they lied on the application form about their criminal records. In one case, the issue was something minor and long ago -- so he would have been OK if he hadn't lied. (Of course, he claimed that he had misread the form -- but to no avail.)
I should probably clarify. My job doesn't require a college degree, but in MA there is a very generous incentive for police officers who earn degrees, known as the Quinn Bill. Cutting through the legal mumbo-jumbo, this translates into a 10% raise for an Associate's degree, 20% for a Bachelor's degree, and 25% for a Master's or Law degree. The degrees (except Law) have to be in Criminal Justice, Criminology, Law Enforcement, or something very similar. The real rub is that all degrees have to be either accredited by the New England Association or approved by the MA Board of Higher Education, which is no mean feat. I tried to have the TESC program in Human Services/Administration of Justice approved, and I was turned down flat. A friend of mine who earned his B.S. in Criminology from Florida State University (one of the premier CJ schools in the country) had to jump through hoops to have his FSU degree approved for the Quinn Bill. Soooo....yeah, they check degrees in MA for police officers with a microscope, which I don't think is a bad thing. I do think that questioning a valid Florida State University degree is a bit much, but I also think that such diligence is sure to catch the less-than-wonderful and other assorted unaccredited schools that may try to move in. I do know that Chadwick University (an Alabama unaccredited school) started to advertise heavily in the Boston Police Union newspaper after the Boston PD got the Quinn Bill. This stopped after I submitted a story (complete with quotes from Dr. John Bear) to the paper. The story was never published, but the advertising stopped immediately. Bruce
This is nothing new. Having worked for the government for many years, I have seen many rise through the senior ranks with only a high school education (if that). It`s kind of funny to see MBA and PhD on one's resume......but government doesn't seem to care. The government lacks the resources to properly screen job applicants.
Absolutely, all potential new hires must be approved by a specialized department at corporate headquarters that also does a background check on everyone. It is a week long process.
Bill, Your department is one of the few that has the resources to properly screen candidates. I've worked in some departments that perform superficial background checks only. Had I changed my name to "PeeWee Herman" no one would have cared.
Bruce: We need official transcripts sent directly from the institution to the payroll department. John: And are those scrutinized, I wonder? There was a presentation at a registrars' conference I went to, offering evidence that phony transcript services actually mail the transcripts in realistic-looking envelopes from the proper city. Evidence was given of a counterfeit Ohio State transcript, complete with a Columbus, Ohio postage meter imprint. The registrars were advised to check the postage meter number, on the indicia, and confirm with the sending school that it was really their machine. Can you imagine how many actually do this? And can you think of a fairly simple way around this (albeit committing a federal crime) involving the use of a color copier?
"PeeWee Herman" would've checked out. "Paul Reubenfeld," on the other hand, would have raised some difficulties.
Hey, THAT'S what got him in trouble in the first place! (You know, "What do Abe Lincoln and the guy sitting in front of PeeWee Herman have in common?)
e-transcript? Rather than suggesting a way to beat the college, let me suggest a way to beat the forgers. Universities could issue an electronic transcript, for example, in Word format, with an electronic public key signature. They could post their public key on the university web site, and for that matter, carve it in stone in front of the registrar's office. This would allow the student to freely copy the transcript and yet provide what is thought to be a high level of security. The main weak area would be HR departments that either lack the skill to check these transcripts, or who lack Internet access. The aspect of this the universities might not like is that if a student has paid all his school bills, and gets a transcript, (s)he can just keep copying it, even if the student later ows the school money. With the paper transcripts, the school won't issue transcripts to a student with overdue bills.
Originally posted by decimon Do they really check where you folk work? Yes. Absolutely. Depending on which part of the government you work. In my area, not only do they check even after requiring an original transcripts be sent from the schools, they actually contact them. Then a background investigation is conducted on the employee. Depending on which job you are required to perform, it could go as far back as ten years. Any inconsistency is ground for termination. In 1997, during my brief stint in the private sector, my employer actually called my schools to verify my graduation. I know this because one of my program directors called me to inform me about the inquiry. I hasten to add that those in health care area where I am are probaly more likely to verify degree claims than non health care. Sometimes, it all depends on human resources who are supposed to verify resume claims before refferal for selections. Like the general population, some of them are too lazy to perform their jobs. The federal government does not require degrees to perform most jobs. The civil service rule was deliberately written that way years ago. However, under OPM regulations and in some cases, the law requires degrees where it can be substantiated or demonstrated that it is required in the performance of the duties announced. Those jobs that require degrees are specifically requested when jobs are announced and those not having such degrees stand no chance in the review process. I like to add here that I am not in the civil service and I speak for myself only. Godwin
Hi, oko. We could have used your input for the lengthy threads on the Laura Callahan situation at DHS. If you haven't seen those threads or are unfamiliar with Callahan then maybe we can outline the thing for you.
