Yahoo CEO, Scott Thompson - Lesson about lying on your resume
Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson has been accused of lying on his resume. There is little room, from what I can tell for plausible deniability in this case. He didn't notice that there were claims upon being hired that he had a degree in Computer Science, really? Based on what I have seen on the subject, it appears that he has been noted to have the degree a few times and clearly knew he didn't. Even if we give him the benefit of the doubt and go with the fact that the tenured career he has would “trump” the degree and make it less important today than his hands-on experience is. Even with that concession, the challenge lies in the fact that we live in a day and age when we can no longer slough it off as an error and move on to the day's tasks - we live in a day and age when there are people looking for reasons to take Wall Street to task. We live in a day and age when a baseball player lies about taking HGH and is held accountable before Congress.
This is a period of time when I speak to my kids about the difference between right and wrong and yet everyone they see in the spotlight has continued to blur that line.
Had I been the recruiter tasked with finding him, I would take the blame for not vetting him fully. The fact that he was hired and vetted by the Board, that he was likely asked about his educational background and has seen it posted elsewhere knowing it is listed incorrectly makes this, in my mind’s eye, a pretty easy one to call.
Resign Mr. Thompson. Clean up the mistakes made in your background and move on to the next role. I have to believe that leaving now rather than dragging it out or having them make the decision for you would be a better move for your career.
